My GF's Civic has been having this problem for a little while. I changed the plugs and it helped a little, but it still did it. The plugs had deposits on them that looked like the car was running rich, so I figured it was an ignition problem. I changed the wires, cap, and rotor ( the coil had already been replaced when the original part failed)--and it helped a lot, but it still does it once in a while. Before, the car would shake and feel as though it was going to stall (although it never did), now it just feels rough sometimes. Turning the AC off makes the problem stop, but I figured that was B/C there was less load on the engine. The rotor was in really rough shape, so I figured that was the problem, but the problem just doesn't seem to have gone away completely. The car has 102k miles and the mods are in the sig. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

alright.... does it idle rough when you start the car? does it go away after the car is warm?

if these are some symptoms you might check your IAVC and might want to clean it

 

my car does that too. i just changed the plugs and it runs a lil better, but if i rev a little then let off, it feels like its gunna stall, but hasnt yet, since the plugs. it gets worse as it warms up.

 

No, It actually behaves itself better when the car is cooler, then it happens when the car is warmed up. I shoud probably clean the IACV anyway, any tips I should know?

97Civhatch, sounds like you got the same problem, does it surge sometimes when you accelerate?

 

Any of you all notice problems getting into gear or any tranny/clutch problems along withthis at all?

 

no tranny problems here. and i dont know if it runs wired cuz i havent driven it yet, since the new plugs. the problem all started when i was only running 1 o2 sensor, it would stall whenever i came to a stop.(?) i dont know why that would have anything to do with it or if it wuz a coincidence. i have a cel and i think its the secondary o2 sensor, but i havent checked yet.

 

Pull the CEL... it sounds kinda like a bad O2 sensor.... When the car is cold...for the first 2 mins or so of running, the ecu won't take O2 readings and the car would run better.

X2

 

i have this rough idle prob too, and whenever it happens the auto tranny would take a few seconds to engage into first.

 

Well...getting rid of those BOSCH peices of crap wouldn't hurt either. Just get a set of stock NGK's. They are the bomb for a lightly modded car. NGK makes spark-plugs for damn rockets into outer space...Bosch can suck my pee-pee.

 

bosch's cant be that bad dude. they have a good reputation for everything else they make. i dunno, how much different can one o2 sensor be from another?

 

tips to clean iacv. usually just two 12mm bolts, use some carb choke cleaner.. or some other evaporative cleanser.

 

All of these ideas are great, but if the car has a 102k miles I have to ask.... have you ever changed the timing belt. Also, you might just need your timing adjusted. I'd give it a complete tune-up and then see how it responds.

Good luck man

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mugen76 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">tips to clean iacv. usually just two 12mm bolts, use some carb choke cleaner.. or some other evaporative cleanser. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm a computer nerd, trying to learn about cars. What's an IACV? Is that part of the throttle body?

 

SpyderZEX: I Don't think the timing belt has been replaced, do you think that's something that I could do myself with "basic hand tools" (pretty good mechanical aptitude)? I'm still fairly new to working on Civics, but it seems pretty straightforward so far (not like my car )

X2BOARD: An O2 sensor change is probably something I should do no matter what - thanks.

GTIvr82: Yeah, I'm not to crazy about the bosch's. I'm going to get some NGK's for my Trans Am pretty soon, I'll probably get some for the Civic, too -- you wouldn't happen to know a model # for NGK's for a 96 Civic EX, would you?

Neptune: Never noticed any trans. problems, but it's probably time to get it serviced anyway.


Thanks everyone for all the help

 

also I had this problem for a while and I replaced the stock ignitor with an external coil.. and a cap that allowed it's use... that fixed all the probs... for a while.

now I have a different rough idle much worse... ever since I did ES motor mounts. i found my lower driver side mount was loose I tightened that and it smoothed it out a little...

But ya a good solid tune including timing belt and adjustment would probobly do wonders for ya.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NonovUrbizniz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">also I had this problem for a while and I replaced the stock ignitor with an external coil.. and a cap that allowed it's use... </TD></TR></TABLE>

I was looking in to doing that, do you think it's worthwhile?

 

YES.... Mine ran like **** before and it's was ALL gone once I did that.... I'm sure that if I had bought a stock honda ignitor it would have gone away too... but the msd cap and coil where CHEAPER than the honda parts... and they're MUCH better units. No question... I'd recomend it to EVERYONE.

good luck