engine problem
10-Dec-2008, 11:19 AM
#1
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engine problem
hi, i was meaning to ask this question for a while but keep on forgeting since this problem comes and goes.
last week or so i was driving down the highway, lotsa traffic going around 40-50km/h and all out of a sudden my rpms drop to 0. quiet cant hear the motor then it just pops back up and drops again. wierd thing is when it drops you cant hear the motor and when it goes back up you cant hear the motor start up or anything it just goes on as if it was never off. so after few of these rpm drops the motor just died and i was stuck on the highway and couldnt start my car. i tried 3 times or so, never started so i pulled out a smoke and maybe 15-20s later it started. backfired a bit and was fine. then couple of days later i was entering a highway yet again and the rpms droped from 4000rpm to 2000rpm or so and quickly went back up and was fine the rest of the day. also now sometimes when im driving it feels like its chocking.
my guess would be that something wrong with the spark? although i did not listen for the fuel pump when i stalled on the highway but just not sure.
its time to do wires/plugs anyways but the plugs in my opinion are still oki and its not the plugs that cause this problem since it only occures ocasionaly and goes away within a seconds. thought maybe wires since they flex but then i should be able to see spark at night. so only distributor/cap left. any ideas? anybody had this same problem?
ps. i will check my wires tonight see how/if they spark.
p.s.s forgot to mention its 93 civic si with d16z6/manual
last week or so i was driving down the highway, lotsa traffic going around 40-50km/h and all out of a sudden my rpms drop to 0. quiet cant hear the motor then it just pops back up and drops again. wierd thing is when it drops you cant hear the motor and when it goes back up you cant hear the motor start up or anything it just goes on as if it was never off. so after few of these rpm drops the motor just died and i was stuck on the highway and couldnt start my car. i tried 3 times or so, never started so i pulled out a smoke and maybe 15-20s later it started. backfired a bit and was fine. then couple of days later i was entering a highway yet again and the rpms droped from 4000rpm to 2000rpm or so and quickly went back up and was fine the rest of the day. also now sometimes when im driving it feels like its chocking.
my guess would be that something wrong with the spark? although i did not listen for the fuel pump when i stalled on the highway but just not sure.
its time to do wires/plugs anyways but the plugs in my opinion are still oki and its not the plugs that cause this problem since it only occures ocasionaly and goes away within a seconds. thought maybe wires since they flex but then i should be able to see spark at night. so only distributor/cap left. any ideas? anybody had this same problem?
ps. i will check my wires tonight see how/if they spark.
p.s.s forgot to mention its 93 civic si with d16z6/manual
Last edited by D.T.P; 10-Dec-2008 at 11:23 AM.
10-Dec-2008, 11:24 AM
#2
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,153
Odly enough my eg did this when a shop put bosch plugs in. It bogged and stalled out.
If you need to replace your plugs as wires anyhow, it would be a good place to start. OEM NGK plugs and wires.
If this dosent do it, then I would move on the checking the cap and rotor then on to the distributor itself.
If you need to replace your plugs as wires anyhow, it would be a good place to start. OEM NGK plugs and wires.
If this dosent do it, then I would move on the checking the cap and rotor then on to the distributor itself.
10-Dec-2008, 11:28 AM
#3
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Location: Hamilton, ON
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do you have a alarm system installed?
I had a similar problem but it was my alarm system that cut the ignition. But i can just restart the car right away.
Is the car auto or manual? when it drops to zero, do you feel like the engine is off and its just slowing down?
What i mean is when i drive and im in gear, and the ignition shut off, get a nasty jerk because its still in gear.
and i second NGK plugs. I just replaced mine from the NGK iridiums to the regular V-Power ones ... and my god the engine runs nice and smooth now ... iridiums are over-rated i think ...
I had a similar problem but it was my alarm system that cut the ignition. But i can just restart the car right away.
Is the car auto or manual? when it drops to zero, do you feel like the engine is off and its just slowing down?
What i mean is when i drive and im in gear, and the ignition shut off, get a nasty jerk because its still in gear.
and i second NGK plugs. I just replaced mine from the NGK iridiums to the regular V-Power ones ... and my god the engine runs nice and smooth now ... iridiums are over-rated i think ...
