Also posted in 2001+ Civic forum

2001 Civic DX sedan with approximately 160,000 miles.

After I bought my new car, I intended to give the Civic back to the parents. However, on the last drive into my development, the engine struggled to stay alive. Sounded similar like a WRX with an exhaust (without the engine shaking ).

Let it sit for a while and enjoyed my new S2000 for a while, but then decided I needed to get the Civic back into shape.

Checked the easy stuff first. Then checked electrical - Hmm, spark plugs have never been changed in over 100K miles. Removing the old ones and noticed two of them were loose! They were not even threaded into the head. The plug sockets and plugs were pretty caked in oil as well. I found the problem! (or so I thought). Gapped the new ones, put them in.

Started the car, and the engine shake was still there. I decided to let it warm up. Then....the CEL came on. Note, the CEL never was on previously. SRS light also turned on for some reason (probably unrelated).

Warm it up to normal operating temps and gased the car a bit. Engine shake disappeared and the CEL went away.

.....for about 10 seconds.

CEL came back on and engine shake returned. Sounds like a misfire from the engine and exhaust note.

Please help!! I am grateful that my parents let me use their car for so long, but I want them to have the car back in running condition!

Highlights:
1. Originally car struggles to stay on.
2. Old spark plugs weren't even threaded into the head
3. Gapped and put in new plugs
4. Started car and warmed up to normal temps
5. Engine shake and CEL blinks
6. Gassing the car will seeminly return everything to normal for about 10-15 seconds (even CEL goes away).