Rep Power: 0

98 civic lx

I power washed under the hood a few weeks ago and after washing i was getting crazy misfires.

I waited for everything to dry off more and the misfires went away but since the day I washed the engine i have had horrible acceleration and no power. Struggle
to go up hills.

since then I have changed spark plugs and wires with no change.

 
Rep Power: 366

open distributor cap and see if anything in there.
check if there are cracks on the cap

water pressure can also dislocate sensors if not fully pressed in.
Water left over on connectors
water left over in wire repairs

did you keep water jet way from the air entrance?

 
Rep Power: 0

I replaced distributor assembly about 3 months ago but I can pull cap off and check anyways.

as for water I mainly tried to stay away from air filter but of course some water probably got in placed it shouldn’t be.

 
Rep Power: 0

The only code that I had was P1705 but was on prior to washing and has been fixed since. So no engine codes currently.

wouldn’t a dislodged connector throw a code?

 
Rep Power: 221

Maybe maybe not. WD40 is a water displacement solvent. You can try that on some of the connectors. Check everything is good with the distributor.

 
Rep Power: 0

i replaced cap and rotor. They looked horrible btw. Seemed to improve a little but still not great. Took another look around and found a vacuum hose disconnected. I was also 3 quarts low on oil.

haven’t driven it up a hill yet but seems a lot better after the vacuum line and adding oil. I was only getting 120 miles for a tank of gas. 😭

 
Rep Power: 221

3qts low?
thats like 90% of the oil in the engine, you're lucky you didn't blow the engine. It might still fail.

 
Rep Power: 0

it’s driving fine for now. I have an oil leak at the oil pan that I keep meaning to change but don’t have the time. I ordered parts for it a few months back.

 
Rep Power: 0

so looks like I have somewhat of an issue. I’m just gonna assume oil in the coolant reservoir is a big problem.

head gasket? Might explain loss of power?

 
Rep Power: 125

Oil? That would be strange. Typically it would just push more coolant out, though I suppose if it completely pushed all the coolant out, then maybe it would push oil?

 
Rep Power: 0

Looks like oil to me. Where else could the oil come from?

also I did run out of coolant and engine overheated. Fixed cooling hose, filled, and bled air.

 
Rep Power: 221

Probably a blown headgasket, you should just swap the motor at this point

 
Rep Power: 125

My bad, mobile won't immediately tell me what subject this is under. My mind immediately went 7th gen. Definitely a failed head gasket.

 
Rep Power: 0

what are the chances that it’s just the gasket and not warped or cracked head? Obviously the gasket would be alot cheaper than an engine.

 
Rep Power: 125

Given the engine overheated, virtually no chance.

 
Rep Power: 0

ok. My engine has no vtec. Can it be replaced with an engine that has vtec?

 
Rep Power: 125

Yes, but assuming you don’t change the ECU or wiring harness, it’ll simply act like a non-VTEC.

 
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So what was assumed to be engine oil mixing in my coolant tank is actually transmission fluid.

At what point would coolant and transmission meet? Some kind of trans cooler or radiator?

 
Rep Power: 221

Trans cooler at the bottom of the rad. You'll see it if you look in the engine bay

 
Rep Power: 0

ok I’ll take a look today

 
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looked yesterday but couldn’t find a separate cooler. Traced trans lines back to bottom of radiator but it’s all one assembly. I’m assuming this is what we are looking for.

 
Rep Power: 221

Yeah it's integral to the rad like every other car.
Denso is the oe supplier