Civic 99 ex problems
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Civic 99 ex problems
164k mileage right now.
I'm going to be as descriptive as I can be here.
biggest issue I have right now (since the car is almost undrivable) is that the car dies whenever I do a completely stop at a stop sign around the block. It does start right away after it dies though. Engine light does not come on, only the battery and oil light do.
-my battery is about 8 month old, so I know that shouldn't be the problem.
-I don't know if it's because of my used alternator I got a couple years back as a replacement when my car died while driving and stuttering
before this happened, I had trouble starting my car. It clicks and everything but just wouldn't start. I pressed the gas pedal while turning the key and after a few tries, it finally started. This has happened twice and during when it's cold, but I feel like it's not THAT cold to make my car not want to start especially in California's weather. Car started out fine today though.
I have oil leaks coming from the bottom on the engine (below the alternator, right under the engine there). Previously, I had to resurface my head gasket due to my car being overheated and changed all the hoses. I was thinking about going to honda and let them diagnose my car for a price.
I will have to replace my radiator for sure because I usually have to refill the reservoir once per month.
I need help to fix these issues. thanks
I'm going to be as descriptive as I can be here.
biggest issue I have right now (since the car is almost undrivable) is that the car dies whenever I do a completely stop at a stop sign around the block. It does start right away after it dies though. Engine light does not come on, only the battery and oil light do.
-my battery is about 8 month old, so I know that shouldn't be the problem.
-I don't know if it's because of my used alternator I got a couple years back as a replacement when my car died while driving and stuttering
before this happened, I had trouble starting my car. It clicks and everything but just wouldn't start. I pressed the gas pedal while turning the key and after a few tries, it finally started. This has happened twice and during when it's cold, but I feel like it's not THAT cold to make my car not want to start especially in California's weather. Car started out fine today though.
I have oil leaks coming from the bottom on the engine (below the alternator, right under the engine there). Previously, I had to resurface my head gasket due to my car being overheated and changed all the hoses. I was thinking about going to honda and let them diagnose my car for a price.
I will have to replace my radiator for sure because I usually have to refill the reservoir once per month.
I need help to fix these issues. thanks
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Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 110
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Re: Civic 99 ex problems
What do you mean you resurfaced the head gasket? Do you mean, resurfaced the head and replaced the head gasket? Do you have any visible coolant leaks? Does the oil look like it's coming from where the head and block meet? Have you checked your oil to see if it looks creamy? Have you tried a compression test on each cylinder? These are all things you should check and try.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Mar 2020
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Re: Civic 99 ex problems
As a suggestion, you need to divide and conquer here. What I mean is that we are not sure if this is an electrical issue, fuel issue, or something else mechanically wrong. The first thing to do is see what you can check yourself. To me, a dying at idle could be fuel or spark should be looked at. This to me is usually getting a fuel pressure gauge to see if it's fuel just dropping away (implying the fuel pump or maybe the fuel relay) and then dying or spark. To test spark, I would at least pull the plugs and examine the wires (if it was me, I would replace them since I am there and it's not much money, especially if it has never been done). You can also jiggle the ignition to make sure it's got nothing to do with this as a loose/bad ignition can turn off the car although I would think this would happen all the time, not just at idle.
The clicks make me think a distributor, but again, it could be the cap/rotor is just completely worn and these issues are tied together. bad poor spark causing the difficult start and the idle cutting out. That's why to me it's a cheap thing to throw on the car and anyone can do it.
The leaks on this car are usually the valve cover and oil pan. I personally did not find these difficult to replace, simply tedious but didn't require much in the way of tools or cost. I presume the oil pan is what is leaking. You have mentioned the heads, but hopefully that is not the head gasket.
Again, if it were me, I would replace the cap/rotor on ditributor, all wires, and the plugs unless this was done recently. At least then you are narrowing that side of the equation (electrical) to the distributor on what is providing the electricity. I don't think the alternator is the issue unless it's loose (check belts and wiring to make sure it's a solid connection and tightly in place) because if it was, a bad alternator would have a mostly dead battery and the car probably would not start back up.
You will also want to break out the multimeter to check for voltage to the fuel relay and pump to make sure things are getting there and also look solid.
The clicks make me think a distributor, but again, it could be the cap/rotor is just completely worn and these issues are tied together. bad poor spark causing the difficult start and the idle cutting out. That's why to me it's a cheap thing to throw on the car and anyone can do it.
The leaks on this car are usually the valve cover and oil pan. I personally did not find these difficult to replace, simply tedious but didn't require much in the way of tools or cost. I presume the oil pan is what is leaking. You have mentioned the heads, but hopefully that is not the head gasket.
Again, if it were me, I would replace the cap/rotor on ditributor, all wires, and the plugs unless this was done recently. At least then you are narrowing that side of the equation (electrical) to the distributor on what is providing the electricity. I don't think the alternator is the issue unless it's loose (check belts and wiring to make sure it's a solid connection and tightly in place) because if it was, a bad alternator would have a mostly dead battery and the car probably would not start back up.
You will also want to break out the multimeter to check for voltage to the fuel relay and pump to make sure things are getting there and also look solid.
And, sorry for the late reply. I had to order the spark wires online and took a while to get them. I changed the spark wires and the plugs, and it managed to fix the issues? I've been driving the car around and hasn't stall since I replaced them. The next test will be during the colder days, which will be later the year for Cali.
Other part I replaced was the O-ring because I thought that might be the issue for the leak, but it wasn't.
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