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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.

 
Rep Power: 282

see what the light says then report back. thats the easiest way to start here