Rep Power: 268

Edited: Problem is in regards to the cylinders misfiring due, possibly, to the injectors. (see post 8 and below)

 
Rep Power: 320

Just guessing, but how about a sticky throtlebody? It may need cleaned? How many miles do you have?

 
Rep Power: 268

I've got 85k, and the throttle doesn't feel sticky, but It could be. I can't check it now since I need someone to press the peddle for me.

 
Rep Power: 0

you dont have to have someone press the pedal, just twist the throttle linkage

 
Rep Power: 320

you can press the wheel that the throttle cable is connected to. I think that's what he is talking about.

Remember though, that's just a guess

Are you sure nothing else has changed? air filters... anything? If you can take a spark plug out, take a pic and post it hear, if not just describe what color the metal tips and ceramic is, also, measure the gap if you can. The spark plug is that best way to see if anything is wrong. I won't be back till Monday though, but I'm sure some other members hear will notice if you have a problem

Also, try running you FI cleaner through, and when you do that, drive your car hard at least a couple of times, you should open up the injectors to let any blockage through and it will help get the carbon out of you engine.

Keep us posted!

 
Rep Power: 320

Oh, I just noticed it was a '98 DX (I've had three of those motors!). You can check you cap and rotor too. You can also advance the ignition timing a couple of degrees too, I always did that and it gave a little extra pep.

 
Rep Power: 268

Oh I know you can do that, but it's more useful for somone to press the gas since I need to know if the throttle line is working correctly.

 
Rep Power: 268

Interesting turn of events:

I was pushing the car in my area by stopping and accelerating nearly as fast as I could. The car is pretty much bogging and unresponsive, like I said. The FP60 fuel injector cleaner was and is in my car at this point. By nearly the end of my test, the car refused to accelerate any more and was ready to die. I tried to slowly apply pressure to the pedal, but no-go. So my car is on the road right now, but the interesting thing is that the power I was talking about has returned.

I naturally thought --and maybe I still do-- that my fuel injectors are getting declogged. When I rev the engine in neutral, it's super responsive like it should be, the problem is that it dies when I put it in drive. After working the engine at about 3000 RPM for 10min, the check engine light came on for the first time. Hmmm...

Now, could the fuel cleaner do anything that would cause the light to come on? Regardless, there's no way I can drive it to a mechanic to get a reading. Are there any cheap READERS that I can buy?

 
Rep Power: 268

no text

 
Rep Power: 268

Codes:

Cylinder 1-4 missfiring - p0301-p0304
Manufacturer control ignition system or missfire - p1399
Random or multiple missfire detected - p0300

 
Rep Power: 0

Injectors,
Spark Plugs,
Fuel Pump,
Possibley a head gasket, Mine was leaking causing a random cylinder misfire.

 
Rep Power: 268

I believe it's the injectors. The car doesn't start anymore like I said, but below are the symptoms of when it did start. So if anyone has any 98 civic fuel injectors with low miles on them, give me a post.

(1 Hard Starting
(2 Poor fuel economy
(3 Rough Idle
(4 Car runs fine when cold and terrible when warm
(5 Car will start just fine when cold and not when warm
(6 Getting a fuel smell inside the car
(7 Loss of power in acceleration

 
Rep Power: 268

Checked gasket, but doesn't appear to be any leak.

 
Rep Power: 268

Jeff, you wouldn't know where to find Bosch injectors for a good price, would you? Or any high quality brand, it doesn't have to be bosch.

 
Rep Power: 454

now how do you know you are having random misfires? Does your check engine light come on?

First thing you can check is to see if each cylinder has spark. one by one remove each spark plug and hook it to the coil and ground it to the engine block and crank the engine, if that cylinder is firing, you will see it through the spark plug, if not you need to check the actual plug, and check the coil. look at the plugs electrode to see if it is still there. also check the resistance on the coil.

Now if all cylinders have spark, check that each cylinder gets fuel. this may be more difficult. the best way is to use a injector tester. Or noid light. also check the resistance at each injector. if you have no resistance on any one injector, that injector shorted out. if you have infinite resistance, or OFL, you have an open in the injector. You can also see if they are working correctly by placing a screwdriver over the injector while the car is running, and you should hear a clicking sound. Also check to see that each injector has the proper power and ground.

now if you have fuel to the injectors, then check the fuel pressure with the car running, you could have a bad pump. You keep saying its the injectors, but it is very unlikely that all the injectors will be bad at once.

but first off, do you have a check engine light?

 
Rep Power: 454

we dont have distributors on our car. Our ignition is controlled electronically. if the ingition timing is ever off for any reason, the ECU would have to be replaced.

 
Rep Power: 268

I had a check engine light for the first time, but I removed it with the scanner. The codes are above.

Regarding the fuel injectors, it's recommended that you replace them every 90-100,000 miles. The spring in the injector, for example, will wear out over time thus giving you too much fuel or too little. There are other parts of it that wear out. But I want to point out that my vehicle didn't just STOP working yesterday, I've had problems for a month now. Clogged injectors can cause random misfires, or can't they?

