Honda civic drives but wants to die or spits and pops please help!!

40

Asked by Mike Dec 31, 2015 at 05:06 AM about the 1995 Honda Civic DX

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 1995 Honda civic non-vtec d series and
my problem is every time I start the vehicle its
sounds good just has a high idle..I put it in first
and try to go and in first the gear last like 10
seconds or untill I hit 15 then it sputters or wants
to die...I've already ran some troubleshooting and
found a vacuum leak in between the intake
manifold and the throttle body and another
vacuum leek in between the manifold and the
block...I need help figuring out why it wants to
sputter or stop every time I accelerate in a gear??
Also additional information me and my welder
made a custom exhaust system where it splits off
after the sensor plug so now I have only two pipes
under my car! No cats no muffler but when I plug
the wire from the exhaust to the wire harnest i
don't get check engine light do don't think that's
the problem why it wants to die...can someone
please shine there wisdom on the problem and
help me narrow down what the problem is!!?

3 Answers

189,395

Your car will run pretty rough. I would imagine your car was built after 1990, and so will have 2 lambda sensors. one before the catalyst, the other after (downstream). The downstream probe is designed to measure hydrocarbons AFTER the catalyst, which is now missing. Then it sends data back to your ECU, by which a fuel map is created. This will alter the duty cycle of your injectors (duration they remain open) thus regulating fuel use. With your catalyst missing, your downstream lambda probe (Oxygen sensor) will feed your ECU wrong data, which will try to compensate your fuel trim. It will over fuel like mad. Too much fuel going into your cylinders, over a period of time, will cause engine damage, due to "bore wash". This is whereby excess fuel washes the vital oil lubrication from your cylinder bores, causing premature wear. Your engine will begin burning oil, resulting in high oil consumption, visible as blue smoke. Diluting petrol with oil will result in a very low octane, which couple with a hot operating environment, will cause detonation, which could lead to holes being blown into your piston crowns. Or worse, if severe enough, detonation occurring whilst your piston's on its compression stroke could bend a rod. This could cause a conrod and piston to smash through the side of your engine block.

1 people found this helpful.
Best Answer Mark helpful
40

I see but before I built the exhaust it had DC exhaust system and it didn't have cats or a sensor after it and it ran fine no sputter no misfires then I built the one to two exhaust and it ran good for 2 months and now I'm having idle problems and my mechanic said it was most likely my idle control valve is bad and I have vacuum leeks so I'm going to get new gaskets and see if that fixes the problem but if not for sure I'll come back to you on that thanks for the advice if any more advice can be given I'd appreciate if!!

Your Answer:

Civic

Looking for a Used Civic in your area?

CarGurus has 3,391 nationwide Civic listings starting at $2,230.

Postal Code:

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    ColdinMA
    Reputation
    2,390
  • #2
    Guru9CNGV
    Reputation
    2,140
  • #3
    GuruDMD1V
    Reputation
    2,130
View All

Find great deals from top-rated dealers

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Honda Accord
44 Great Deals out of 907 listings starting at $2,799
Used Toyota Corolla
120 Great Deals out of 1,950 listings starting at $1,995
Used Toyota Camry
49 Great Deals out of 952 listings starting at $2,212
Used Honda Civic Coupe
13 Great Deals out of 271 listings starting at $3,990
Used Honda CR-V
89 Great Deals out of 3,819 listings starting at $1,995
Used Hyundai Elantra
159 Great Deals out of 3,192 listings starting at $1,850
Used Toyota RAV4
79 Great Deals out of 2,040 listings starting at $3,499
Used Ford Mustang
53 Great Deals out of 1,256 listings starting at $4,995
Used BMW 3 Series
76 Great Deals out of 1,183 listings starting at $1,995
Used Nissan Altima
27 Great Deals out of 672 listings starting at $2,000

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.