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I have a 2000 honda civic ex misfire problem accelerating through 1st and 2nd and also seems to be doing it during idle slightly. It is hard to hear during idle. This is my first car so it is hard for me to tell, but I hear a slight bump sound every now and then during idle. At first it was only doing it every now and then so i suspected bad gas, Then it started jerking and sputtering real bad, but still off and on. A couple times when it did this I killed it or it stalled i couldnt really tell, but I was during takeoff. After that it wouldnt start at all, but I eventually got it going again after it really struggled to start. One time I couldnt get it started so i let it sit for about 2 hours then it started up like instantly on first turn over i was shocked. Currently it starts fine, but seems to start more rough than it used to. Other symptoms include sweet smelling exhaust, but NO white smoke, coolant reserve tank is low, but no signs of leaking, there was some white gunk under the valve cover cap, but i suspect that might be from it being a bit loose when i took it off and was just sucking in water. Dipstick looks good, but i check it today and I am low on oil when i should not be. I checked it right AFTER i was parked on a hill though if that makes any difference. I took it down to level ground and checked the oil. also no bubbling in the radiator when i race the motor. The spark plugs are dry, but the first two cylinders from the left are more corroded. I have a tune up kit on the way, but if that doesnt do it should I expect leaking exhaust or intake manifold? or maybe early signs of head gasket failure? Been looking into this a lot, but i have no experience. ANY input appreciated. I am determined to fix it myself. The car has 185,000 miles. One thing i forgot to mention is one time when i checked the exhaust it had some water in it, but i was thinking that was normal during winter. And as i was turning it over the couple times it wouldnt start i heard a put put sound every five second or so.

 
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have you ever done a tune up cap..rotor...wires and plugs?

 
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Just got the tune up kit going to throw it in tommorow i guess i should have tried that before posting this, but I was really worried about it being the head gasket. The exhaust smells really sweet so could that be anything else besides burning coolant? I was thinking maybe i needed a tuneup for awhile and because of it misfiring it too much maybe it blew the head a bit. Maybe i am overanalyzing it, but thanks for the response.