Civic - Honda :: 1991 - Idling Roughly / Dies Intermittently While Approaching To Stop
Jan 12, 2016
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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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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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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After driving the vehicle on the highway (30+ minutes at 65+ mph), exiting highway on an exit ramp and coming to a stop (at stop sign or traffic light), the engine will sometimes stall and shut off. Immediately thereafter, vehicle can be restarted and driven. There are no other symptoms, abnormal sounds, vibrations, etc.
I thought problem might be caused by vapor lock. However, Hyundai dealer service center checked fuel pump, fuel lines and vacuum hoses, etc. but can not duplicate, identify or repair problem.
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I own a 2002 Acura TL- car has 100K, i am the original owner- always maintained etc.. I am having problems with the transmission- car was in accident back in 2005, and tranny was replaced..Anyways, when i back car out and then hit it in drive, car goes to neutral. also when i drive, approach stop sign, and then accelerate, car goes to netural- dealer says need new tranny- cost is 2400 plus tax.... so i was thinking of doing that but now they say there is a leak with the oil pump- i said i dont see oil leaking they say its hitting the pan, could go in a month or in a year- cost 1200 to fix.. then he said the brake lines will need to be changed evenually- again 1000 or more.....ball joints- they quoated me 625...
So they say they will give me 500 bucks for a trade in- this car is in really good conditiion except for the supposed problems they found..If they car wouldnt have these problems i would get the tranny fixed- but i dont know what to do- ball joints dont have to be replaced- they hvae a little play.. the oil leak? I mean i have a 2000 accord that the dealer says is leaking- my private mechanic says all accords leak.
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So my jetta is 2001 i believe and idleing like its got major breathing problems, it goes from 700rpms to 1500 in cycles and sometimes dies out all together. I thought it was some kind of vaccum leak and had a few pipes in the engine bay replaced but it didnt fix it. Its also missing a muffler so its really load and annoying, especially when im at inn n out in the drive through lol. Other than that, the car doesn't seem to be running that bad but the check engine light is on as well as the traction light comes on sometimes for no reason.
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We have a newly acquired Honda wagon, 16 valve, PGM FI, auto trans, that revs while idling. It sometimes does it when cold buy also hot. It increases it's idle to 1500 and drops revs to 1100 about every 6 seconds. Normal idle seems high at 110.
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I have a 91 Honda civic hatchback base model 1.5L and I am having serious electrical problems. My wife took the car to town and when she got back all the lights quit working and it just sits there and clicks if I don't remove the main relay. But the main relay also controls the fuel pump. Have already replaced main relay?
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My car ( civic 1.5 dx duel injected) just cut off while I was going down the free pay like the key had been turned off. Now it turns but won't crank. I am getting spark from my plugs, my fuel pump still works, i think my injectors are ok, when I took off the air box I can see fuel going into the throttle body, my throttle isn't stuck, diaphragm seems to have a seal. I took the head cover off and there isn't any fuel/oil in the valves. What could it be? After I put the plugs/cap/head cover back on it cranked for a second then idled down and back to no start.
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I have a 1991 Honda Accord with 280k miles on it.
Question: what would be reasons the engine dies when in operation? I had not noticed anything wrong with the car other than I noticed it may take the automatic transmission a little longer time to shift gears.
While I was on the road, i felt something happening under the hood and noticed the car was losing power. the battery and oil level lights went on and needed to pull the car to the side of the road for obvious reason!
The car was towed back to my house. During the ride back the guy who was towing the car said that the engine turned over when he turned on the ignition.
I did the same thing when I got home and the car started up just fine. Nothing else noticed. The oil level was at normal level. I drove the car a couple times around the block.
The engine is due for a tune up and there sometimes is some vibration. This car has been very reliable. But I obviously can not have situation where the engine dies when on the road!
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My son's 1991 Honda Accord was running real rough. The temperature gauge did not budge from cold. I changed out the thermostat. When I tried to start it it started great then coughed and shuddered and then died. It keeps starting and then dying. I took off the IAC and flushed it with mass air flow cleaner. The screen over one of the ports was all crudded up. It cleaned up OK. However then I put it back it improved for a minute and then died again. I have checked for vacuum leaks but found none.
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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 . . . ?
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Ok my car is not starting. It is not turning over when you turn the key and push in the clutch. I can here a relay click under the drivers side dash. I can push start it and it runs great, sometimes it will start and run fine but it is a frequent problem now. What could be causing me these problems. 1991 Honda Civic DX ....
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I have a 1991 Honda Civic DX and it is doing something I can't explain. Randomly the car will not even try to turn over. The ignition switch will click, the dash lights come on... but not even the slightest peep from the starter motor. If I put the vehicle in fifth gear and roll it, turning the engine over even half a rotation, the engine will fire right up.
