Civic - Honda :: 1998 - Occasionally Won't Start / Smell Of Fuel
Oct 16, 2014
I have a 1998 Honda Civic (160,000 mi) that occasionally wont start. It usually happens when I have been to the store or something, when I come back out and try to start the car, it just cranks and cranks with no starting. The first time I left the car for a few hours because I though the engine might be hot and if it cooled down it would start. After leaving it for a few hours, it started right back up, no problem.
More recently when this happens, I let it sit for 10 to 15 min trying to start it every once in a while and eventually it does start back up but it really smells of fuel (I think it flooded). Also, on the freeway I can feel it misfire a little bit but to me, it's not a huge problem. Also, occasionally when at a light or something it will rev up and down until I start driving again. A few months ago, my friend replace the distributor, wire and plugs and timing belt but the problem still persisted.
View 9 Replies
Advertisement
This has been a great car, until it developed this weird thing. It will occasionally stall while being driven. no warning, the motor just dies. It is a manual trans. and sometimes will restart if I downshift. I have become adept at slamming on the hazard lights and pulling over.
View 5 Replies
I have a 2006 Honda Civic Sedan with 214,000 miles on it. I have a starter that is less than a year old, a new battery and the battery cables have just been cleaned and inspected. My batter and alternator tested fine. Occasionally (always in the morning) my car won't start. There is no noise, cranking or clicking. All the lights are operational with no dimming. However, today I put the car in neutral and it started right up (after not starting for three tries.)
View 9 Replies
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.
View 3 Replies
I've got a 1988 Honda Civic Sedan. 151, 000 miles. Runs great,except when I have to stop for gas or I pop the clutch maladroitly to get going and kill the engine. Then it won't start up. It used to do it once or so every five times I stop to gas up. I don't drive it much and have to re-charge the battery every month or so--even the new battery. It started this herky-jerky thing last summer but the tow guy convinced me it was a bad gas problem. A gas additive seemed to clear it up, but not the starting problem.
Just last night I recharged the battery,let the engine run 15 minutes or so the next morning, then shut it down and tried to restart it; turned over but wouldn't start. In general, when it cools down about an hour or so later, it starts fine. So engine heat seems to cause it.I've giving up trying to gas up at the cheap stations. Instead I go to the local station two blocks away so I can push it aside and come back later to get it if it stalls. Could this be something simple I could fix?
View 2 Replies
I have a '98 Honda Civic that is regularly maintained and seems fine with the exception of a starting problem when left outside. I have it in a garage normally and have never had a problem starting it. But when left outside, it usually takes a couple of hours for the car to warm to the outside temperture as it rises. The battery is new and the spark plugs seem fine so I am at a loss.
View 2 Replies
I have a 98 1.6L Honda Civic DX with 200,000 miles and standard transmission. It was running great. Then I was going up a steep hill and it lost all power plus no rev from gas peddle. after tapping the gas it started powering again. CE light was flashing and staid on. The next day the light went off but the problem kept happening and sometimes the light would come on. It started stalling in 1st gear sometimes(not having power when I first hit gas)but then it would catch and pick up. then when shifting into 2nd or third gear it would loose power again but then catch. I got codes read p0302 and p1399. problem got worse and worse. now car won't start. it turns over and almost sounds like it will, but doesn't, ignite. I also noticed there's too much oil in tank from last oil change. My mechanic has no idea.
View 5 Replies
I have a 94 honda civic. It's been having problems starting. When it won't start you have to pump the gas a lot and it will then start. You can smell a lot of fuel when this happens so unsure if it is the pump. Maybe it's a combination of several things. Replaced spark plugs, new wires connecting to battery. And just put in a new fuel filter. All seemed to slightly work for a minute. But now driving today went to start the car and it wouldn't stay running if I let go of the key. Finally got it to stay on seemed fine then as I was driving and wasn't pressing on the gas peddle the car started losing power so I pressed the peddle it sputtered (kinda sounded like something clogged in tail pipe) and regained power.