10-Dec-2008, 11:39 AM
#5
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lol civicEJ1 well cant really do anything else or ill burn the started right? hehe
anyways no i dont have alarm system. i would guess the engine is slowing down since i dont get a jerk once it gets back to normal. yet im not sure if i press in the clutch :S since first thing i try doing is pressing gas and try to make it to go back on and try to merge to the side since last time it stalled on the highway it was on 401 westbound right by islington in 2 lane lol...lotsa people were pissed.
hmm im actually gonna go right now and check my plugs. havent checked them in a while..and pull cap off see whats going on there.
if anybody has any ideas please let me know and i really appreciate all the responses in a matter of 5mins or so
anyways no i dont have alarm system. i would guess the engine is slowing down since i dont get a jerk once it gets back to normal. yet im not sure if i press in the clutch :S since first thing i try doing is pressing gas and try to make it to go back on and try to merge to the side since last time it stalled on the highway it was on 401 westbound right by islington in 2 lane lol...lotsa people were pissed.
hmm im actually gonna go right now and check my plugs. havent checked them in a while..and pull cap off see whats going on there.
if anybody has any ideas please let me know and i really appreciate all the responses in a matter of 5mins or so
10-Dec-2008, 12:22 PM
#6
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well and im back. i have disovered that the spark plug wire #4 was not sitting on the plug all the way..so i pushed it down and now its good. so that took care of the chocking but imo this has nothing to do with random rpm drops. also this is a once in a blue moon kinda thing. or 2-3 times a month or so.
plugs seem fine...and wires did not shock me after dragging my hands across them. so those are good..the connections on wires seem fine. also did not get around checking cap unfortunatly since its bloody cold.
on a happier note i just tensioned my alt. belt :P no more squeel when my heat is on haha.
anyways if anybody has any ideas, they would be greatly appreciated.
plugs seem fine...and wires did not shock me after dragging my hands across them. so those are good..the connections on wires seem fine. also did not get around checking cap unfortunatly since its bloody cold.
on a happier note i just tensioned my alt. belt :P no more squeel when my heat is on haha.
anyways if anybody has any ideas, they would be greatly appreciated.
10-Dec-2008, 01:23 PM
#7
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Location: Hamilton, ON
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^^ ah yesterday i tighten my alt belt too ... damn squeaking! haha mine was making noise when i would be in second gear accelerating ...
as for the drop in rpm ... it could be the grounds are not good, and sometimes theres no power going to the spark plugs? and also the fuel pump wires/connectors could be dirty.
as for the drop in rpm ... it could be the grounds are not good, and sometimes theres no power going to the spark plugs? and also the fuel pump wires/connectors could be dirty.
18-Dec-2008, 07:49 AM
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well it has done it again. i was going to work yesterday evening, and as i was merging on to a highway i started pushing in 3rd to merge in. once i got to cruising speed it felt like bogging. shortly afterwards rpms just dropped. i clutched it, and attempted to rev and it went back up...so i revved the heck out of it and it was perfect no bog all the way to work [with tims stop] around 20mins. then around 1am i was going to tims during work and seemed perfect untill i finished ordering at drivethrough and i pressed in the clutch...rpms dropped to 100rpm or so and sounded like dying[duh] tried to save it yet still died. so i started the motor first crank no problem. now thats where the interesting part comes, this morning i was going back from work and i just started dying on me so i revved the heck out of it yet again [ was driving for atlteast 5-7mins and motor temp was up already] and everything was fine for 2mins and then next 20mins it starts dying out followed by me revving it and then it runs oki for a minute or so and then it starts again.
did not change the plugs yet as 05CivicSisuggested nor fixxed the grounds as driven905 mentioned. was just really busy and it was running fine after i discovered that one wire wasnt sitting on valve cover properly. just figured ill give an update. ill be heading out maybe tomorrow or so to get some plugs and wires, see if that helps.
btw most of what i wrote will not make too much sense nor will it be gramatically correct since i had 5h of sleep followed by 9h of work around the house and 12h nightshift lol
did not change the plugs yet as 05CivicSisuggested nor fixxed the grounds as driven905 mentioned. was just really busy and it was running fine after i discovered that one wire wasnt sitting on valve cover properly. just figured ill give an update. ill be heading out maybe tomorrow or so to get some plugs and wires, see if that helps.
btw most of what i wrote will not make too much sense nor will it be gramatically correct since i had 5h of sleep followed by 9h of work around the house and 12h nightshift lol
19-Dec-2008, 11:22 AM
#19
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oki well i got around to taking the distributor cap off today. i was a little confussed. i found a tiny screw in there. maybe 4mm long painted black just laying in there. i dont think it came out of there. so i drove around for a bit after i re-installed everything and seems normal.
guys think that the damn screw could have been preventing from proper spark?
guys think that the damn screw could have been preventing from proper spark?
