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I am new here and have done a couple searches and found some things to check in this site but there I’m having a few other issues other then what I searched for. Hope someone can help
Past Saturday I did an oil change and changed out the plugs. Car started and ran fine up until yesterday morning. I started to notice a gas small gas smell. Stopped at a couple stores and went home. Went to go out later and my car started but then died. Each time i tried to start it I smelled gas. Checked the oil as I noticed some spots under the car. Was down about a quart (but to the full line Saturday). So I added more oil and then checked the plugs. First plug on left was soaked with gas and black the other 3 were black but not as bad. Cleaned them all up. And still nothing. Check engine light is one but have no way of getting it to test it for codes.
Hope someone could shed some light on where to look or check. Thank you in advance
Last edited by Ron Sprinkel; Dec 25, 2019 at 08:36 AM.
Reason: Add year of car
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Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Sounds like one or more of this cylinders aren't firing correctly and is not burning off the fuel inside the cylinder(s). Did you purchase the correct NGK model spark plugs that came with the car from the factory? Did you gap the spark plugs (except Iridium)?
Remove the plugs and inspect them for wetness: gas, oil or coolant.
If you did install the correct NGK spark plugs did you use a torque wrench to correct spec, or a 1/4 turn past snug? Did you insert the coil pack on each spark plug correctly ?
May be flooded so, try cranking the engine with gas pedal fully depressed (disables injectors).
Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Originally Posted by HR Puffinblunts
Sounds like one or more of this cylinders aren't firing correctly and is not burning off the fuel inside the cylinder(s). Did you purchase the correct NGK model spark plugs that came with the car from the factory? Did you gap the spark plugs (except Iridium)?
Remove the plugs and inspect them for wetness: gas, oil or coolant.
If you did install the correct NGK spark plugs did you use a torque wrench to correct spec, or a 1/4 turn past snug? Did you insert the coil pack on each spark plug correctly ?
May be flooded so, try cranking the engine with gas pedal fully depressed (disables injectors).
Hellos and thanks for the reply. I bought the Autolite XP5224 Iridium (per advance Auto Parts as exact fit). Checked gap and was ok on all. Didn’t use a torque wrench. Once snug I didn’t tighten anymore. All coil packs were good and tight. Car ran fine for 2 1/2 days after oil change and plug replacement.
Also tried to start with peddle fully depressed and ran for a second or two and then shut down.
Pulled Air filter to make sure no fluid or any blockages where there and it was clear.
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Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Originally Posted by Ron Sprinkel
I bought the Autolite XP5224 Iridium (per advance Auto Parts as exact fit). Checked gap and was ok on all. Didn’t use a torque wrench. Once snug I didn’t tighten anymore
These engines can be picky about spark plugs. Take the Autolites back and buy either of these in the platinums: Denso PKJ20CR-M11 and NGK PZFR6F-11 (3271, as noted) are the OEM plugs.
Denso and NGK are both NTK products. Iridium's are expensive and not needed. Can rent a torque wrench from Autobone or O'Railly's, purchase a decent cheap one at Harbor Freight, or tighten to snug and go past a half turn (Google search).
Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Hello. Again thanks for the reply. I just checked all the gaps on the new ones at .44. I think I will put the old ones back in after regapping those as they are a little worn and see what happens. They are NGK Plugs.
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Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Originally Posted by Ron Sprinkel
Well I put the old NGK’s back in after gapping them to .44 and still the same problem. Will start but shuts right back down after a second or two
Were the plugs dry or wet when you removed them? Could be a flooding issue ...you may want to try removing coil and plugs then crank a few times to hopefully spit out any gas in the cylinders. Afterwards add a teaspoon of oil into each cylinder (to raise compression temporarily) and crank engine with gas pedal fully depressed.
Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Originally Posted by HR Puffinblunts
Were the plugs dry or wet when you removed them? Could be a flooding issue ...you may want to try removing coil and plugs then crank a few times to hopefully spit out any gas in the cylinders. Afterwards add a teaspoon of oil into each cylinder (to raise compression temporarily) and crank engine with gas pedal fully depressed.
Thanks for the reply. The plugs were wet. I even unplugged the battery to reset the check engine to see if that would help. Nothing changed.
Anyways I will try your suggestions this afternoon when I get home and post back.
Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Sorry to ask these questions but just want to make certain on the oil in every cylinder bit as I’ve never heard of that technique, do I keep the plugs out while cranking engine after I put the oil in the cylinders? And also how long or many times should I crank engine like that?
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Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Crank with plugs out first (or blow compressed air into cylinders with compressor), add oil to cylinders, re-install plugs, try cranking with gas pedal fully depressed. Read Ezone's reply #19: https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...-starting.html Ezone is a longtime Honda sealer mechanic.
A couple weeks ago someone posted that his engine wouldn't start when it's cold outside and had the P0420 code as well . I told him to check the spark plugs for wetness and he did...he said they were wet with fuel. I recommended to him to replace the primary A/F (Air/Fuel) sensor and he did and he said it fixed the issue. Code P0135 is related to the A/F primary sensor and here's what the A/F sensor does and symptoms when it's malfunctioning: https://www.samarins.com/glossary/ai...io-sensor.html
If you buy an A/F sensor make sure it's factory oem..which is NTK, NGK, Denso (all the same company but may be priced differently).
I can't say for sure this is your engine's issue and I don't like to tell people to replace parts without testing first. However, I am not sure how to properly and completely test an A/F sensor's accuracy.
Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Hello.
ok I have redone everything as suggested and I have even switched the coil packs cylinder 1 to 4, etc. I then reset the codes. Tried to start car with peddle depressed and same thing, starts runs for a second or two and dies.
Check engine light came on and only code I’m getting now is the P0135.
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Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
So the heater circuit for the o2 sensor has gone, sensor itself could be bad as well, make sure you buy the correct OEM sensor, either Denso or ntk. You can look up the part number on their websites. Then get the part from Amazon or rockauto. If you buy from Amazon make sure you buy from a reputable seller, otherwise you may get a counterfeit part
Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Originally Posted by Colin42
So the heater circuit for the o2 sensor has gone, sensor itself could be bad as well, make sure you buy the correct OEM sensor, either Denso or ntk. You can look up the part number on their websites. Then get the part from Amazon or rockauto. If you buy from Amazon make sure you buy from a reputable seller, otherwise you may get a counterfeit part
thanks for the reply. Now is that the sensor closest to the plugs which is located on the exhaust manifold? Sorry for my lack of knowledge. I’m not familiar at all with these cars or sensors. Is it actually an O2 sensor or the air/fuel sensor as puffinblumt mentioned earlier. Want to make sure I get the right sensor.
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Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Bank 1 sensor 1 is the sensor in the manifold. And yes it's an air/fuel sensor, putting your car information into the Denso website will give your the right part number. Takes like 5 mins to change, wd40 will help the electrical connector come apart, and getting the exhaust hot will help with removing the old sensor. Pick up an o2 sensor socket for like $10
Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Thank you all very much. Well I don’t have the time to wait for it to come from eBay as this car needs to be running by Monday morning. So I’m gonna have the pay the higher bucks for it at advance auto parts lol.
cant keep engine running to warm up the exhaust manifold so I’ll spray that down with some wd40 as well I guess.
Again thank you all for the help. I will let you know what happens when I get this installed.
Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Haven’t checked timing yet. Didn’t want to get into all that as I’m not that mechanically inclined so to speak with these cars. Every time I tried to start I’ve had the gas peddle fully depressed. A couple times I tried to start it without the peddle depressed and it started to shut down and then kept running for another couple seconds.
maybe I’ll pull the plugs and dry them out and blow out excess gas and do the oil trick again and see what happens
Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Ok so I took the plugs out once again and dried them. Depressed gas peddle to the floor and held while cranking for 15 seconds. Did this 5 times. And then let it sit for about an hour with nothing in the cylinders. I put plugs back in and hand tightened. Took them back out before even starting and they are soaked with gas all along the threads and the tip. So why is that if the peddle is depressed the whole time and did this multiple times to blow the excess fuel out
Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Your at the point where you I would be checking the camshaft timing.
I could speculate that you could
pull the drivers side front wheel off
remove #1 spark plug
stick a long skewer or other suitably long (16-24 inches) wood dowel down the spark plug hole
have someone rotate the engine slowly by hand while you hold the skewer and observe exactly when it seems pushed out the furthest.
visually check the TDC marks on the harmonic balancer to see if they are very very close to the mark on the oil pump.
Common for us to hear from users that have had their timing belts jump 2+ teeth to have issues your describing.
Even better check would be to loosen the valve cover and remove the upper timing cover so you can be 100% sure the marks are alignined.
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Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Timing needs to be verified first, this can be done at home in 20 mins with hand tools, you don't even need to jack the car up or remove a wheel. If the engine has jumped time by a couple teeth, there's good odds that once the timing is corrected, and a new belt and tensioner is installed (go OEM do not cheap out on this) that the engine will run fine with no problems. You can test compression before you run the engine to see if you have bent valves.
If you have bent valves they can be replaced, if you put in another engine you're going to want to replace the headgasket, timing belt, water pump, and tensioner before it goes in the car.
Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Ok thanks for the info. I had a guy check it out and he is for certain it has jumped time. I don’t know what is OEM for a new belt. I see Dayco from Advanced Auto Parts in my area but as you say go with OEM. If you could tell me a name brand of the belt that would be cool and very much appreciated. I’m not going with another engine as to me that’s to extreme for a jumped time.
Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Originally Posted by Colin42
Timing needs to be verified first, this can be done at home in 20 mins with hand tools, you don't even need to jack the car up or remove a wheel. If the engine has jumped time by a couple teeth, there's good odds that once the timing is corrected, and a new belt and tensioner is installed (go OEM do not cheap out on this) that the engine will run fine with no problems. You can test compression before you run the engine to see if you have bent valves.
If you have bent valves they can be replaced, if you put in another engine you're going to want to replace the headgasket, timing belt, water pump, and tensioner before it goes in the car.
Ok I trust the guy who checked out my car last night as he said he had an 03 jump time and had same symptoms but. I would like to know myself on how to actually check it as you said above. If you could shed some light on this.
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Re: Civic starts but shuts down with the smell of gas
Park the car with the wheel cranked all the way to the left.
Remove spark plugs, remove valve cover, remove upper timing cover. With some long extensions you can sneak through the wheelwell to get the crank pulley to rotate the engine around to #1 TDC. You can stick something long down in the cylinder to help. The crank pulley TDC mark will be lined up with the pointer. And then the cam pulley will have 2 little marks that should be in line with the head surface. If the timing has jumped the cam pulley wont be lined up