It started on a road trip and happened very sparsely, but has since become more common. What used to be 1 out of 20 is now maybe 1 out of 4 chance it doesn't start. Every now and then it will go days without any problems, then seemingly randomly the ignition fails again for spurts. I replaced the distributor cap, plugs, and rotor about 2 months ago. The ignition switch appears to be fine....
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We have a 91 civic whose air conditioner doesn't work. The coolant level is good, and the compressor is running, but we only get external air coming through the vent.
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I've got a great little 1991 Civic DX, 1.5L manual. It's never let me down and I love working on it.
Stalled on the highway a couple weeks ago and I couldn't get it re-started. Over the years, it's had a bit of a personality where it chugs and occasionally stalls at a low idle, or when very slowly accelerating from a stop. If I'm sitting still, I'll turn the key to full off, give it about 30 seconds, and it'll start right back up. For whatever reason just re-starting without turning off never seemed to work.
So since it stalled on the highway and I wasn't able to get it started at all, here's the list I've replaced or completed:- main relay- fuel filter- plug wires- spark plugs (the old ones were due, but not overdue, and all four were pretty fouled with burned oil and had oil in the wells)- spark plug well o-rings and valve cover gaskets- and fully charged the battery
At this point, if I let it sit until it's cool, it'll start right back up with no trouble. Then once it warms, it starts to run a bit rough, eventually chugs, stalls, and then I can't get it started again - spins a few times, then kinda sticks, then spins a few times, and kinda sticks again.
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The car; 1991 Honda Civic Hatch back. Issue; Car starts but when left to idle quickly dies. Background; I just recently replaced the valve cover gasket as well as a pierced hose that was leaking coolant. Since then (ABOUT 3 DAYS) the car has taken much longer to start up; i.e. when you turn the key it tries to start from anywhere between 2-8 sec. Before doing work it started up easily and regularly. Has been driving fine for past three days otherwise. What should I trouble shoot first? I figure I would check the spark plugs when I get home and make sure they are still seated properly. Besides that, I'm not sure where to start.
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The radio in my 1991 Honda Civic has been dying a slow death over the past year. First it would stop working if the weather was too hot. Then it would only work sporadically, finally it almost never worked. Whenever the radio stopped working, there would be a loud electrical "pop" sound, so I thought it might have a short. Yesterday my husband fixed the upper rear brake light (cleaned contacts) so it would pass inspection. Now the radio works perfectly! Are the brake lights and radio on the same circuit?
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I am at my wits' end with my 98 Honda Civic LX. The problem starts around late summer of last year. It is sporadic, so I didn't quite pay attention until one day the engine died on the highway after I picked up the kids at the school. It didn't make any sound nor giving any warnings, just suddenly died. After that highway episode, it seems like it just taken its own fancy schedule as far as when to die, so to say. In a given day, it could 4 episodes in a day. Then it runs perfectly for some weeks then it starts again and went away again.
It just quietly dies while being driven. I had to turn it completely off, wait for some moment and try to turn it on again. Sometimes it just turns on again without me being frustrated and there were moments when I had to do several attempts. Once I heard clicking sound before the engine died, only once, the rest makes no sound at all. No lights are on.
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Right after I filled the gas tank, the car will start for a few seconds and shortly die afterwards. Could it possibly be the purge control solenoid? Right now I'm completely lost...
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Back to my 2007 FWD 2.7L Santa Fe. It has no Visors because a prior owner had them break and fall while driving, hitting them in the face. They dangled by the vanity light wires. They tore them out to get the visor out of their face before an accident happened. I priced new visors at $230 a pair plus shipping online. Ouch, a lot for another set of junk visors!
Recently the car stumbles and the ESC and engine light comes on. Had the codes checked then I and surfed the web and found it to likely be the TPS but the only one to fix it would be of course be the dealer. Diagnosis is $125. plus $70 part plus installation and then $105 to reprogram the TPS. I found the part online for $35. I will install it and then take it to the dealer to program it. So $140 instead of $500! I have yet to do that because I took the TB off and cleaned it. It stumbled a few more times and then ran fine for weeks. Its doing it again though once in a while, some days nothing happens others it happens 4 or 5 times. So I will have to get it done sooner than later. I have however found that it wont stumble and die if I put the car in neutral before I come to a stop. It just happens when its in gear, otherwise it runs fine. So until I take it in to replace the TPS I will use that technique.
I will follow up once I have installed the new TPS and had it programmed so you all will know if that took care of it. I have read some installed the TPS and in short time the computer adjusted to where it worked fine but fuel mileage was poor. Being I know how to drive it to keep it from dying at a stop now, I will wait until I get time and $100 to take it to the dealer for programming.
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