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hey guys iam new to this site. having issue with a 04 civic that I just bought to drive back and forth to work. it keeps getting a 2279 code. runs very rough only when cold and in gear. if in park or neutral will idle fine, but second I put into gear the car will miss until it stalls out. I have to let it idle to warm up once warm it runs fine no issues at all.. ive checked for vacuum leaks around the intake thinking maybe cracked or bad gasket but saw none.. iam at a loss right now

thanks for any and all help

 
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How many miles on the car?

P2279 has a vague description of "PCV air leakage", and wants you to check for vacuum leaks, including things like PCV valve and hoses, EVAP purge system, throttle body, brake booster, and all vacuum hoses.

I'll add IAC valve sticking open, intake manifold gasket leakage, EGR gasket leakage, and valve adjustment to the list of things to check.



The code may or may not be related to your cold/poor running issue. Hard to tell from here.
Make sure your radiator is completely full, and the plastic reservoir is at the max line (ENGINE COLD). Over the next several days you need to see if it loses coolant from the reservoir or if it tries to overfill the reservoir a whole lot.
Always recheck when the engine is cold, level in the reservoir should always return to the starting level.

 
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Thanks for the reply i will look into that. If it does lose coolant what does that mean cause there is no sign of external leak and does not smoke like a headgasket issue.

Tonight a 1129 code came up.. someone told me this is a timing code. Well there is 0 missing after car warms up runs smooth as silk. Dont see how there could be a timing issue. Possible valves need adjustment?

The timing belt water pump and tensioner are all supposed to be new. Guess i could pull cover off and see if all marks line up, but like I said seems to run to smooth for a timing issue.

I will also check onto vac leaks a little better. All i did was check around the intake.

Thanks again any other suggestions are appreciated

 
Rep Power: 517

I'm just saying keep an eye on it.
Someone got rid of the car for a reason....and these blow head gaskets....and most people would never figure it out on this engine.
If it is allowing antifreeze to get into a cylinder or two while it sits overnight, that could explain the misfires when you start it.


Quick search, copy, paste:


P1129: MAP signal higher than expected

Factory info seems to indicate that the only possible fix is a MAP sensor, and some of us know that isn't always right.

At warm idle, in park or neutral, no accessory or electrical loads---
Is the MAP value higher than 1.1v when viewed on a scantool datalist? (Or backprobing with a DVOM)
Is manifold vacuum actually lower than it should be when checked with a mechanical vacuum gauge?
Look for anything that would cause manifold vacuum to be lower than it should be. Cam timing is probably one of the first things to inspect, especially if it has low power.

 
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Cam timing is probably one of the first things to inspect, especially if it has low power.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly iam new to hondas never really worked on them.. mainly just work on fords and anything diesel.

well the car came from a very good friend of mine that is a mechanic. I had a 01 stang that had issues (hit deer body damage). He has a terminator cobra setup that he wants to put into it. So we pretty much just traded even up good running civic for the stang. Only issue upon getting the car was that needed a o2 sensor. Installed new sensor all was well until the day i wanted to go through inspection. As far as lack of power thats hard for me to notice. Coming from a stang with all the bolt ons anf my other vehicle a 11sec diesel truck.. wouldn't be to consirned but truck is all apart at the moment. So this is my only means of transportation.

Thanks again sorry for all the questions. I will try to look more at it this weekend. Is checking timing easy to do ln these?

 
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[QUOTE=ezone;4678441]How many miles on the car

Well the car has 127k on it.

I have a cheap like 300 dollar scanner. It has the ability to data log and monitor sensors. The map sensor is reading 17.7. Dont know what that is though. Dont think its volts. It has HG in ( ) guess i can try to back probe it with my fluke and see if it reads anything different

I did check the coolant both the radiator and the resivour are full.

 
Rep Power: 517

Aftermarket tensioner is not to be trusted. Too many cheapos that fail way too early and these engines can certainly bend valves if the timing belt lets go.

