Civic - Honda :: 1990 - While Idling RPMs Oscillate Between 1 Krpm And Almost 0
Apr 29, 2015
My car has been having idling issues for about a year now. While idling the RPMs oscillate between 1 krpm and almost 0, with a frequency of about one oscillation per second. That got worse over time, and it started dying while idling too. I ignored the problem because it wasn't that bad, until a few weeks ago it died about 7 times on a 2 mile trip. (I developed a technique of using my right foot to press the gas and the brake simultaneously so I could come to a stop while keeping the engine going. But that only gets you so far.) I took it to a garage, they said I probably need a new IACV. Instead of having them do it, I just bought one and put it in myself. I'm not an experienced mechanic, but this seemed fairly easy; I'm pretty sure I didn't screw it up.
So, now it's displaying almost the exact same symptoms. It's not oscillating like it was before, but it's still dying pretty frequently, only on idle. I'd like to know if there's anything else I can try before I take it back to the shop.
A little more information about my car:- Replaced the motor about a year and half ago, put a few thousand miles since then. I don't know what other parts were replaced as part of the motor, but probably not many considering what I've had to replace. - Since the motor replacement, I've had the following replaced: rear main seal, clutch, distributor, distributor again, and water pump- The odometer reads 223k miles, but I don't know how many miles the new motor has. - 1990 Honda Civic LX 1.5L
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I just changed the engine in my 96 Honda civic, 1.6 base model. The change over went well and had no problems. When I have the car idle and it gets up to temp, the RPM's go from 2000 down to 500 then jumps to 2000 then down 500 again. When I put it into gear, drive or reverse, it stops jumping. What did I do wrong?
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I am desperately seeking info about my 1998 Honda Civic. My engine keeps quitting on me when I am either stopped at a stop light idling or the rpm's are really low. This seems to happen at random with no warning or check engine light. I keep my tank more than half full with gas so I don't believe this could be it. I have been to my mechanic and they said it could be a multitude of things wrong with it so it doesn't make sense to put money into the car if it won't necessarily fix it. I am desperate to figure something out so it can get fixed because I have to drive to work everyday and I'm sick of feeling anxious while driving all the time!
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1990 honda civic lx Won't start after being in heat/hot sun. Starts after 5 min or when it cools down.
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I just got new parts replaced in my car and I thought it would run way better but it seems to run worse. I took it in to a mechanics shop that I new. I have a 1990 Honda Civic Si Hatchback and before I he replaced new parts it was running nice. At high speeds after a while it would shake a bit and then the Engine light would turn on. He found out it was the O2 sensor. He has fixed other problems I had before and it made it better but this time I don't know what happened. So this time he replaced my timing belt, O2 Sensor, Water Pump, Spark Plugs, Valve cover seals, and just cleaned around the new parts. He said it was very dirty and gross in side my block and other placed. When I got it back from him I drove it around and it felt REALLY sluggish. Its a standard. Normally it would jolt forward because it had a quick acceleration and I learned to control it well but now it has a fixes slow start no matter how hard or far I push down on the gas? Its a lot easier and smoother to change gears because before I would seem my passengers jerk when I changed gears but I did see them do it this time. I have a feeling it's my O2 Sensor. It felt like a sport car before and now it feels like it drives like I'm a old nerves lady.
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My 1990 Honda Civic DX died in heavy rain. Diagnosis: Need new alternator. Got it. Car immediately started surging loudly whenever idling. Took it back to the shop. 3 mechanics huddled for 3 hours and couldn't figure out what was wrong. Quick fix: Deactivate IAC. They said I should be good for a couple of months. Took one 25-mph drive around the neighborhood. Car ran very rough; panel under steering wheel jolted loose. Made it home but now car won't start. Battery is fine. Wonderful Firestone manager is willing to look at car again. I'm broke after the alternator on top of paying the IRS in April and really want to keep my generally reliable car (only 255,000 miles), at least through the hot South Florida summer.
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Ok so the basics first. The car is a 1990 Honda Civic DX hatchback. The swap is a 1999 Acura Integra GS-R. For about 3 months the car has been a no start. I would get 12 volts to the coil but they would not spark at the wires. I tested the wires for contiuity and they tested good. After trying multiple different harnesses and things the car seems to be in worse shape. The current problems are that it was blowing the 10volt alternator fuse everytime I keyed it to the ON(II) position. I unplugged the alternator and now it doesnt blow the fuse. I have fuel now and the CEL comes on and goes out as it should but the battery light does not come on at all. Im not sure if that is because I have the alt. unplugged. The main problem is that the car no longer cranks. Im back to the original harness that the car had cranked with before but now everytime I go to crank (turn he key to the START(III) position) the car the car shuts off. I checked the grounds and theyre all good. The fuses in both boxes are good as well. I dont know if its getting spark yet because it doesnt crank.
