Civic - Honda :: 1998 - Fluctuating Idle When Car Is At Operating Temperature
Nov 23, 2015
I have a 98 honda civic ex with the d16y8, have replaced the map sensor and iacv and still have a fluctuating idle only when car is warm or at operating temperature. it has dc sports racing headers into a straight pipe then exhaust tip. does not have any o2 seniors on it(wasn't my choice was like that when i got it) will idle up and down between 1700 and 2200 rpm also after replacing iacv the car jerk when going at low speeds or letting off then getting back on accelerator.
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I've been checking my oil every morning for a few weeks now because of a worry about it burning off. I check it at the same time each morning, in pretty much the same parking spot, before driving it. Every time I take out the dipstick, wipe it off and put it back in to check. What's weird is that the level seems to fluctuate. Some days it's up over the higher dot. Some days it's down closer to the lower one (though it hasn't been under). Most days it's somewhere closer to the middle between the two. Is it common for it to fluctuate that much on a day to day basis? Is it something I should be worrying about?
In case it matters, it's a 1998 Honda Civic LX.
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I have had my 1998 Honda Civic for about 5 years now... I bought it used. Occasionally I have noticed my oil levels have been low every 2 months or so. Oil is not being burned and doesn't leak. It hasn't affected performance from what I can tell. I have basically monitored the levels and everything has been fine. There was also an electrical issue since I have had it.
About 8 or 9 months ago, I noticed the temperature gauge was basically in the red while driving. I pulled over and noticed the oil was reading empty. I put oil in it and took it to the shop the next day. They told me the head gasket was bad and that the oil and coolant were mixing and recommended I replace the engine. I asked them how long I could manage before the car quit entirely and he said maybe a month, two if I kept doing oil changes.
I put the heat on while driving it, and the temp was normal. I took it to another shop the same week. They couldn't get it to overheat for a couple hours. The guy told me it was probably the fan but wouldn't know unless he could see it overheat. He said the fan would cause it to overheat at stoplights when there wasn't air on the engine. When the car gets hot, it doesn't get worse at stoplights and is only after I've been driving like 20 minutes that it heats up. I asked that he call me as soon as he knew what it was and I would decide whether I wanted it fixed that day or not. Then I didn't get a call for awhile, and when I called them, they said the guy was out getting the part. I felt like they were rushing so I would replace the fan. I asked if it was the head gasket because I didn't want to fix a fan if the engine needed to be replaced. They said it was not. I didn't replace the fan. They also told my husband that we could save wear and tear on the engine by putting the air conditioning on instead of the heater. When we do this, it overheats. Its only when the heater is on that the temp stays normal.
I have been driving the car for 8 or 9 months now with the heater on with no performance issues. It doesn't overheat and even when I forget to put the heat on it goes up to the red, but doesn't "overheat" with the steam and whatnot. It doesn't seem to do anything to affect the performance of the car. We have replaced the radiator cap, which had pieces falling off, and it didn't work. The check engine light came on yesterday and the code indicated something to do with the transmission.
We took it to a third mechanic today and he said I needed a new thermostat... I do not see any sort of film in the oil. We just flushed the coolant today and there was no sign of oil. I'm totally lost on what to do. I feel like the mechanics have lied to me about what was going on. They contradict each other and the little things they told me don't seem to be the case or don't work.
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1998 Honda Civic EX. This has been a great car and have got a ton of good miles on it. The problem that I am having now is with the temperature gauge. The measurement is completely all over the place while driving. While moving around town, the gauge shows the temperature VERY hot. As soon as I reach a consistent speed, the temperature drops back to normal (moves very erratically!). The gauge seems to get even hotter while idling. Another issue (may or may not be related) is the heat coming out of the vents is only working while the car is in motion. While stopped, it pumps out cold air. The temperature immediately changes when I get going again. Both problems seem to be getting worse. The car has coolant, and all other levels of fluids are normal.
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I have a 2004 Honda Civic that has about 183,000 miles.The problem is that when I start my car in the morning, the car never totally warms up when it's cold outside (I live in VA), until I press the gas pedal and rev the engine. Until I press the gas pedal, the temperature gauge stays at cold, and the heater blows cool air. I've taken it to the dealer 12 times for the same issue, but they can never find the real problem.