The car wont start, period. I can work it and maybe it will start, but at the expense of wearing the starter. The car is very stuborn at this point.

 
Rep Power: 268

The plug is the coil, right? And do I remove 1 plug at a time, leaving the other 3 in? The engine doesn't start, but I should still see a spark when turning right?

 
Rep Power: 268

Take note that the check engine light is a NEW developement. I've had the symtoms I listed for a month and there was never a check engine light. I feel like the cause of the problem --whatever that may be-- is what has itself triggered the cylinders to misfire, and it's not the cylinders themselves that are at the heart of the issue.

It's possible I applied too much FP60 fuel injector cleaner, like 2 oz. for half a galon and it shocked the system in a bad way, possibly causing a bunch of gunk to be ejected to the injectors and clogging them.

 
Rep Power: 454

who says to replace injectors every 90-100K miles? I have never heard of that. Injectors will last untill they dont work anymore. You can have them cleaned to restore the spray pattern. I guess a misfire can be caused by a clogged injector if it wont let any fuel spray out. If the car wont start, first check the battery. If that is ok, check for fuel and spark. Check and see if you get fuel pressure with the key on. Check for spark while cranking.



No the plug is the spark plug, the coil is the boot that fits over the plug. You can remove the cover on the valve cover and remove each coil seperatly. Now assuming that the battery is ok and the starting system is ok, if you disconnect the fuel system and crank over the engine, you should see the spark plug fire. like I said, remove the spark plug and coil, connect them together and ground the spark plug on the engine block. And crank it over to check for spark in that cylinder. If there is no spark, check the plug and the coil for the cause. What does it sound like when you try and start the car?

 
Rep Power: 268

I'm going to check the batter first, that's a good idea. Of course I thought of that but the idea kinda died for some reason along the line of trouble shooting steps.

 
Rep Power: 454

Well does the car turn over, but not start? Or does it not turn over at all?

 
Rep Power: 268

It turns over, but doesn't start. Coudl it still be the battery in this case?

 
Rep Power: 268

Streetglower, the plugs are covered in fuel. I tested them and they spark well, but again, the plugs are covered in fuel and the whole engine area smells of fuel when trying to turn the engine.

I'm thinking 02 sensor or still the injectors(?). Could it be the fuel pressure regulator?

 
Rep Power: 320

NO that's wrong, YOUR car doesn't, the older civic's do. The distributless ignition was part of the revamp of the D17 motors that came out in 2001, before 2001 (2000 and older) they had distributors with the cap and rotor.

All of these problems sound like an ignition problem or fuel pump problem. My fingure would point towards bad plugs/wire/cap or rotor. Generally when a fuel pump goes bad it will start to wine, but not always.

 
Rep Power: 320

The coil is in the distrubutor, burried way in there, I took it out once because I thought I had a bad one, ended up it was fine.

Streetglower, you're getting confused, this is not a D17, but a D15 motor, the ignition system is comlpetely different.

 
Rep Power: 320

IF the plugs are covered in fuel, that means you are not gettin spark to the spark plugs to ignite the fuel. Go to Honda, get a new cap, rotor, and plugs. Tell us how the plug wires look and feel. Are they cracked? IF you have an ohm meter and know how to use it, reasure the resistance, I'll look it up and tell you if that is good or not. But generally by 86k, they should have been changed, I think the manual said to change them at 60k, so they could be long of do. But wire's are expensive ($70 ish I think). If you do decide to replace this stuff, a tip, DO NOT go to Autozone or something like that, pay the little extra and get it from Honda.

 
Rep Power: 268

Jrfish, thanks for the help. I'm a bit confused since when I was trying to start the vehicle yesterday, I pressed down on the gas. Could that be the real reason the plugs are covered in fuel?

Also, the car makes a funny sound in the engine compartement when the key is at II. It's like a hum that has a squeel to it, best that I can guess. (edit: it was making that sound after I was done trying to start it) Distributer? Fuel pump?

The engine is a D16Y7, not D15 or D17.

 
Rep Power: 320

When you start the car, it will put a regulated amount in to the motor regardless of throtle postion, so this shouldn't be an issue.

What the funny sound is hard to tell from setting here at the computer If it's coming form the engine compartment though, it's not the fuel pump, the fuel pump is located under the back seat, so it would be from behind you. I haven't heard of distributors making noise like that, but you never know? If you didn't try one of the outer cylinders, try the to see spark on one of those.

I think you said you pulled a plug out to check spark, was it from cylinder 1 or 4? And are you sure it was spraking, because if it was coverin gas and it sparked, you should have had a fire on your hands, unless you go a tank of bad gas, which is also possible, but you said these symptoms have been going for a couple of months now right? So that would rule out bad gas.

Oh yeah, for got the D15 was for the 92-95, then the low model got bumped up to 1.6L in the '96 model switch.

 
Rep Power: 268

It was cylinder 4, the farthest to the right. He said it was sparking fine even though it was covered in gas. I think he wipped it down maybe before we did the test. Why would I need new wires if they spark?

Alright, so I'm going to check the distributer. From the outside everything looks new, but I will see inside.