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Noticed my beater Honda del Sol (177k miles) idling slowly the other day. Normal 45F day, light urban driving. Usually idle is ~800rpm (indicated), was dropping to 600rpm and even 500rpm. Holding her at 1000rpm then releasing the gas pedal yielded ~300rpm and it almost died, followed by ~500rpm. Ran fine at any other speed; it had no hesitation, no noises, and no warning lights.
So my GF said, "you're probably low on oil; my Cooper S did that once". Huh? Why would low oil, other than if it were so low that it starved the engine and caused friction, impact the idle? If anything, I'd think it would idle faster with less fluid to pump, and/or with hotter and hence thinner oil (assuming it'll run hotter if it has less oil, which it didn't appear to be).
Sure enough, I checked and it was about a quart low. I've never had a car that uses oil, plus my cars usually have oil pressure & oil level indicators (i.e. Porsche 944S2). So I've never run those lower than near the bottom of the "normal" range.
Searching "The Google" only provided unsatisfactory answers about metal-to-metal grinding and galling slowing down the engine, which is not what is happening here. There is still oil pressure, the oil light does not come on, and the engine sounds "normal". And adding oil immediately cured the slow idle.
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Thinking of buying a new civic with mt. One annoying thing is many mt rev higher at speed than automatics.
Tried to find out online how high civic revs, couldn't find it though.
I'm thinking anything over 2500 is going to sound whiny on a long trip.
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My 03 civic will drive fine when the engine is cool. But after getting off the highway, or running it at higher speeds, when I put it in gear, any gear, it will start choking and bucking like its running out of gas. Once I get it above about 2000 rpms, the choking stops. The read out said it was the egr valve at first, we had it cleaned, but it didn't fix it. The readout now says recirculation insufficient or something like that. I'm wondering how serious this is, and if I should be driving it.
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RPM's will not get above 2000, in 1st and 2nd gear. No power....
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My 1998 Honda Civic DX's RPMs are fluctuating during idle. I start the car and it is normal for about two seconds. I am assuming around 800 rpms (I don't have a tachometer). Then it jumps drastically higher, then lower, then higher, etc. Earlier tonight I replaced the throttle body gasket, replaced the spark plug wires, and cleaned the fuel injector cleaners. I took off several things in the process. I think the problem originates from taking apart the throttle body - not the other replaced parts. I have a manual 2-door 1998 Honda Civic DX with a 1.6L engine (D16Y7 engine to be exact).
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In the Car Talk column on 1/3/2016, it sounds like Lynnette's 1991 Honda Civic wagon was experiencing very similar symptoms to my wife's 2001 Honda Odyssey (189,000 mi) a few months ago. Rough idle, engine almost dies sometimes at stops, groans during acceleration. Additionally, accelerating between 40-60 mph our Honda would feel like it was "loading up," running rich or in the wrong gear climbing hills. I replaced the idle air control valve, which fixed the rough idle but not the other symptoms. Turned out I needed to reset (power cycle) the ECM and go through a curb idle/rev warm-up procedure so it would relearn the throttle position sensor's operating range after replacing the IAC valve. I disconnected the battery, removed and reinserted the hazard fuse, then reconnected the battery. Then from a cold start held the throttle at 3000 rpm until the engine warmed up to normal or the electric fans kicked on. Since then it's back to smooth, strong acceleration we expect from the Honda we love.
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I've had my 2000 Honda Accord V6 for about 3 years now and have had an idling issue pretty much since I purchased it. After driving for at least 50+ miles, and if its hot out it can easily have this issue as well, and leaving the car be for around 15 to 30 minutes, on start up the car drops RPMs immediately and dies. Multiple tries and it will do the exact same thing. Recently I found out a trick to make it work correctly which is revving the engine to 2000RPM for about 3-4 minutes, slowly dropping it down to 1500 RMP for around the same 3-4 minutes and finally down to 1000 RPM for an additional 3-4 minutes and letting off the gas. Usually after doing this the engine idles fine, car drives great. However, it must be noted that on Summer days with temperatures in the 85+ range, if I'm climbing (going up a hill for a long distance) the car might bog down on me, will not go above 50MPH and I have to pull off the side of the road for 45+ minutes before the car will run correctly again. This has happened about 3 or 4 times in the 3 years I've owned the car.
