95 civic starts then dies
Asked by Trevor Jan 01, 2015 at 12:31 AM about the 1995 Honda Civic Si Hatchback
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
1.6 sohc with 64k original miles.
Previous owner took great care of
the car before trading in. New
battery, new ign cool, and newer
spark plugs. Recently read back over
all of the service reports, and saw
something I had looked over before.
Customer had same complaints I am
having now, they ran some
tests/inspections and came back
with idle air control valve failure.
Anything else I should check first
that's easier/cheaper?
5 Answers
Pretty common part to have concern with. You can inspect and clean them pretty cheap, some folks just throw parts at a suspicion. the car is almost 20 yrs of age, the hoses and gaskets can be inspected and the plumbing for blockages. If your issues are affected by idle air bypass circuit, they can plug up or have crankcase gases and oils settling in there clogging and eating the hoses from inside. Be careful how far you clamp down on some till you have the parts identified. I saw one once where cleaning and replacing parts for that as necessary improved idle quality and runability.
I know it is older, but could it be that gummed up/clogged with only 64,000 miles?
It can be based on blowby. if your car was normal, it would be on its second tune up. by then you could say it needed its throttle plate cleaned at least twice. The black crud in a throttle comes from inside the engine and crankcase gases coming up through carrying the oil vapors. if the car is low miles, it is possible that its usage has been short trips, not heating up fully, odd usage. that is why I would inspect and clean and be careful not to crush hoses checking them if they are specific and not known to be available. The years are weathering from the outside, and the vapor from the inside. you can inspect yours and find it clean from religious oil changes? or you can find a couple overheats have changed everything. I recently had a friend tell me about his, and it was older, his had a catalyst issue they could not duplicate to diagnose. It was cooking everything. So inspections are best and you might be pleasantly surprised. then you would clean or replace an idle control valve just like anybody.
It starts and dies, the injectors are working electrically ? is it losing spark? or fuel pressure ? Has it had an ig nitor or a main relay yet ? They have a reputation. and what about filters. some of those had unusual filters in odd places. Did they keep good maintenance records and follow a schedule ? Some things i found just by trying one thing at a time. But the start/die experience, you sorta have to be all hooked to it with gauges and look for what you are losing. Inspections that reveal problems can be hit or miss. I had a 91 come over one time, and for all their claims of tuneups and filters, I found a cracked cap when the sunshine was just right on it.
I'm about to start checking the lines/gaskets from the fuel pressure regulator, IACV, and throttle position sensor and start there