2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
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Ok, so my wife took the car to work this morning like normal. At her exit, she said the CEL came on and at the stop light, the car began to shake really bad. She was able to make the alst 1/8 mile to her parking lot and turned it off. Said it was a little sluggish, but didn't use much gas pedal because of the shake. I went by at lunch and checked it out. It does shake quite a bit in the engine bay when given gas, but not terribly at idle. RPMs are still around 1k mark at idle. The CEL does come on. We had the timing belt and water pump replaced at 128k and we are at 158k. I've been slowly fixing the car up just from years of wear and tear, but nothing has been done in the engine bay. from struts replaced. Needs brake pads now too. Any ideas on what might have suddenly caused this to stutter and shake? Could timing have slipped or maybe plugs gone bad? It's in a parking lot and getting towed tonight to our local shop. Couldn't work on it because I am at work too and it's in the office parking lot. Otherwise I'd start diagnosing myself.
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Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
one of the valve cover/spark plug seals could have leaked oil down into the spark plug/ignition coil area,
if that is the case then what they are saying is probably correct,
you would not see any oil leaking onto the ground
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Is there an actual coil pack, or is each individual to the cylinder/plug? I'm hoping they are replacing all 4 if they are single. Honest truth, I didn't know there weren't really coil wires and boots on the Civic. I've never messed internally with the engine except oil changes and filter replacements. The quote was $275. I'm sure it's high, but I don't have time and the car was not in a place I could work on it unfortunately.
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Check the compression too. Misfires can happen because of valves too. I thought I had a bad coil pack on my last car and it turned out to be a burnt valve.
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They are replacing the valve cover gasket and the coil/packs tomorrow and installing some odds and ends I've not gotten to do myself. If it turns out that wasn't the problem, then it will be under warranty at least and if the problem comes back, it's on them to fix it. I'd imagine they do compression tests to see if it's the cylinders, but I will ask if they did when they call about my other parts tomorrow.
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They are replacing the valve cover gasket and the coil/packs tomorrow and installing some odds and ends I've not gotten to do myself. If it turns out that wasn't the problem, then it will be under warranty at least and if the problem comes back, it's on them to fix it. I'd imagine they do compression tests to see if it's the cylinders, but I will ask if they did when they call about my other parts tomorrow.
#10
If you think a good mechanic is expensive, try hiring a bad one
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12 mo/12k mile on their work. Installed all my parts and fixed the initial problem. Pretty happy with those guys. Would have had to cut the bolt on my rear strut assembly to install them myself, so got them to install those and the LCAs I bought on here. And brake pads since they had the front apart anyways. Wifes car so as long as she's happy, I'm happy. Done in a day.
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EDIT: NEVERMIND... I think I confused the power steering reservoir with the brake fluid reservoir! Geez.. now I feel stupid. I quick glanced it yesterday and didn't pay much attention. But the brake pedal still feels a little soft anyways. I just need to top off the PS fluid too now... lol
So hears a question for you. I had them change the brake pads assuming they were worn, but what they took off the car looked pretty good still. That being said, they did replace them anyway and my fluid reservoir didn't change volume at all. It was at Low before the new pads and still is at Low. I changed them myself previously maybe 5-6 years ago or so and when I did, compressing the piston filled it back up. Could this be leaking a little? I don't have any noticeable leaks at all anywhere. The brake pedal seems a little soft too. Should I add fluid and pump the brakes to make it better? I had assumed the pads were worn due to the low volume in the reservoir.
So hears a question for you. I had them change the brake pads assuming they were worn, but what they took off the car looked pretty good still. That being said, they did replace them anyway and my fluid reservoir didn't change volume at all. It was at Low before the new pads and still is at Low. I changed them myself previously maybe 5-6 years ago or so and when I did, compressing the piston filled it back up. Could this be leaking a little? I don't have any noticeable leaks at all anywhere. The brake pedal seems a little soft too. Should I add fluid and pump the brakes to make it better? I had assumed the pads were worn due to the low volume in the reservoir.
Last edited by Strycker; 10-14-2015 at 02:56 PM.
#15
If you think a good mechanic is expensive, try hiring a bad one
Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
EDIT: NEVERMIND... I think I confused the power steering reservoir with the brake fluid reservoir! Geez.. now I feel stupid. I quick glanced it yesterday and didn't pay much attention. But the brake pedal still feels a little soft anyways. I just need to top off the PS fluid too now... lol
So hears a question for you. I had them change the brake pads assuming they were worn, but what they took off the car looked pretty good still. That being said, they did replace them anyway and my fluid reservoir didn't change volume at all. It was at Low before the new pads and still is at Low.
Some people do it that way.
I changed them myself previously maybe 5-6 years ago or so and when I did, compressing the piston filled it back up. Could this be leaking a little? I don't have any noticeable leaks at all anywhere. The brake pedal seems a little soft too. Should I add fluid and pump the brakes to make it better? I had assumed the pads were worn due to the low volume in the reservoir.
Check the rear wheel cylinders for leakage?
Refill and keep an eye on it?
Uh..... If fluid disappears with no evidence of leaks, it could go into the booster. Not likely, but it's possible.
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Oh Lord, don't pour the wrong fluid in either reservoir! Crap gets real expensive when you do that.
IF someone opened the bleeders while compressing the pistons in, that could cause the reservoir level to be low.
Some people do it that way.
Shoulda eyeballed the pads first.
Check the rear wheel cylinders for leakage?
Refill and keep an eye on it?
Uh..... If fluid disappears with no evidence of leaks, it could go into the booster. Not likely, but it's possible.
IF someone opened the bleeders while compressing the pistons in, that could cause the reservoir level to be low.
Some people do it that way.
Shoulda eyeballed the pads first.
Check the rear wheel cylinders for leakage?
Refill and keep an eye on it?
Uh..... If fluid disappears with no evidence of leaks, it could go into the booster. Not likely, but it's possible.
#17
If you think a good mechanic is expensive, try hiring a bad one
Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
She didn't even hear the metal clunks from the
Rear brake shoes probably need done too. $$$$$ cha-ching
Brand new they are only 4mm thick.
Most of the rear shoes can outlast the cars they are in IMO.
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Well we took it on a 400 mile adventure this past weekend and everything seems okay. Still a noise (like a clunk) up front on bigger bumps. Thought the LCA bushings would fix that, so now I'm not sure what that noise might be. Any thoughts? It could be a motor mount. Would ball joints make a clunking? I would have thought they would notice those and tell me at the garage if they needed replacing. It's at 160k miles right now.
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Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
at the garage
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No, I haven't, but I did tell them I was replacing the LCAs for the broken bushing because of a clunking. They test drive the car 40 miles around town during it's day at the shop from the odometer reading, so I would suspect they would have noticed it. Maybe it never did it. I don't know.
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