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My first post, My first civic ,and my first idling issue.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 4:54 pm
by snaggletooth
Hey everyone. New to the forum and to civics in general although I always wanted one. After wrecking my 1994 eclipse I went ahead and bought a 1995 civic ex 2 door coupe. so far I've put in a new tuned header, a sway bar, and a cool air intake.

I just started having problems with a searching idle and its killing me!!!

I haven't found any vacuum leaks, or anything, but I noticed when I unplug what I believe to be the MAP sensor the engine stops searching. I'm not sure if this is a computer thing or possibly all I need is a new MAP sensor. I feel like its draining the power of my car too. also the fuel economy seems to be getting worse.

I'll post more info if I can think of it. Looking for help here hopefully somebuddy can help me find my solution, Thanks guys.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:08 pm
by MG6
Welcome to the forum!

Question: How many mileage and what have you done to the car after your purchase?

The surge can mean anything at this point.

Couple of things that might need attention:
* Full tune up
* PCV valve change? http://civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=4438 or this one http://civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=7055
* or clean the FITV http://civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=14508
* Air in your coolant that needs bleeding.
* Change water pump? T-stat?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:12 pm
by snaggletooth
150000 miles

so far I've changed oil and oil filter
changed the pcv valve
changed coolant
added a sway bar, cool air intake, and a tuned header.

I have bought my fuel filter but have yet to install it.

I'm definitely gonna give that a shot though it looked really promising thanks for the help man. i'll post again with my results after cleaning.

any other recommendations for things I should do asap.

I'm already buying a water pump and timing belt so i'll do that with my next pay check. I haven't touched my therm though.


Edit: I also changed the plugs out but have yet to do the distributer, rotor or plugs.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 9:01 pm
by MG6
Clean the FITV and see if that works.

As for the water pump and timing belt. You want to get the T-stat as well so you aren't topping off the coolant each time you are changing parts. Remember to bleed the coolant system to make sure you don't have air bubbles which can cause idle surge.

As for the Dist O-ring and cap+rotor. Do this at the same time as well so it is a full tune up. But if budget is tight, do this on your next spending when available.

PostPosted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 9:53 pm
by snaggletooth
Idle has been fixed!!!

I cleaned the FITV and got the air bubbles out of my coolant and my car is idling like a dream.

Now i need to figure out why it smells like ass when i drive it on the highway.
I think it might be an exhaust leak but everything smells like gasoline. maybe a leak in the gas line some where but i never see any puddling under the car and i'm getting alright gas mileage.

Also my old coolant looked murky and had copper looking particles in it. You thing that could be a blown head gasket?

Thanks again for all you help!

PostPosted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 11:15 pm
by MG6
Glad it is fixed.

As for the gas, do you top it off all the time during fill up? If so, it can be your canister. It might need to change, but stop topping it off if you are topping it off at the gas station.

But look for signs in your exhaust system and see if there is a small leak around your injectors and on a small fuel leak.

As for coolant, it could be a head gasket or others.

Does your engine oil cap look milky? how about when you change oil?