View 19 Replies
My car does not start (cranks only) after I clean the fuel injector and intake manifold.
so I check the spark with tester and it is fine.then I check the fuel pressure with tester and the pressure shoots to over 42 psi without starting (normal between 38 and 46 psi) and slowly drops to 10 psi. I install fuel injector (FI) with new o-ring and gasket and there is no leakage aroung them. the fuel pressure regulator is ok. I got one from junk yard and the test show the same.
I notice there is some gas inside TB and only way to leak the gas is the FI body valve. I took all FI out and notice #2 and #3 are wet on the FI nozzle tip and use small string to push air through and can see some fluid coming out from the nozzle tip.
I thought I clean it well and do not know if this can be fixed by more cleaning. the resistance is all the same at 12.6 ohms under room temp at night in north CA.
View 4 Replies
Honda civic ex 2001 w/ 202k miles.... 1 month ago was driving on highway, the a/c started going, then I began losing power, temp went hot, pulled over steaming hood, wouldn't take much water.
Mechanic did: replace thermostat, therm gasket, new radiator fan temp switch, pressure test.
Ran fine for 2 weeks, then heat began to rise again & overheated. Each time it overheated the top small hose on radiator popped off(like a 1/2 in. hose). Back to mechanic: did pressure test, did a full cooling system test all were great...Only thing he found was a small radiator crack....thought it just took a week to lose coolant. Replaced radiator/ecu temp sending unit/refill and pressure test.
1 week later, temp spikes to hot, so I bring it back....he tested pressure/flow no leaks again...he can't figure it out.One note: for about the past 3months, right after starting, I would come to my first or second stop, then accelerate and hear a squeal that lasts like 5 seconds or so...this happened intermittently for about 3 months, and is still happening(I can drive very short distances now). A friend thought the issue was the belt that controlled the a/c and 2 other things
View 5 Replies
I have a 99 Honda Civic. A few months ago, while driving in my neighborhood at about 25 mph, the car just stalled out and died. Within a minute, it started up again and was fine. My mechanic has checked it out a few times and found nothing. It's been totally fine and just did it again today. I leave tomorrow for a trip and am a little concerned about taking it on the road.
View 4 Replies
My wife reported that her 2010 Civic LX sedan sometimes made a noise in the front, like cutting sheet metal with an electric saw. I have not heard it myself during several times I drove it. What could be the possible causes?
I plan to drive it some more until I hear the noise. What specific info should I note for mechanic to diagnose the problem correctly?
View 5 Replies
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?
View 6 Replies
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.
View 2 Replies
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.
View 11 Replies
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.
View 4 Replies
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?
View 10 Replies
My car drives fine till it heats up then if I come to a stop it won't go into gear.....
View 9 Replies
My 98 Civic ex runs and shifts perfect to have 200,000+ miles but when you try and shift to reverse it grinds. It acts like it's gonna shift into reverse but doesn't. When you shift back into park or neutral you can hear it still spinning. Sounds like a card in spoke of bike. We have drained fluid twice and replaced also added trans-x.
View 4 Replies
I own an old Civic and I noticed in the past several months that I get a burned oil odor in the passenger compartment, but only when I drive downhill. I more recently notice that if I accelerate while driving down the hill, a cloud of smoke trails out behind me then clears when I let off the gas. This car has 294,000 miles on the odo. (I know) and I DO have to add a quart of oil every 2 weeks or so. It runs great though. Is my motor about ready to blow or what . . . ?
View 7 Replies
When I start my 1999 Honda Civic, a sort of sulphury smell comes through the vents. I ended up having my compressor replaced today, and I assumed the smell would be clean, because the a/c is new. (Tells you I don't know much.) Anyway, the smell is still there, along with a smell from the oil (I have a small oil leak) and engine. It all goes away after a minute or two, but is this anything to worry about?
View 1 Replies