They flushed the A/C hoses and radiator, replaced the radiator cap, installed an upper hose, installed head gasket, water pump, and while there, the timing belt. They've also "burped" it numerous times. Also, when I have the heater on and fan on high, the temperature gauge drops as I'm going down a mountain and not pressing the gas pedal. After driving, and I stop, it also slowly drops while idling for about 5 - 10 min.
When it's warmer outside, I don't have any problems, because I don't have the heater on. This has been going on for about 1 1/2 years now, and it's starting to get cooler again, so I need to get it fixed or sell it.
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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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Like the title says my 98 stang will not start when the engine is hot. It starts perfectly when the engine is cold. When the engine is at normal operating temp the starter cranks like normal but the engine will not catch. If i give it a little gas while cranking it the engine will start until i take my foot off the gas then it shuts down. after i leave the car for about and hour it will start. I have new plugs, wires, alternator, fuel filter, air filter and my last oil change was three weeks ago. the battery holds a good 12.6v, I had the timing fixed in june. I jumped the fuel pump relay and there is good pressure up to the fuel filter.
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I have had my honda for a few months now and have had a few problems in that time. At first it started with the check engine light coming on when heated up but then my car began to randomly die while I'm driving down the road. Every time that it would die I was able to start it back up almost right after it died. Also when I come to a stop my temperature gauge will start to rise and when I turn the car off I can hear the fans continuing to run for about 10 mins. Now my car will drive until it heats up and then it will die and not start back up until it has cooled down. My dad told me that he thought that my main relay went bad but I replaced that and nothing has changed...
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I have a 6th Gen 2007 Toyota Camry with the 4 cylinder engine with 150,000 miles, original owner.
After changing the car battery, the engine idle when at operating temperature went from the stock 650 to 450 RPMs. The engine does not stall and runs amazingly smooth at 450, but the drive ability from start is jerky and the car will roll backwards in drive on a small grade while in drive.
Another tip, before this issue, when cold on start up the engine would rev to about 2,000 RPM's then slowly drop which I understood to be normal and part of the emissions system. Now it revs to about a 1,000 and quickly drops to 450.
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I have 2000 Jetta 1.8t. Over the last few weeks it idles wierd when up to full operating temperature. The check engine code is p0411.
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I have a terrible car. Honda Civic 2002 that runs alright but quakes and shudders after I start it. It also revs up for no reason at all whilst I drive around. Anyway two machanics have told me I have a headgasket leak that will cost a lot of money to fix. Two others have told me I don't or that it is so minor it needs not be messed with. The last one I saw decided I had a bad Coolant Sensor for the Computer.
I guess there is one for the computer and one, um, not for the computer. I bought both sensors and he changed them Friday. Today I took the car out and three times while I was out, my temp gauge shot up into the red hovered for a few minutes and sank back down. It has never done this before. Why this might be happening now? I am really sick of taking my car in and getting a thousand different stories, paying to fix things that are not wrong with it and watching it die a slow death.
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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 drive a 2002 Honda Civic EX with about 105,000 glorious miles on it. I decided to hit the road and made a weekend road trip to pick up a stranded family member. I live in Ohio and drove Lou Dobbs, my car, to Florida. It was about 950 miles one way. All was well until I got to Florida. I hit my first traffic jam and was sitting with the windows down enjoying the Florida air. Suddenly, the temperature gauge started to climb! It got pretty close to the red but traffic began to flow at that point. As soon as I reached 40-50MPH the temp began to fall again. I picked up my cargo and headed back. Each time I would hit traffic or a red light the temp would climb without hesitation. This is without the A/C running. After I got back to Ohio, i asked a friend who knows about cars. Over the phone, he had me remove the radiator cap and reservoir cap to take a look at the fluid levels. After this though, the car has never overheated! I don't understand. Can air get into the system and I let it out by removing the caps? I can sit in rush hour traffic for a half an hour with the AC running and the needle stays right in the middle. Should I still take it in to be looked at?
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My 2005 Honda Civic has just started doling out heat when it feels like it regardless of where I set the dial. It seem that when I am accelerating or applying gas, heat is available but when I am stopped at a light or coasting downhill, cold air is all that is available. Is this a thermostat issue or something more dire?
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This weekend I was one a trip in my '98 Civic, and I noticed some movement in my temperature gauge. It didn't really overheat; the needle never got near the red, but it did go a little higher than usual.
Normally, once the engine heats up, the needle on the temperature gauge doesn't move, not even a little. It sits right under the squiggly lines on the temperature gauge icon. However, on Friday, when I got off the highway, the needle rose into the upper part of the icon, to the part with the thermometer.
