We bought our 2002 Honda Civic new and have maintained it exactly as specified. Intermittently when we turn on the AC/heater we get a horrid smell, sometimes like dirty socks, sometimes like vomit, sometimes like damp basement. We recently had the cabin air filter changed. It doesn't happen every time we turn the AC/heater on, but enough that it can be very irritating!
View 2 RepliesMy wife drives a 2002 civic (mostly around town). when the car is at running temp.with the heater on and she gets top a stop sign or red traffic light, the heater starts to blow out cold/colder air. We took the car to a dealer and asked them to flush/fill the radiator and fix the problem. Well they flushed/filled the radiator and said "Yup, it still does it. Would you like us to diagnose the problem more for a minimum of 1 hour labor cost?" What could be the problem with the reduction in heat?
View 10 RepliesThe power steering on my 2001 Honda Civic intermittently cuts out and the wheel becomes really hard to turn. The belt is tight and the fluid level is correct.
The weird thing about it, is it only happens in cold weather. Everything was fine all summer, but now that the weather has turned colder the problem has reappeared. Same thing happened last year. . .
Can this make sense, or is this just some weird coincidence?
View 2 RepliesThe heater in my car only blows hot air when I'm driving fast. At stop signs it blows cold. You can imagine how this affects my driving strategy. What the problem might be?
View 5 RepliesI have a green Civic EX that uses VTech Parts, but is not a VTech. I believe that's because it was manufactured in Japan. She's got about 140k miles and usually still runs strong. Lately, I'm having a lot of trouble getting her started and now she won't start at all.
It seems that it will only start in the evenings, but won't even do that reliably.Car won’t start intermittently.Strong gas smellHas spark, Orange on the far cylinder, and a blue/orange on the closest one.Replaced entire distributor. Replaced cap, rotor, plugs and wires as well.When it does start, it runs smoothly.Ether (starting fluid) doesn’t affect the engine at all.
My AC stops working intermittently - I got a whole new compressor about 2 years ago, then it stopped working altogether about a month ago, they said they couldn't find any leak but filled it up w/ added dye. Now it blows cold for awhile on the highway, but will randomly blow warm air, and also blow warm air when I'm stopped at a light (Which is no good in Phoenix, AZ) I took it back in and they said they couldn't find a leak or anything wrong with it, that some hose was probably just freezing and then I would have to wait for it to thaw... but that doesn't explain why it never happened before... and it's not normal (clearly)... I just want a car that I don't have to roast in this summer!
View 3 RepliesI have a ´96 Honda Odyssey. For over nearly 3 years I´ve smelled a stale smell when the heater is on. Slight smell with a/c. For the first year and a half it wouldn´t defog, just the bottom part of the windshield. But in the last year or so it´s been defogging pretty well, but the smell has gotten worse. I turned on the heater this summer for the 1st time in a while. Visible white fog poured out of the vents, along with same stale smell. Have taken it into 2 mechanics. They tested coolant lines and found no leaks. Said it´s not the heater core b/c the heater would have stopped working by now. What´s the smell? How to fix it??
View 1 RepliesI 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 RepliesWhen 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 RepliesAbout a month and a half ago, I took my 2005 Honda Civic LX to a mechanic for an oil change. He informed me that my air filter needed to be replaced as well, so I told him to go ahead and do so. Ever since I got the car back, however, I've been smelling car exhaust unless I push the button for recirculated air. What could be causing this?
View 12 RepliesAbout a month ago, I smelled a very faint smell of radiator fluid inside the car while the air was on. This happened twice, once on the highway when RPM's were running fairly high/engine temp was slightly higher than usual, and once on sidestreets when I was driving at high RPM's/in lower gears than normal (manual transmission). When I stopped the car it cooled down to normal level immediately and smell went away. I added coolant to the reservoir.Then I noticed nothing for about a month, so I figured everything was OK.Last week, my engine was running hot (usually is at 50% on the temp gauge, it was at 75%, where 100% is red zone), driving at low speeds.
About 5 minutes before that, I had the heat on but noticed the air blowing in the car was not heated even though the engine was warmed up (I assume due to lack of radiator fluid flow through the engine). The car did not overheat, because I pulled over and added water, and later added some coolant. During that incident I did not notice any smell inside the car. At the end of the week, I noticed the car running slightly hot and checked the reservoir. It was low--most of the coolant I added had disappeared in just one week.
Usual things to check:-radiator and all hoses are new-no leaks under the car-no white exhaust/smoke or smell outside
Other things about my car: It is a 1997 Honda Civic. Has never had any major problems, and it's running smoothly, but it does burn oil. The first time I noticed the smell, it was just after I had driven on the highway with slightly low oil level (still on the dipstick, but slightly below the bottom dot. Not too far on the highway--about 20 minutes). Not sure if that could be related.
In my 2006 Civic I intermittently get a dirty gas smell in the interior after I drive and park the car, and then come back a few minutes later and start it. Do I have a gas leak of some kind? I have not noticed a loss in mileage.
View 5 RepliesI 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.
2002 Honda Civic LX
Maybe a year ago I started having problems with air conditioning. The hot air part works fine, no problem whatsoever. But the cold air thing doesn't work as it used to. It's not the fan - the fan blows enough air for a little storm, it's just not cold enough.
First time I noticed, it just stopped making cold air for maybe 15 minutes. Air was coming in at ambient temperature, not even a degree cooler than that. Then it started working again. Ever since then I've had intermittent failures like this, and then it would start working again. It's not a change in flow, it's a change in temperature.
Second symptom - even when it does work, it seems inconstant. Before, I could just set it and forget. Now sometimes it seems more fidgety, and I have to keep turning the button when it starts acting up.
Third symptom - it doesn't seem to make any cold air at all when the engine is idle. The engine must run at normal cruise speed to get any cold air out of it. Before, it was slow to make cold air when idle, I had to wait a while, but eventually it would start to make cold air. Nowadays, if I'm coasting downhill, there's no cold air at all.
I'm worried that one day it will stop working altogether. Plus, it's not fun when it's hot outside and this thing decides to take a vacation. I didn't care about it in winter, because the hot air works fine, but now that summer is knocking at the door, this is suddenly a problem.
What might have gone wrong? Is it something that's easy to fix at home, or should I take it to the mechanic?
2003 Honda Odyssey 150K+ miles... My wife called today and said she was smelling raw gas coming from the heater vents on the first cold day this year. I thought we had this issue last year but not 100%. What it could be or how to fix it?
View 8 RepliesI have a 2002 Kia Sportage and when the heater is on I smell gasoline and it's very strong.
View 4 RepliesIn 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.
View 1 RepliesAbout a year ago after I got my oil changed I assumed they spilled oil when filling it at the shop. I actually had smoke coming through my vents at first. The smell has been there intermittently ever since but only when the heater is in use, not when AC is used. What could have been the cause? What should I check? Is there a cabin air filter that should be changed?
View 6 RepliesI have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt... I can smell gasoline ONLY when I turn the heater or a/c on. I have taken the car to TWO different auto shops and no one knows WHAT is causing this. The check engine light came on recently after a radiator flush and the first auto shop said it was a thermostat switch and bring it back the next day. I was leery of this and went to the second auto shop who told me they never heard of a thermostat switch and to bring it back whenever the check engine light comes on again. Meantime, I will not turn on the heat or air because the gas smell gives me a headache. What this could be?
View 3 RepliesI have an 02 passat with about 85K and the other day my windows would not clear up and a faint smell of antifreeze. also when temp control is in cool and you move the temp control to warm steam comes out of vents. I need to know if i could change this myself and if any procedure on how to do it.
View 3 Replies