Rep Power: 0

Here it goes:
I have a 2002 civic EX with 386k, yes that's right, 386,000 miles- and I love her to death. This is the situation and I need your help.

I have maintained this vehicle with enthusiasm and stayed on top of the issues as them came (timing belt/pump every 100k, oil changes and all that jazz). The issue is that she is missfiring on all cylinders along with a loss of power, specifically going up hills. The car also 'shutters' or jerks when in low RPM's (2500-3200ish). The CE light plays tricks. Sometimes she just stays on, but usually she starts blinking within 5 minutes of driving. I know there are a lot of threads with this issue, but unfortunately once they original poster fixes the issue, they neglect to return and post the solution. This is the breakdown of all the work I have done on her within the past 100k
-bearing in tranny was making noise (380k) so I replaced the original tranny with one that had 109k
-head gasket went, replaced (375k)
-lead donut gasket before the cat was blown- I sounded like a lawn mower- replaced
-cat was clogged, replaced (360k)
-tps sensor went, replaced (325k)
-alternator (384k)
-battery (385k)
-wheel bearings (380k)


Due to the loss of power, we did the following:
-plugs/coils
-fuel injectors
-gas treatment

My mechanic says to throw in the towel. Seeing how I have put soo much tlc into her, it is hard to cut the strings. I will, however, be open to suggestions if yall think she is toast. Here are a few more observations:

-If I was on the highway, I could not make it past 4000 rpms without the car almost throwning a hard bang- everytime it did it, I backed off the gas in fear that I wouldn't make it where I needed to go.
-It seems like the lead donut gasket is blown again due to the noise you can hear and my mechanic feels that the cat is clogged again, even though we just replaced it (just, being relative).

I am not driving her- sadly, she is sitting, snow covered. I went and bought a 'new' 04 civic since my first 3 civics were sooo good to me. I'd love to keep the 02 running for trips with the dogs and whatnot. Thoughts/solutions/suggestions to keep her road worthy or, toss in the towel?

 
Rep Power: 517

Flashing CEL is a misfire.
Got codes?
Individual cylinder misfires or P0300 random?
Drive it with a code reader connected. While it shudders, clear the codes and let it reset. See if it is a single cylinder misfire code at that time.
Can it be duplicated in the shop without driving? If so, it should be easy to figure out.
Got freeze frame data?

Could be multiple issues causing misfires at various times, different causes and reasons.

EGR passages clogged should be quite possible at that mileage if nobody took a few minutes to clean them out while the head was off. This would cause misfire only while the EGR is operating, usually noticed at a steady road speed. Would not happen at idle or wide open throttle.


Clogged cat could cause excessive EGR flow due to backpressure.
IT can't breathe (Inhale? Exhale?) or it can't get fuel. I can't tell from here. A fuel pressure test while driving would answer one of those quickly. Clogged cat would be possible and likely, since you have misfire problems.
VERY possible.
Never replace a cat without fixing the underlying cause of failure.
Misfire can ruin a cat in a matter of only minutes.

I might disconnect the exhaust ahead of the cat in order to diagnose a bad running condition if it is clogged, but it does not get returned to a customer that way.

The donut gasket doesn't normally just blow for no reason, and if the cat is clogged then the pressure in the exhaust will try to escape from the easiest point of exit. Spring loaded exhaust joint is probably the place that is easiest to overcome with sufficient pressure.


Anyone ever adjust the valves?




Stuff to think about. HTH