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98 Honda Civic LX stalls/bogs down intermittently
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hygienejesus
New User
Aug 3, 2016, 12:22 PM
Post #1 of 5
(2126 views)
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98 Honda Civic LX stalls/bogs down intermittently
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Looking for some guidance here.
98 Honda Civic LX 1.6 automatic. approximately 165k miles. I bought it about 6 months ago.
This issue has started fairly recently but seems to be getting more frequent.
At completely random and infrequent times, the car will stall at low RPM (slowing down to a stop/while idling). I can usually restart it easily after it stalls, but it will often stall/bog down a few more times before it stays running. There will also be times while driving at different speeds (usually 60mph+ as I mostly do highway driving to/from work everyday) I can feel the car "bog" or "chug" if you will. I'll be on the gas, car is pulling at about 3k RPM or so, and you can hear it cut out for a split second and then come back on. It may do this once and not again for the rest of the ride - it may do it 3 times in a minute and continue every so often. Usually if this happens and I then come to a stop, thats when the car wants to stall.
SOMETIMES it wants to stay running at a stop if I keep giving it gas - I've had to put it in neutral at stops and give it gas to stay running to get it home. This doesn't always work, but seems to most of the time. Unfortunately, usually by the time I get it home, it ends up running fine. ???
This throws no engine light or codes (and yes the light does work) and it happens so randomly that I can't get anyone else to witness the issue and give me any other ideas.
What I have already done (some of this was just part of regular maintenance since I bought the car, some was to attempt to fix this issue):
New air filter
New spark plugs and wires
New gas tank (I don't think this is necessarily related at all - old one was leaking so it needed replaced. Just throwing it out there!).
New fuel pump
New fuel filter
I also ran some Seafoam through the tank (before installing the new pump/filter).
What I have not done yet but intend to do:
New distributor cap and rotor. I have the parts but have not changed them yet.
What I am pretty confident that it is not:
Ignition switch. I don't know for sure, but from videos I have watched, you can usually just jiggle the key/assembly and the car will stall? This does not happen.
Plus I don't know why giving it gas would sometimes keep it running if it was an ignition switch.
This just happened pretty bad a little bit ago. Started chugging/cutting out but stayed running. Got it to stay running by putting it in neutral and giving it gas. I was waiting to make a left turn on to a road with a center/turning lane - bogged down and died as I was pulling out. Managed to get it to the center lane and get it started but it continued to die. Had to restart several times and keep giving it gas. Eventually got to to stay running with RPMS up, dumped it into Drive and was able to pull into the driving lane and get it back to my work, but of course it is running fine now and wouldn't stall in the parking lot while I left it idling.
Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
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hygienejesus
New User
Aug 3, 2016, 12:53 PM
Post #2 of 5
(2116 views)
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Re: 98 Honda Civic LX stalls/bogs down intermittently
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Forgot to mention in my original post - I also cleaned the throttle body and IACV when this problem first started happening.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Aug 3, 2016, 2:07 PM
Post #3 of 5
(2109 views)
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Re: 98 Honda Civic LX stalls/bogs down intermittently
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There might be some codes on the manufacture side, but that requires an enhanced scan tool. You might have to monitor specific systems to see what is happening when the problem occurs. Some things to look at are fuel pressure, fuel pump voltage from the main relay, ignition switch output, IGT, and other related systems. Some of those things will require a multiple channel digital storage oscilloscope to catch intermittent issues. Fuel pressure will need to be monitored with a gauge taped to the windshield.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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hygienejesus
New User
Sep 13, 2016, 1:33 PM
Post #4 of 5
(1914 views)
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Re: 98 Honda Civic LX stalls/bogs down intermittently
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Problem solved.
Bad primary O2 sensor from cracked exhaust manifold.
O2 sensor wasn't completely shot yet (wasn't throwing a code) but was likely giving some bad readings to the computer.
Unplugged the sensor and took it for a ride and it ran fine - no issue. Ordered a new sensor, but when I took off the heat shield on the manifold, noticed the old manifold was cracked right at the O2 sensor bung. Crack went through the bung and its a cast iron header so a repair was unlikely to work or last very long.
So $200 later, new sensor and new header/catalytic converter setup (WHY Honda?? WHY must you put the converter directly after the header on the Y7 and not under the car like a normal car??), I'm back in business.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Sep 13, 2016, 3:39 PM
Post #5 of 5
(1907 views)
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Re: 98 Honda Civic LX stalls/bogs down intermittently
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I would tend to blame the cracked manifold more than the sensor. Having that crack will certainly change the sensor readings.
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