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Alright, I have an 02 Civic ex, d17a2 with turbo system, cold air intake, and exhaust. i had to drive from texas to wisconsin for christmas break. i have a couple symptoms i can list and was just wondering if anyone has any ideas.

-I always put 93 octane gas in it, whenever i put anything lower the engine runs like ****...wants to stall at red lights, while driving...etc. On my way through Oklahoma had no choice but to get 91 octane, didn't think it would be too bad.

-Soon after (but I'm not sure if it was caused just by the gas) the engine started hesitating...only slightly at first, but gradually got horrible...I mean losing power badly and my air/fuel ratio guage was reading extremely lean whenever the bogging happened. Every time the ratio went back to normal car ran fine. It just seemed random whenever the ratio went down, can't figure out what would cause it. Kept driving, because it's christmas time and no mechanic shops are open to take it to, so when I finally got into Wisconsin (after having to pull over a hell of alot because the bogging got so bad) the bogging stopped mostly. Now it just does it once in a while, very slightly bogging.

-At one point while the bogging was happening 3 puffs of black or blue smoke came out of exhaust...pulled over immediately. The smoke came out pretty randomly and I don't know if it was from the turbo or the engine itself. I jacked the car up and looked for oil leaks, i found some oil on the drivers side, couldn't tell exactly where from...maybe gasket. Had to keep driving to make it home, no more smoke came out.

-I checked the oil every once in a while and saw it was low (I changed my oil about 2,000 miles ago and put in Royal Purple) so I had to get some from a gas station..obviously wasn't royal purple. I don't know if that has anything to do with anything but it might. I put 2 quarts in about halfway through the trip (after the bogging started), then i checked the oil about 3/4 of the way through the trip and it was still at the same level, so I added 2 more quarts....I know that's outrageous.

-Car temperature was running really hot...from it running lean? Yes, I made sure the coolant was good before i left on the trip. I think there might be a leak somewhere maybe, I noticed some dried coolant marks on some hoses. I don't know if it might be because i overfilled the coolant resevouir. Seemed like it was where it was leaking from.

-Just tonight a squeaking type noise started coming from the exhaust, thinking maybe a belt or something? I checked the belts before and didn't notice any problems.

I can't think of anything else right now, hopefully someone has some ideas. I plan on replacing the spark plugs, air filter, maybe gaskets, maybe belt, and changing oil for sure. CEL is obviously on, so I'm going to go to Autozone and get it read before I do anything.

I appreciate any help you guys got.

 
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wow i don't even know where to begin with this. Having the Code will definitely help.

The lower octane shouldn't make that big of a difference if your just using it once and its not the only gas that in your system.

if its blue smoke thats coming out its oil in the cylinder if its Black then it means your running really rich (which is odd if the a/f is saying lean)

As far as I know running lean won't cause the engine to overheat. But running with low oil could cause a temp rise.

Sorry I couldn't help more. GL with this.

 
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well the 91 was the only gas in the tank...i was running out of gas and HAD to get it and it was the only **** around.

i was thinking that low oil was it, but i added a hell of alot of oil and it went away, then came back again...lately it hasn't been overheating though..so i dunno.

tommorrow i start workin on it, so hopefully i can figure out wtf happened. my uncle is a master mechanic, so hopefully he can figure this **** out.

 
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I live in Oklahoma, do not buy gas from us. I go to TX to fill up. lol

Sorry to hear about the problems. Good luck with the fix.

 
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Are you boosted?

How many miles on the car? Is that a wideband or narrowband AFR gauge?

It honestly sounds bad. If she was eating oil (about 4 quarts right?), smoking, and bucking around like that, it probably has nothing to do with the gas or the fact that you put gas station brand X in with you RP oil.

How many quarts did she eat?

 
Rep Power: 227

Man, 4qts is a whole oil change in itself. Ok, this may be total overkill, but...how much of an elevation change did you go through on your trip? If you went from a high alt (where the car was tuned, right) to a low alt, density gets thrown off (not even temp sensor can correct for this), car could be borderline lean...?

Throw some shitcan gas in the mix and bam, detonation. I mean, if you're tune was flawless, this is really out of the question, but with a bad (or no) tune, its a possibility.

I dont know man, does it sound like a squirrel in a garbage disposal or what? I might be able to help more with more info. Good luck.

 
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Ugh, nevermind about my first question, it was early and I didn't see that you are boosted.

Sounds like you may have had some detonation from some bad gas, and possibly popped a ring on one of the pistons (causing it to eat oil) and also popped the HG, causing it to overheat and eat coolant.

If she ate enough oil before you could more, you have have spun a rod bearing as well...

 
Rep Power: 253

probably right about the stuff above. my car had similar problems (i am boosted as well) but without eating oil. what are you tuned on? do you have anything aftermarket hooked up to your MAP sensor? i am using the synapse missing link and it works like a charm, but sometimes the small filter inside the missing link falls out; giving the MAP sensor outrageously bogus readings causing the car to run like ****. all i have to do is keep replacing the small filter with a little sponge and it runs like normal.. soo i would check your MAP sensor to see if it helps any..