2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

Ok, so my wife took the car to work this morning like normal. At her exit, she said the CEL came on and at the stop light, the car began to shake really bad. She was able to make the alst 1/8 mile to her parking lot and turned it off. Said it was a little sluggish, but didn't use much gas pedal because of the shake. I went by at lunch and checked it out. It does shake quite a bit in the engine bay when given gas, but not terribly at idle. RPMs are still around 1k mark at idle. The CEL does come on. We had the timing belt and water pump replaced at 128k and we are at 158k. I've been slowly fixing the car up just from years of wear and tear, but nothing has been done in the engine bay. from struts replaced. Needs brake pads now too. Any ideas on what might have suddenly caused this to stutter and shake? Could timing have slipped or maybe plugs gone bad? It's in a parking lot and getting towed tonight to our local shop. Couldn't work on it because I am at work too and it's in the office parking lot. Otherwise I'd start diagnosing myself.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

Read the code.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

They called from the shop and said that the coil was bad due to a valve cover leak. So they need to replace the coil and valve cover gasket. Does that sound about right? The oil hasn't been dripping on the ground at all.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

yes that is possible,

one of the valve cover/spark plug seals could have leaked oil down into the spark plug/ignition coil area,

if that is the case then what they are saying is probably correct,

you would not see any oil leaking onto the ground

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

Is there an actual coil pack, or is each individual to the cylinder/plug? I'm hoping they are replacing all 4 if they are single. Honest truth, I didn't know there weren't really coil wires and boots on the Civic. I've never messed internally with the engine except oil changes and filter replacements. The quote was $275. I'm sure it's high, but I don't have time and the car was not in a place I could work on it unfortunately.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

Check the compression too. Misfires can happen because of valves too. I thought I had a bad coil pack on my last car and it turned out to be a burnt valve.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

you have one coil/pack for each cylinder.....there is no need to replace all 4, you only need to replace the one for that specific cylinder

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

They are replacing the valve cover gasket and the coil/packs tomorrow and installing some odds and ends I've not gotten to do myself. If it turns out that wasn't the problem, then it will be under warranty at least and if the problem comes back, it's on them to fix it. I'd imagine they do compression tests to see if it's the cylinders, but I will ask if they did when they call about my other parts tomorrow.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

If it is under warranty, then let them throw parts at it. They will until it is fixed.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

or until the customer goes away.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

Yeah that too, but it's under warranty so he doesn't have much choice.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

^^^ No warranty on an 02.... the warranty will be on the repair.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

12 mo/12k mile on their work. Installed all my parts and fixed the initial problem. Pretty happy with those guys. Would have had to cut the bolt on my rear strut assembly to install them myself, so got them to install those and the LCAs I bought on here. And brake pads since they had the front apart anyways. Wifes car so as long as she's happy, I'm happy. Done in a day.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

EDIT: NEVERMIND... I think I confused the power steering reservoir with the brake fluid reservoir! Geez.. now I feel stupid. I quick glanced it yesterday and didn't pay much attention. But the brake pedal still feels a little soft anyways. I just need to top off the PS fluid too now... lol

So hears a question for you. I had them change the brake pads assuming they were worn, but what they took off the car looked pretty good still. That being said, they did replace them anyway and my fluid reservoir didn't change volume at all. It was at Low before the new pads and still is at Low. I changed them myself previously maybe 5-6 years ago or so and when I did, compressing the piston filled it back up. Could this be leaking a little? I don't have any noticeable leaks at all anywhere. The brake pedal seems a little soft too. Should I add fluid and pump the brakes to make it better? I had assumed the pads were worn due to the low volume in the reservoir.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

Oh Lord, don't pour the wrong fluid in either reservoir! Crap gets real expensive when you do that.
IF someone opened the bleeders while compressing the pistons in, that could cause the reservoir level to be low.
Some people do it that way.


Shoulda eyeballed the pads first.
Check the rear wheel cylinders for leakage?
Refill and keep an eye on it?

Uh..... If fluid disappears with no evidence of leaks, it could go into the booster. Not likely, but it's possible.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

Yeah, no.. I didn't pour anything into the wrong place. I just had a brain fart looking at the engine bay. But the pads were making noises anyway. I took a look at the fluid and it was fine for the brakes, but I do feel like her pedal is still a little soft. She just drives it and thinks nothing about it. She didn't even hear the metal clunks from the LCA bushings being shot. I'm betting sooner or later, the bearings in the hub will be the thing making noises next, if not a little already. But I would think the garage would mention this since they drove it around some (40 miles?!) after the repairs. Rear brake shoes probably need done too. $$$$$ cha-ching

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

It's not a car, it's an appliance.
If you actually look, I bet they are still plenty thick.
Brand new they are only 4mm thick.

Most of the rear shoes can outlast the cars they are in IMO.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

i agree,

mine are original at 290,000 km

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

Well we took it on a 400 mile adventure this past weekend and everything seems okay. Still a noise (like a clunk) up front on bigger bumps. Thought the LCA bushings would fix that, so now I'm not sure what that noise might be. Any thoughts? It could be a motor mount. Would ball joints make a clunking? I would have thought they would notice those and tell me at the garage if they needed replacing. It's at 160k miles right now.

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

hell yes,

they are the most common cause of front end clunking in my opinion

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

Have you shown your garage the issue (take the mechanic for a ride and make the noise happen) and asked them to figure out the noise?

Re: 2002 Civic LX Engine Shake and CEL On
 

No, I haven't, but I did tell them I was replacing the LCAs for the broken bushing because of a clunking. They test drive the car 40 miles around town during it's day at the shop from the odometer reading, so I would suspect they would have noticed it. Maybe it never did it. I don't know.