annabell_m

My 2002 Civic is starting no problem, idles well, drives great, until I get to about half a tank and then it will give me a slipping/stutter feeling under the gas peddle. As soon as I take my foot off the gas, the stutter stops, will happen on and off as I press the gas. It's very inconsistent when I press the gas, hasn't stalled out or given me more then a fear it's just gonna die on me. Doesn't seem to make a difference what gear I'm in, or speed I'm going. Just noticed when I fill the tank, it goes away until I get down to half a tank. I'm guessing it's the fuel filter. Any other suggestions of what I should look into changing to fix this issue?

ezone

Got a check engine light on?

annabell_m

Yes, it's come on and off. It came on when the stutter first started. Filled the tank, put in half a can of sea foam in and the light went off and stutter went away. Drove 500kms and the stutter came back and the light turned back on. Filled the tank, stutter went away again.

ezone

Well that's a good place to start.
Please post the fault code(s) and the freeze frame data.

annabell_m

I haven't got a reader, I can take it somewhere tomorrow to get a reading. I didn't think those things really worked. I'm not used to "newer" cars where the computer actually works. I've always driven older models. Without a reading, does my car's issue sound like anything familiar mechanic wise?

ezone

Welcome to the new century. LOL

The really good computer scanners are nothing short of a mind reading miracle for the people that can utilize all the info, power, and controls they can provide.

The cheapo readers may not be much better than what you are thinking. Ok when they work right, but sometimes can be horribly inaccurate...and you can easily be led on a wild goose chase due to a wrong code number.

No matter what, they are only tools. They cannot fix a car.
It takes a human that can really use their brain cells to put those tools to good use, effectively.

I can sometimes get a lot farther with minimal info than most, simply because of extensive experience, but not always.

There are not a whole lot of problems that are really fixed with the knuckle dragging caveman mentality of "Read code. Throw part. Ugh.", no matter how much people want to dumb it down to that level.
Maybe you've only dealt with this sort?



Not really. Yes on the way you describe how it runs bad, but your fuel tank level connection to the symptom is not ringing a bell yet.
That's why I want more info about what the computer saw, what it detected as a problem, and hopefully more about what was going on at the time the code set.

annabell_m

Yeah, I've never had any luck with them. Just the goose chase experience so I rely on the old fashion way of doing things. Listen to what my car is having issues with, read the Hanes manual, try to fix what I think might be causing the issue, and then keep trying the books suggestions until it's fixed. Just replacing the fuel filter on this model is quite the adventure so I was hoping someone would have an other suggestion on something to try first. Was silly of Honda to put the filter in the tank as appose to under the hood where it is located in other years.

ezone

My career as a top gun troubleshooter would be over damn quick if I took that approach.


I hate working on cars.
I like to fix them.


I sure wouldn't do it without proof or a darn good reason. Almost any component you suspect is bad can be proven or deduced as such, without guesswork.

It might require time and more tools though.
Agreed.