I would rather not have to rev the engine in hopes this fixes the issue each time so I'm wondering what could be the cause in the first place? I've replaced so many things including spark plugs, ignition coils, battery, idle air control valve, gasket, fuel pump, fuel pump relay and on. I gas the car up with Chevron gasoline, I've dumped in I don't know how many different fuel injector cleaners and have also tried Heet as well as Sea Foam cleaner. I've also had the car checked for vacuum leaks.
I've asked multiple mechanics if this could possibly be a vapor lock issue, but they all turn that idea down. They tell me that since the car is fuel injected this can't be the issue..but, I don't know, could it be the issue?
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I have a '03 Civic DX 5 speed. It has 128000 miles on it. I've notice now that it is getting colder, my engine ticks when it is warm - I can hear it at idle and low rpms, but not at higher rpms. It sounds perfect when it's cold, but once it is warm, it has a "tic-a-tic-a-tic-a-tica..." sound. Tom and Ray talked about a Dodge Dakota that made the same sound when the engine was cold (about 8 episodes ago). So what does it mean if it only does it when warm?
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I've got a 2001 Honda Civic, automatic, that has a nice (what I think) belt squeal going. It seems to happen when it's wet/cold, in the lower gears/RPMs, when the defroster and/or rear defroster are on. SOMETIMES it will stop when I turn off the defrosters. If it persists I can make it stop by quickly putting it in park (at a light or stop sign) and right back into D or if moving gunning it for a few seconds. Occasionally I do get a hot rubber smell (like a burning vacuum belt) coming through as I accelerate. So as someone with no real car knowledge, does this sound like a belt issue that I can take care or myself (i.e. belt tensioner and a gauge) or should I just leave it to the pros?
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,My '98 Honda Civic EX (manual 5-speed) is currently at 200,000 miles and makes a gargling/metallic rattling noise when I accelerate from low RPMs or whenever I'm climbing a hill. The noise sounds as if loose change is rattling around somewhere in the engine. I started noticing this a few years ago, when it was very slight and it only happened in second gear as I climbed a steep hill.
Over time, it started happening in third and fourth gear, and now it is in all gears when climbing a hill or when accelerating quickly on level ground. I also notice a lack of power when this noise is occurring. In the past, if I let off the accelerator just a little bit, or if I greatly increased on the gas, the noise would disappear. Now, increasing on the gas makes the sound worse.
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Replaced clutch master cylinder last week. Now when I accelerate it revs the RPM's and finally catches after about 5-10 seconds. Is this related to the previous repair? They are saying needing new clutch. What to do?
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1995 Honda EX with 150,000 miles. Its been running rough ie rough idle, stalling at low rpms etc Additionally for awhile now when humidy reached north of 85% the car wont start. It cranks but rarely runs.
Took it to a mechanic last week for a tuneup. They replaced the Distributor cap, spark plug and wires and fuel filter. Car ran great for a day. Then progressively got worse. Was undriveable the other day stalling misfiring while at speed. Took it back today. They determined that it was still not getting spark and replaced the distributor. They did so, test drove it, declared it good and I came to pick it up. Paid the bill, walked out to the car and the damn thing would not start. Humidity was high.
Mechanic pulled a spark plug and put a tester in and didn't get a spark when cranking. He is assuming the distributor he just put in is bad. So they are keeping the car overnight to be fixed in the morning with a new distributor.
However I'm not convinced the dizzy is bad, I believe, as I've read that the Honda's ECU is probably bad and shorting out in the high humidity. Can a bad ECU would prevent spark?
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I have a 2001 Volvo S60 T5 Turbo with 145K on it, lately when at a stop, in Drive, my idle fluctuates, dipping below 1K RPM where it normally is, fluctuating between 500-1K RPM. Note the spark plugs have nearly 100K on them, but otherwise, car runs great (besides lots of oddball suspension noises)
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I am about to begin servicing my new/old jeep. I am unfamiliar with fuel inj.
it is beginning to run a bit rough idling in drive with brake applied. It is beginning to start less easily, turning over longer before firing...
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