It's been awhile since I was here to replace a flashing D4 light which I finally figured out to be the shift sensor at the bottom front right of my 98 civic. Anyways...

My 2002 honda civic is being sluggish, my wife drives it all the time and I've been a little behind on the maintenance lately, I do regular oil and filter changes and it's got about 240,000 km on it already, and there's no error lights.

One thing I did notice is that the air sensor in the airbox (I think that's what it is) I pulled it out and the little plastic covered tip on the end was bent at a 45 degree angle ??? So, I bent it back straight. I don't know if it's supposed to be bent or what, maybe that's the cause of my acceleration issues?

First I have to check the airfilter and sparkplugs, maybe cap and rotors?

But barring that is there anything else that regularly could be the cause of sluggish acceleration (it's not too bad) but it's not nearly as peppy as my 1998. Maybe a fuel filter but then wouldn't that cause an error light to pop on?

Anyways, any help and input would be much appreciated.

 

Transmission fluid?

 

The sensor in the air cleaner (driver's side of it) is the intake air temperature (IAT) sensor. I took this apart last week as part of my timing belt job. No, it is not supposed to be bent. Still, I would think if there were a problem with the IAT sensor, a code would be thrown.

Agreed about changing out the air cleaner and plugs. Also consider replacing the PCV valve and the oxygen sensor. Get either a Denso or NGK oxygen sensor. The O2 sensor may be had online for around $40. Honda-tech is now seeing reports of failing oxygen sensors (and corresponding bad running) on the 01-05 Civics that do not throw a check engine light.

My shop manual says to check the fuel pressure regulator and fuel pump, then check the fuel pressure. If the fuel pressure is not between 40 and 47 psi, then change the fuel filter. I think you have to go into the gas tank to do this.

The 2001-05 Civics do not have a distributor cap and rotor. Instead, each cylinder has its own ignition coil.