Okay, so I have a 1998 honda civic ex. Yesterday when I went to start it, it started up, just felt sluggish. It like I guess struggled to start? And when I press the accelerator pedal its not smooth. It like studders when I press it. Switching from gears 1-3 are kind of annoying now too. I don't really know whats the issue. The engine just feels weak. I drove it on the highway last night for like an hour and a half coming home doing 85 constantly without any issues at all. I checked the spark plugs and they look a little crispy so I'm going to change them out. I'm also gonna buy a fuel cleaner to throw in the gas tank. Any other suggestions would be great, please let me know. Maybe the timing is off a couple teeth? I really need this car to be 100% for a daily driver. Thanks so much guys.

 

oh and i ran a compression test, all cylinders are pretty much the same

 

Something like this could be a number of problems.
It could be a bad catalytic converter.
I had a 98 civic ex that had a bad cat. It made it slow. That's one possibility.

 

Yeah, I'm really hating this.
I spent money on this car and it was driving well then it does this on me..
Its not throwing a CEL.
Any other suggestions? Anyone else have this problem?

 

when is the last time you have done a basic tune up to it? plug wires,cap,rotor,fuel filter..

 

I haven't yet. I just purchased the car. I will be buying new plugs, cap,rotor, fuel filter, oil change/filter within the next week. I've read some on wires, are they really necessary? The ones I have have no tears and are pretty mint condition. But rather be safe than sorry, and I could narrow out all of those things. Would that cause the engine being weak in the lower rpms?

 

im sure other people may feel different.. but the way i see it is.. if everything isnt working correctly.. the motor isnt gonna run correctly.. i mean if its not able to get a good strong spark. its not gonna run correctly.. if the timing isnt correct then it wont run correctly etc. just some examples of what i mean. hope that made since haha i was kinda rambling there

 

Haha, yeah I understand. And thanks for the responses. I'm gonna go out and buy everything for a full tune up. Hopefully that'll resolve this issue. If not, like I said people. Low RPMs it likes to studder when pressing on the accelerator pedal. It's like being a bitch going from first, second and third gear. Thanks

 

Yeah, this is exactly what mine did when I had the clogged cat.
The CEL wasn't on for mine either. It very well could be something else, but make sure to check this.

 

honDA engines don't have much power at the low end mang. so odnt count on it to pull hard when u r under like 2k revs. sorry breh

 

Does the cel work?

 

Pretty sure it does. When I turn the car into on position the CEL shows as it should then turns off after the 2 seconds or whatever.