I have a 96 Civic Dx. The car starts up fine, but after a while..sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes the car stalls: for example when i get off the highway, and come to a slow down, the car just dies. I just start the engine again, and drive again. Things i noticed: the car barely dies out on the highway, unless i slow down to almost a complete stop. As long as it's revving alittle, it won't die out. And when it dies out, it starts up fine. Also at night when i have the headlight on, it dims. When i rev the engine it gets brighter. When i have the radio on at loud with the headlight, it also dims off and on with the beat. When it gets ready to die out, the car slows down, and you can feel it slowy dying, then the battery light usually comes on, and then quickly all the other light shows. Also i hear the fuel relay clicking. I replaced the fuel relay however. It hasn't been stalling that much before, but recently it's been stalling constantly. First i thought it might be the alternator, but the car been running like this for about 1 month. I figure the battery would drain by now if it was the alternator (weak alternator maybe?) HOW DO I CHECK IF IT'S THE ALTERNATOR without replacing it? Also I wanted to HOW DO I ADJUST THE IDLE SPEED, but I dont know where the speed adjusting screw is at. I know where it is on an EX, but not the DX. I figure maybe if I bring the idle up some, it wont stall out as much. Also i was reading the helms manual..what does "engine missing at idle speed" mean? is that what's happening to me? would a bad the spark plug cause the problem. any help appreciated.. Also can someone point out where do i adjust the idle speed and which direction it's facing from the picture?

 

boy got it all wrong im me on aim same name

 

anyone/

 

This is what I do to make sure my alternator is alright. Start up your car then pop the hood and remove the negative (black) terminal on the battery. This will make it so the car runs completely off of the alternator. The car should stay running but if it tries to die out on you then you know its the alternators problem. If it still runs it does not completely insure that the alternator is good but its a good guess that it is.
You can also get your alternator and battery tested at places like schucks, autozone, or any other large automotive stores.

 

Another easy thing to check is all grounds. When it refers to missing @ idle, it is referring to slight "bobbles" that the engine may make. You will probably have to be outside of your car to hear, unless the missing get bad. and yes a spark plug could cause it but it's doubtful that this is your problem.

 

check the output of the alternator, check the voltage at the battery cables, when the alternator is chargin. should be around 14 ish volts, if not, you may have some problems.

 

i changed the oil, spark plugs and spark plug wires..no luck...i checked the alternator...took off the positive wire, and the car still ran. does it matter if it's positive or negative that i take off?

 

Im curious if you got your problem fixed. My car did the same thing Forever. Theres a lot of people with that problem. I replaced everything I could and it still didnt help. Until yesterday I finally fixed the problem. This might sound stupid and it completely boggles my mind that this was the problem but I replaced my battery and now the cars idles perfect, never stalls and I can actually adjust the idle now. I use to try to adjust it and it would never raise. Thought you might want to give it a try.