I just got my car back today. Basically this is the run down. My car overheated, and due to the fact that I was missing the cap and tube that connects the coolant overflow reservoir tank to the radiator, it sprayed coolant all over my distributor and most of the motor. Two weeks prior to this the entire distributor was replaced, new spark plugs/wires and whatnot, basically a full tune up.

So I took the car in, I blew a head gasket is what I was told. After looking at it, my mechanic said my head wasn’t warped and didn’t need to “be sent in to get reshaven”. So he replaced the just the head gasket, the water pump, my timing belt along with all the other belts (A/C etc.) and some pulleys and a tensioner.

Before all this and still; the car bogs, as in, when I would push the gas, it would “put put” along in first and just, well, bogs totally and doesn’t go much of anywhere, and same with the higher gears and when downshifting. The car sounds absolutely horrible. The exhaust pops when it bogs also. I spent over 1500$ on this thus far, and what gets me is that the problem still exists.

What else or what can still be the problem with this? Any suggestions and help is very much appreciated. I live in Chicago, so if by chance anyone can assist me in person, I would be very grateful, also would pay for the help of course. Or if anyone knows a shop around Chicago or the suburbs that I can go to.

Thanks for the help guys.

Tony
Also, my SN for AOLIM is "teh zyk" if you use aim.

 

Did you check your timing? That sounds like a classic symptom of retarded timing to me. Just a thought.

 

Actually yes, he messed with it while I was there. He said it was all correct. But in fact just now, I had to drive a friend somewhere, as the car was cold, it was ok and really didn't chug. It was odd because I purposely got into the car to show my friend the chugging and bogging it makes. Then after about 10 minutes of driving and the motor warming up, it started. Pulling into my street from 3rd downshifting to 2nd I gave it about half or so throttle and it totally bogged and chugged its way until I shifted into 3rd. When it bogs/chugs the car of course shakes and you can feel it(of course).

So basically, while cold, it's ok. But after it's warmed up, it starts. My friend told me it could be a hot spot due to the overheat causing a pre detention and misfire (the bogging and chugging). But like I said, I just replaced the head gasket, and my mechanic said the head was ok.

Once again, thanks for the help.

 

Another note; it dosen't really do it in the higher RPMS, just when its lower.

 

i have the same problem, lower rpms bogs the whole time but if i stomp it, it will straighten out. I replaced much of the same and did the timing. I also have a a/f guage and when it bogs the gauge goes rich to lean, it completely flips out. No idea what it is

 

That's really odd and alot of people tell me its alot of different things. But if i found out I'll post it for sure. But we have alot of smart people that browse around here, so I'm sure when someone gets a chance to view this I'll get some good opinions.

Sorry to hear about your ride to :[ But if mine bogs, and I floor it, it will still do it, but clear up like yours. So very weird.

 

we need to find an answer for this because i have to travel 12 hours to college in two weeks, and none of local domestic mechanics know anything bout a honda so im pretty screwed in mississippi

 

I have to say its timing related. do you have a buddy that can let you try out their distributor?

 

will an hx distributor match an ex, because it is obd2 but is a different computer than all others so i dont know if it will match

 

Mine was doing that in the lower rpms (below 3000) turns out it was my plug wires. It's probably spark related.

 

not sure about the hx distributor. you don't have any friends with ex's or whatever car you have?

 

the hx and vx have the same vtec-e which uses a different computer so i dont know if the distributor would be different or the same as an ex

 

what year is your car? what year is the distributor you wanna use? I'm pretty sure the hx and ex would work the same except for the vx since its for the 92-95 and your sig says 98 civic.

 

yeah the vx had the economy v-tec 92-95 engine which also used a different computer and a 5-wire o2 sensor. Mine is a 98 hx coupe which has the same economy v-tec and 5-wire sensor and a computer that is not compatiable for a swap with an ex in the 96-98 years. Since my computer is different than other 96-98 ex,dx,lx,ect i was wonderin would the distributor also be different or would i have to go buy a new hx distributor just to check to see if that was the problem

 

i got tha same problem. stutters around 3k n wen i floor it, its stops. i changed out plugs, wires, ignitor, and distributor. could it be o2 related? cuz my cel throws a code 41(bad o2) here n there. i also heard if u change out ur cap to a msd cap w/ coil it could maybe solve this problem. but i havent gotten around to it. somebody plz help cuz this **** is annoying.

 

the ex one should work since you can use a vx on an ex on the 92-95 civics. I would try it out.

 

so ne of u guys solve this porblem yet?

 

still tryin to fix it, any luck guys

 

Heres the scoop on my car. Its actually gotten worse. I just left work and came here to my girlfriends house, and my car is getting horribly bad. Pretty much, the car sat for about 4-5 hours while I worked. Then after about 5 minutes of driving the bogging began. Same as before, but more and more as I drove. In all gears, lower and higher rpms. When I was about 2 miles away from my girlfriends, the car did NOTHING but bog; it just putted along. Like the sound of a dirt bike, when you drive off or rev up a bike. The popping it makes, before it did it constantly like I said. I drove around the block, floored it, and it just bogged and didnt want to accelerate much, it crept into second, but didnt clear up, bogged in 2nd, same in third, it would clear up for a split second, then bog again. Like I said, it sounds like a dirk bike exhaust, and it just doesnt move.

I also noticed that after I turned the car off and opened the hood, that the radiator was shooting a lot of steam into the overflow coolant tank. Could it be a cooling problem? My brothers friend said it could be the O2 sensor, while my mechanic said it could be the thermostat.

Someone has to know something, or please anyone in Chicago. Thanks again.

Tony

 

Ok try these things:

1. Check your plug firing order it should be 1-3-4-2 if it isnt this you can get a popping noise.

2. Check your timing, put th car in neutral, take off the tb cover, turn the crank (front left tire well, behind the tire) till the white mark is even with the notch on the lower tb cover. When this is lined up look the the cam gear, the marks should be even wit the arrows on the cover.

3. Check CEL the ECU is throwing.

Do this, let us know what you find and we can figure this out.

Hope this helps
Dan

 

I am slowly beginning to develop (on a very small scale) this prob. too. I will def. see what it could be. Did you try getting a new coil, O2 sensor, and check that all sensors are working properly. Could it even be the ecu is faulty or going bad?

 

i finally fixed my problem 2day. wut i did was finally swap out a new o2 sensor and i also played wit tha idle control screw(sorry 4got wut its called) on tha tb. so now every thing seems to be running fine.

 

hmmmmm....I might have to pic up a O2 sensor.

 

I'm going to try what you said Dan today, and I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for the help, I really appricate it.

 

hope it aint my o2 sensor for my car because i new oem one for the 5-wire hx is 400 dollars