Hi everyone! I'm relatively new to the forum and I've posted once or twice, but my Cr-v is having problems and my mechanic and I are a little lost.

I got the car used and was sort of in a rush due to school, but I knew it had some problems but they've gotten worse.

The car has 3 codes right now, p0420, p0430, p1381. I know the first 2 are related to emissions and I've been told to try a new o2 sensor. The p1381 is cylinder position sensor?

The car sometimes seems underpowered and idles rough sometimes. It almost always idles low (500-600 rpm) and will occasionally stall. It seems more common coming off of the highway.

There is a high pitched squeal/whistle/screeching sound driving at 3k rpm exactly. I thought it might have been a wheel bearing at first but it only happens at 3k. I also think it might have something to do with the exhaust and maybe is related to the cat codes.

My mechanic couldn't get the car to stall consistently enough to diagnose that problem but said it may be the distributor, but $250 for a new one is a lot of money to be unsure.

Also it needed a head gasket about 6 months back so valves were adjusted during that repair

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

 

First and foremost - find a better "mechanic". There is a high possibility the catalytic converter is bad as a result of the blown head gasket or improper timing. This means that either the mechanical timing was possibly not set right or the ignition timing and possibly both. These are all relatively VERY easy things to check, and basic mechanic functions. Like I said, find a new mechanic that actually knows how to work on cars.

 

Thanks for the reply!

Okay, typically they do a good job especially when its the owner of the shop or his right hand man, but they've started to gain a lot more business and I'm worried that my car has been in the hands of the new guys they had to hire so you're probably right about finding a new place.

After checking timing, is there an aftermarket replacement cat that is reliable if that turns out to be the case?

And could bad ignition timing be the cause of the p1381 code? I tried some searching on here and it seems like most people have had to rebuild or replace the distributor but I don't want to assume and just throw parts at it.

 

The high pitch sound at 3000 rpm is probably a loose V belt, check for slack on either one of them. Now, on the P0420 code on my V the cat. converter was replaced with an aftermarket one and the code never came back.

 

You and your mechanic are basicly making guesses without even doing any diagnosis and that is what sad about this post. Look up what the code is, download the helms repair manual, and follow the guide to troubleshoot the codes.

 

Okay, thanks for the info

I'm trying my best to not just randomly guess. I've checked out the codes and researched on here and I have a manual also. My mechanic just couldn't give me a definite answer because he couldn't get it to run bad/stall consistently enough for a sure answer. The spark plugs are good, wires are good, contacts were good from what I could tell when I took the distributor cap off. It'll go for a few weeks without stalling and then out of nowhere stall 3-4 times in one day. I checked the fuel filter, then ran some injector cleaner

I'm also limited on what i can do because I'm away at school

 

Try to meet some local honda kids, should be easy enough in any college town. Search for local boards. If you find some, give one a couple bucks to use a known good dizzy for testing. All the bolts dont have to line up, just get it close enough and set the timing. You'll have a small oil leak, but if you are trying to figure it out on the cheap that will work.

As far as the O2 sensor. You can bypass it with resistors or by a plug setup to just get rid of it.
Ecofriendly , no, but whateva.

 

So you bought a cheapo, do you even have plans of doing any maintenance? That can probably eliminate issues for example a squealing belt. Have you taken a look at the pcv valve to see if its gunk with oil?

 

Yeah i've been trying to find some car groups to meet with. Surprisingly there aren't many hondas. Its sort of a mountain town with a lot of subarus but I'm sure I could find someone. Okay that sounds good, Thanks

I did buy a cheapo, but not to just beat into the ground, just because of financial reasons. I do have plans for maintenance, like I said i'm limited but I do what I can. Just this time around I'm playing the game of figure out what the last owner didn't tell me and then maintain it when everything is fixed. I actually figured out the squeal today, one of the heat shields on the exhaust is starting to rust out and I have a small exhaust leak as well. I haven't checked the PVC valve yet but I will check that next

Thank you guys for the suggestions so far, I really appreciate it

 

My Cr-V is also throwing the P0420 code. Apparently it's quite common in the First Gen. I purchased my 98 also used, needing TLC. Financial reasons as well. So far, the only issues has been the p0420 which by itself is a major pain in the ***.

How is your gas economy? Notice a decrease in the MPG? That and the overall power of the engine should be the first thing to monitor. If both of those start to decrease the Cat is most likely the issue.

 

Edit: I guess this site does not state the term OP as the original poster, so when I say OP I mean user bakerdd

OP - click the link below to grab the Honda Repair Manual. You'll want this manual for this problem and future issues and maintenance.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...77412846,d.aWw

engine-codes.com is also a good site for general engine codes and their likely causes.

The RM shows you where the idle screw adjuster is, and basically everything you will need to know about toying with it all to get it working right. Considering the age of the vehicle you very well may have a dirty dirty cat (there's a bad adult joke in there somewhere) so might as well start planning on replacing it some day. You can find them for around $140 on the low end at Partsgeek. Many will be rabid at the mouth about only getting OEM parts. If your wallet can take it go for it, otherwise just get something reliable you can afford.

 

Hey, thanks for the link! Even though you know I have the paper back version of the repair manual it is nice to have it in PDF as well.

 

Thanks for the manual Sir!

 

What's a dizzy?

 

Tooo many rotations on the old tire swing...




Distributor.

 

No problemo. The only thing - it is an image scan of the manual, so there are no links/bookmarks in it. You can't search for any text, and can't jump to any section. Maddening! I envy your paper manual.

 

 

I agree withmaco35. The squeal sounds like a belt. They do need to be pretty snug. Of course if they are old and glazed, they should (all) be replaced.

One additional possibility that was not mentioned is to perform a compression test. Your mechanic can do it in about 15 minutes and it will rule out a lot of potential problems. Since you replaced the head gasket 6 months ago, you should verify that it was done properly.

A blown head gasket (accompanied by overheating) might result in a warped head which won't seat properly on a new gasket. The overheating could also result in a burned valve which slowly gets progressively worse. This would result in low power, rough idling, poor gas mileage and occasional stalling.

The mechanic should have checked the head for flatness when he replaced the gasket. He also should have inspected the valves and the valve seats before replacing the head gasket. The exhaust valves are always suspect because they normally run hotter than the intake valves. This is Standard Operating Procedure.

A warped head and valve re-seating/replacement should be repaired at a competent machine shop. This is no job for a mechanic.

Hopefully your compression is ok, but if it turns out you have a blown gasket / warped head / burned valve, then your "mechanic" should re-do the head gasket replacement at no charge. You will, of course, need to pay the machine shop.

 

Thanks for the Service Manual link. My 98 CRV will find it useful.