NeopolitanDream

As the title suggests, I've got an '03 civic ex that has the code "P0341" for a bit over a year now.

When the Check Engine Light originally came on and the code appeared, the lack of power and low idle was immediately noticeable. Due to me being a careless idiot, I continued driving it like this for a while.

Soon after it would stutter frequently during my long commute home. Not too long after that it would die, randomly. Sometimes it would start fine, others times, not a chance.

I did a little research and not being very much car-savvy, I found it difficult to be able to diagnose the apparently many, different things that could be causing my issue.

I ended replacing the spark plugs and the camshaft position sensor. Cleared the code and drove for a few weeks with seemingly no issue, until one day while out running errands. The CEL came back up right before I parked at a store I had to stop at and trying to make it home, the car once again started sputtering and then promptly died, luckily only a block from my place. Same code came up.

Unfortunately shortly after this began to happen again, a lot of personal issues arose and I was unable to continue to trying to diagnose the issue. It's been sitting at my parent's place while I have been unemployed, dealing with some things.

Luckily though I will be picking up a bit extra cash and figured I should finally do something with it.

The last time I checked up on the car, the battery had completely died so I wasn't able to really do much in the way of diagnosing.

I've dug around these forums a bit and saw a couple of other posts with the same general issue but a lot of it just goes right over my head since I have zero car sense. Would any of the possible home-fixes be reasonable for an average joe like me? And assuming the absolute worst-case scenario for this problem, would anyone here happen to know how much a mechanic might charge for fixing this - like the absolute most this would run me? Also... a family friend (an actual mechanic) I talked to a while back said that it could be a timing belt issue, though while doing my "research" I don't think I saw this as a possiblily, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks so much to anyone who provides information.

LAST SECOND ADDITION:
I forgot to mention, that before any of these issues cropped up, the car previously had been wrecked due to incredibly bone-headed lapse of critical thinking from me. The damage done can be seen here: https://imgur.com/a/l50igwQ

I was financially challenged at the time this happened so it ended up being "fixed" by a local "fixer-upper". When I received the car back after multiple weeks of long delays, it had so many other issues. Luckily many were only cosmetic - oddly fitting hood, steering wheel misaligned.. I only bring this up as I want to be sure any and all possibly pertinent info is out there.

(ps I'm new so pls dont blast me too hard if i forget something D

BrotatoChip

When you replaced the camshaft position sensor did you use a Honda genuine sensor or one from an auto parts store?

NeopolitanDream

I hate to say it, but as I thought it'd be a quick and easy, cheap(ish) fix, I just went and grabbed one from the local auto parts place.

In hindsight, I see how a random third-party part might be less than optimal but since it wasn't exactly cheap, I figured it would be decent.

Would you happen to know a good place to buy OEM parts?

BrotatoChip

We see lots of other folks have issues with non-OEM sensors, we can't say for sure if the sensor is bad though. Other things to check:
-Disconnect sensor and clean both ends using electrical contact cleaner.
-Check the pins on the sensor (none are bent), do a terminal drag test on the connector on the harness (Google this).
-Clean the engine grounds (battery to engine and radiator support to engine). Use something like a wire brush to clean the contact points until they're shiny metal to ensure good connection.

If you're still getting the fault after that it may be time for a new sensor. One option is to get one online (part number 37840-RJH-006). I just found it on Amazon for $79 with free shipping. Another online option is from a Honda parts store, I've used HondaPartsNow in the past without issue (current list price is $77 plus shipping). You could also go to a local junkyard and pickup a few hopefully OEM used sensors, my local yard would give them to me for about $9 each.