so out of the blue's the car wouldnt pass 4k rpm and would feel sluggish like the car was being pulled back. in neutral, it revs fine but in any gear while driving it wont let the car pass 4k rpm. any ideas to what is happening here?

car is a 2002 civic hatch si

 

Sounds like you're in limp mode for whatever reason. I think if you go to Autozone or w/e the hell it's called, they can give you a code with their snazzy machine or something.

 

change the oil. mine did this about a month ago and that fixed it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dcdcdc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
car is a 2002 civic hatch si</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ah, i didn't see this the first time. Reading properly ftw

Try here https://honda-tech.com/zeroforum/32

 

it could be that your oil is too dark or your cat back is messed up

 

take it to honda

TTT

 

oil change.

/thread

 

idk i had the same problem w/my base rsx it wouoldnt go past 4rpm's and in neutral it would be fine....i suggest u let it sit overnite in ur driveway that pretty much worked for me and never happened again or u can just take it to the dealer

 

you could have a clogged cat or muffler that happened to my gf's car and it took me like a month to figure it out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lucky4586 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you could have a clogged cat or muffler.</TD></TR></TABLE>

what do you mean 'clogged'? like theres carbon build inside? i will definitely try the oil change since it worked for a few people.

 

update, i did the oil change and wow it worked! now can someone explain to me how/why the car knew that the oil was bad and put it in 'limp' mode. thanks to all that replied.

 

Yes carbon build up in the cat, and i would also like to know how the car knew it needed new oil... or was it just really low on it? how many miles where on the oil when you changed it?

 

hahah 5k since the last time. but hey anyone know how the car knew??

 

how much oil did it have in it? was it low on oil at all? if so maybe by oil psi.

 

honda programmed the computer so it knows you need an oil change every 3k miles. if the computer didnt get reset the last time or you go way over the engine keeps track of the milage and when it hits a certain number (im thinking 5k cuz mine was at that milage too) it starts to 'protect' the engine by limiting revs. it might sound like a pain in the *** but if it helps protect my engine i'll deal with it!

 

thanks for the answer.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 03turboem2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">honda programmed the computer so it knows you need an oil change every 3k miles. if the computer didnt get reset the last time or you go way over the engine keeps track of the milage and when it hits a certain number (im thinking 5k cuz mine was at that milage too) it starts to 'protect' the engine by limiting revs. it might sound like a pain in the *** but if it helps protect my engine i'll deal with it!</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is not true. The reason this is not true is because, we don't have a oil life counter system like the newer cars have. Like on the TL, Malibu, BMW's, etc. where you have to reset the computer after every oil change just so the computer reads the oil life correctly. We do not need to reset our computer after every oil change.

The reason his engine went into limp mode was because the ecu recognized that the oil pressure was low and it won't be safe for high rpm operation. Thats why before you reach the point of limp mode, you will notice that vtec stops working when you over due for an oil change. You need oil pressure for vtec to work properly. When your seriously due for an oil change limp mode will occur.

 

Thats what I thought but wasn't sure.

 

you guys don't change your oil until you have problems huh?

 

i change mine every 5000 miles cuz i run synthetic. when i had the problem with the revs cutting out i had been on a long trip for work and had racked up lots of miles fast and hadnt had time to change the oil yet.