As soon as the car started moving, the needle on the temperature gauge went back to its normal spot, so I assumed it was a problem with the radiator fan and I kept on driving, prepared to turn on the heat if the needle on the temperature gauge started going up.
Saturday morning I took the car to a local shop in Jacksonville, and it turns out the engine needed a new fan and a new thermostat.
The first lesson that comes to mind is that keeping an eye on my temp gauge might have saved me an engine. It certainly saved me a head gasket. Since a head gasket or new engine would have been worth more than the car, catching this before it became a problem saved me from having to buy another car.
The next lesson is that my Civic had two things wrong with the cooling system, and yet it barely showed any symptoms. The air conditioner doesn't work I guess since a working A/C would probably have made it overheat. In any case, I've probably been driving without a working radiator fan for some time.
The final lesson is that if I had tried to diagnose this myself, I'd probably be driving around with a new radiator fan and a bad thermostat. I paid about $435 for a new fan, thermostat, and fresh coolant (I declined the cooling system flush) and it was worth every penny.
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The car I drive is a 1997 Civic EX, and if I drive it for about five minutes, the temperature gauge starts creeping up real fast. It'll go to the red if I let it, and the only thing that brings it down is turning on the heater and fan, at full blast. which is pretty miserable in summer.
I looked under the hood and found the radiator fan isn't starting up, no matter how hot it gets. So I checked the fuse - it looked good. Replaced it anyway just to be sure. No change. Then I replaced the relay switch. that didn't change anything. And I also replaced the fan motor. Still nothing.
I have read elsewhere that I should check my thermostat, but I can't see what it has to do with the fan motor not starting? also that the Engine Coolant Temperature sensor might be faulty but it is my understanding that that controls fuel-air mixtures and I just don't know.
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My 1998 Honda Civic has been dormant in my drive way for about a month and a half with very little gas. I went out to try to start it the other day and it struggled for a bit and never turned over. It isn't the batter considering the headlights and radio work just fine, thus I sought out the nearby gas station and attempted to solve the problem by putting gas in it, yet when I returned and emptied out my gas can into the tank it was the same ol' story. What it could be?
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I have a 1998 honda civic LX that slips very very seldom upon acceleration. It happens under light acceleration and medium acceleration (I dont accelerate hard enough to see it slip at high acceleration, it might!)
What happens is, the car stops accelerating and simply idles. As the motor idles the car drifts and slows down. I have never done it, but I bet in this state I could come to a complete stop just by drifting if I keep my foot in the same spot on the accelerator. When I change my foot, and accelerate harder, the car wakes back up and keeps accelerating like nothing even happened.
I don't think it is the transmission slipping, because in that instance revs would climb and acceleration would halt and that is not the case. I recently gave the car a huge tune up, here's the list
Valve adjustment
Oil and filter change
Cleaned throttle body and IAC
New distributor and cap (Plug wires aren't really in good shape)
New spark plugs
New air filter
Set the timing
New belts
Cleaned injectors
Cleaned battery terminals
I don't know what could cause this problem! The only thing I have come up is the Possibility a TPS (Throttle position sensor) going bad. The only thing that I know of that is wrong with the car is the exhaust manifold has a big crack in it right before the upstream 02 sensor. No doubt this leak is messing with the cars readings of the AFRs. Could this be part of the problem? It is throwing a code for the catalyst system.
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I have 1998 Honda civic 2 Dr and i was trying to switch cd players in it and blew some fuses so i checked all and replaced the blown ones but now it won't start.
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I have an issue with my 98 honda civic lx, with 197000 mils. Recently I had my Check engine light on. I ignored it for a day. The next day started my car and in the middle of the road it stopped moving, meaning in spite of accelerating it doesn't move. So I stopped at the shoulder, turned off the engine. After a while I started again, the car moved but later on it stopped moving when I was accelerating. The Engine did not turn off during the stall. Couple of weeks back the car was shaking on the front side when I was driving, it felt like the car was about to stop as if it was short of fuel.I changed the spark plug 15000 miles back. Water pump and timing belt was changed 25000 miles back.Car has a highway mileage of 32 mpg.
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My 1998 Honda Civic has oil in the radiator. And even stranger, the oil winds up in the overflow coolant reservoir. What is the most likely cause of this?
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