hey, ive noticed something starting to take form. im wondering if you guys could maybe peg it before it becomes a major issue.

96 850 glt wagon, 2.4 5cyl N/A, auto

similar to a post that was made earlier, my car has been having issues with idling - but not really. its only happened twice now, but in 3 days, and seems progessive.

instance 1) after ordering at the drive thru, we were instructed to pull up and park until our order was brought out to us. about 15 min later (the place is known for the food, not the speediness of service [8D] ), the car dropped down below 1k rpm, estimating, around 750, or 800 rpm. its never dropped that low before, so i noticed it immediately. it was acting like it was about to die, and the oil light was 'trying' to come on, as in, it was fading on and off too quickly to stay on. maybe oil pump? pressed on the gas to raise the rpms, a sputtering and harsh vibration was returned. after about 2 min of playing with the rpms, we finally got our food, and started the nervous journey home. for about a block, it had almost 0 acceleration, almost as if the timing just went to hell, or it was running on 2 cyls. my first thought, was just blew a head gasket. to test it, maybe a dirty fuel filter instead, i floored it after a stoplight. 2 blocks and 40-50 mph seemed to clear it right up, didnt have a problem. got home, checked the oil level, was a little low, but still in operating range. wierd.

instance 2) today, since it was a beautiful 74 degrees outside, i decided would be a great day to clean the car in and out. compared to the threads upon threads about the hours and steps some of you take to clean your car, your gonna hate me >.<. i was at the local gas station, which had the car wash. i got my ticket, and pulled up to enter my code. after the 'drive forward' light in the wash came on, i put it in drive, and the rpms again dipped below 1k. this time, it did stop the engine. after 2 attempts at restarting, the 3rd time she finally fired up. plenty of juice in the battery, started sounded ok. once it started, the rpms were fine, and sat thru the car wash without a problem. the rest of the day, it has been fine.

the radio was on for instance one, but its always on. the heater was off, but so was the a/c. no wipers, air controls, power seat movement, or anything that would put extra stress on the engine. it seems both times was after the car had been siting in park for 10 minutes or more.

my ideas are : fuel pump, fuel filter, oil pump

what is your opinions?

 

Any check engine light?

Anything else to add?

Possible a bad Mass flow sensor.

 

nope, no lights on the dash, besides that one time the oil light was teasing me. the only time its ever done this ... wich i guess would be either time...the car had just been sitting for a moderate amount of time, about 10-30 min. on the highway, in town, short trips to get groceries (in a grocery getter, imagine that), its fine.

it is obd-II (at least, just above my shifter is a thing that says obd-II on it). if there was a simple way to get codes without spending a fortune on a code reader, i would try it

 

It is hard to say without seeing it.

One thing I can think of to have you check would be the plug for the Cam sensor. It is on the back of the head(Drivers side) The front cam has the Dist cap on it. The back one has another thing on it with a wire coming out. Follow the wire and inspect the plug and make sure it isn't coming apart.

 

will check that out, but it'll have to wait. i work during daylight hours for next few days. in that time, should something else develop, i'll drop a line, otherwise, i'll have some updates no later than monday. have highway miles this weekend for work. this would be the worst time for something to go wrong, so if something DOES go wrong, it will be now >.< whats that law called, websters law or something? what can go wrong, WILL go wrong?

 

Murphy's law!!!

In my House it is called the Johnson Law (That is my Last name)

 

check your battery connections. I had a similar issue and determined that my connections to the battery were dismal at best.

 

well, after the weekend trip, nothing else happened...

on the highway, however, i was actually suprised, IN A FANTABULOUS WAY!

ok, here i am, the speed limit is 70, im doing 78 (since i got veteran tags, ive never been pulled over). im starting to enter the metropolan area of the city, when this civic merges in from an onramp. i change lanes to let him into traffic, and i end up having to slow down, as to not greet the car in front of me. well, he slows down also, stays at my side. i start to speed up, to get around him and grandma in front of me, and he matches me, staying at my side. *evil grin* i start to slow down, he matches. we both drop to about 55, and wait a few moments for traffic in front of us to clear out (they're doin about 75). after we get about a mile between us and the traffic, and the people behind us are getting REALLY angry, we were ready. i guess we've both seen enough street racing movies to know how it goes . i roll down my passenger window. he honks. honks again. on the 3rd one, he takes off. i floor it (flipped to sport mode instead of econ), and we're off. as he shifts (standard), i pull ahead. that was the last time he was beside me. i keep it floored, peakin at redline, and shift up. he *almost* got up to my rear bumper again, and he had to shift . im gone, lol....i got it up to 120 and backed off, flipped on my 4ways, and started to break, as the traffic was now getting really close, really fast. OWNED. im not sure what year of civic it was, maybe a 93, he didnt have a body kit, but he had done soemthing to the exhaust, maybe just a tip or something, to where it had that weed-eater sound. honestly, i dont know why i beat him. i will admit, i would think an early 90s civic coupe would have taken a n/a I-5 volvo wagon, which weighs probly 1k pounds more than he does. maybe he treated his car like crap, and it didnt run up to par, or maybe he just didnt know what he was doing. either way, i stomped his ASSSSSSSSS

oh

anyways - no trouble on highway, in town, idling, starting, stopping, turning or whatnot. i looked at the engine, checked out the plugs (i think the ones you were talkin about). i didnt notice anything out of the ordinary. nothing was disconnected, or appeared to be failing. no noticible cracks or breaks, nothing with the wires or the wire insulators.

maybe its just too early yet? dont want to wait for it to get worse, but starting to think i have to wait for it to actually break to get it fixed [:'(]

 

Wow good Kill!! LOL

 

Those little ricers with loud exhausts pi$$ me off!

 

I agree!! Same here.

The funny thing I most are just noise. I beat them with my Wifes car which is a chevy Barretta Little 4-banger.

 

One day I was getting off the highway onto a secondary road and two of them were making all kind of noise. I had trouble hearing my stereo. I whipped around both of them on the ramp like they were standing still and I wasn't even floored. They are all noise.

 

Luckily you aren't here. You can't even go a mile without hearing one.