I have a 1990 honda civic sedan. i'm currently having a little problem with it. my check engine light is on and i want it gone. the car starts up on a cold start with no check engine light, give it about 5 mins every morning so it can heat up, and after i put it on drive, it idles and shuts off. i turn it back on and do the same thing without giving it time to heat up but accelerate as soon as i put it in drive then the check engine light turns on, idles, and just continues normally. while on, the muffler spits a little bit of water not allot, and smells, but no white smoking! some say it's the 02 sensor but i really don't know. anybody had a similar problem like mine? i'd appreciate the help.

thanks in advance.

 

If the check engine light is on your first priority should be to retrieve the code. Anything other than that is randomly guessing and to be blunt a complete waste of time since the ECU is already trying to tell you something is wrong.

 

Pull the carpet back on the passenger's side front floor. Underneath is a panel with a small clear window that will blink a red LED.

count the blinks.

A long blink (light that stays on for a second then turns off) counts as 10
A short blink (rapid blinking) counts as 1

so long, long, short, short, is 22 as an example.