If timing is off by only a tooth it will still be somewhat smooth-- but labored, have low manifold vacuum, and run rich. If it's out by more than a tooth the computer may shut it down.


If it's a manual trans, you can cause the belt to jump time if a few things happen: Park in gear on a hill and have the crank spin backwards, while the tensioner pulley hard stop is off just far enough to allow the belt to jump a tooth


If you want to pull the upper timing cover to check the marks, you will need to lift up the valve cover first. There is a lip that covers the top edge of the timing cover and you will not get it out until the VC is raised.

Inches of Mercury.
I keep my scanner set on volts for reading MAP, it's just easier for me....and I don't have to convert to anything else when I think about it LOL Different manufacturers and different scanners have several different ways of reading vacuum --- it's hard to keep them straight without a cheat sheet.

If I can't get the scanner to do what I want, that's a good move.

Not running, I think I usually see about 2.88 ish volts for MAP and BARO (I don't trust my memory very well) and I'm at about 600 feet above sea level.
At idle, warmed up, in park, no loads:
.8-.85v is great .
.90v could be iffy.
1.00v and over indicates manifold vacuum is low enough to cause issues. Something as simple as tight valves could make the reading drop this far.
Jumping time would make vacuum very low.

 
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thanks a lot for your input and time you have put into helping me. I think that this weekend iam going to pull the valve cover check to see if valves need adjusted and also check the timing. hopefully it is one of those two things.

the cold start issue does have me worried that headgasket could be bad. since I have not seen any loss of coolant though so that's a good indication that's it isn't blown right? might do new coil wires and plugs while I have it apart just to rule them out.

any recommendation on plugs the good expensive ones I heard hae issues on some cars?

 
Rep Power: 517

Coolant in the cylinders is not the typical way these head gaskets fail at first. But it's possible, of course. This may be more likely to happen if a head gasket breach is large.

The typical symptoms on this engine are a loss of heater output at idle (low coolant, air bubble), and raising the liquid level in, or overflowing the reservoir while at the same time the radiator goes low. Once the leak has displaced enough liquid from the radiator, the temp gauge goes higher than usual and the engine overheats.

When this problem is small, some people only notice symptoms after extended highway driving.

There are no plug wires.
Sure, take a look at the plugs. Even better if you can get it to act up and shut the engine off before it straightens out. Maybe you can see if the plugs are wet with fuel or coolant or anything.
Or loaded up with crap, oil fouling, white ash buildup, cracked insulator, carbon tracking, etc.

For best results, use what the manufacturer uses.

DENSO: PKJ20CR-M11
or NGK: PZFR6F-11

One member said the Densos worked better for him. I never noticed a difference, myself.


Never use anything from Bosch.

HTH

 
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Well i put new plugs in today and did a compression test. All cylinders were right around 150psi. Plugs were soaked with what smelled like fuel though. Dont know if maybe possible leaky injectors flooding the engine while it sits for long periods of time?

 
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If I were the one doing the test, that would be quite low compression.

Had it been flooded before you did the test?
Did you oil the cylinders to do a "wet test"?
Have you checked cam timing yet?



Pulling plugs only indicates what was happening inside the engine immediately before the plugs were pulled out.

What was the engine doing immediately prior to removing the plugs?

Not likely.

 
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Well it car sat all night all did was start it and drive it like 100ft into the garage. Than i let it stumble and stall itself. Pulled the plugs right away to see if they were wet with coolant or what. Appeared to be soaked with fuel. What would be good compression on these? No i didnt check timing yet been busy helping dad with his project. (Its a nightmare )

 
Rep Power: 517

Ok that helps.


Using my equipment and my method, with a strong battery and on a hot engine: I expect to see 180 PSI minimum.
(Your results may vary.)

I'd think that testing a cold engine, flooded/washdown cylinders would lower the test results.

 
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Yea i figured it might be a little off since cylinders were flooded. Ill get another test after it warms up. Maybe tomorrow after work and before school.

 
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Ill post up results when i do.