Ask the Car People.SM


Older Civic Maintenance and Repair

401 messages,  Last post on Apr 10, 2013 at 10:15 PM

You are in the Honda Civic Forum.

What is this discussion about? Honda Civic, Coupe, Sedan

Messages Page 1 of 40

#1 of 401 98 Honda Civic LX Problems by cnu_gurl

Nov 28, 2006 (9:22 am)

Hello,
  
I am looking for any kind of help or suggestions that I can get. My 98 has recently been giving me problems. It looks as if the battery is going. But we have checked that and it seems to be fine. I will be driving and the whole thing will shut down [no sputtering just shuts down]. I will try to start it back up and I get nothing. It wont even turn over. The radio and the clock have reset [which is what led me to believe that it was the battery]. Once I jump start the car it works just fine. This has happened about 3 times now, and seems to happen when I am low on gas. I am not out of gas.. just on the low side. Which makes no sense. And I dont see how the two can be related, unless it is just some sort of freak accident.
  
Also, and I have no clue if this is part of the same problem.. I will drive my car for quite a while [ about an hour drive seems to be where this happens].. and then stop somewhere. If I get back in my car to start it up with in 15 min.. it will not start. But if I let it sit there for about 30 min or longer it will start up just fine.
  
Someone suggested starter for the second problem, but I have nothing on the first. I will take any suggestions that I can get [besides just taking it to the junk yard, as many have suggested already].
  
Thanks!!

#2 of 401 99 Honda Civic engine completely down while driving by itmatters1975

Jan 08, 2007 (4:25 am)

I am new to this forum and really need help. I have a Honda Civic 99 model car. recently for the past 2 weeks or so while I am driving suddenly my engine shuts off, and I have to pull to shoulder and when I start again it is fine. Also I noticed my music system was playing when this happens and nothing else works not even my blinkers. It is scary. No
other engine fail indication or any warning. My friends says this is something to do with alternator. I didn't change my fuel filter for a while. Any help will be appreciated before I take to some mechnaic. I tried
to post this question to the forum but unable to do so - so reaching you guys. This is similar to one posted by cnu_gurl any suggestion will be appreciated PLEASE HELP !!!

#3 of 401 99 Honda Civic - Noise when reversing by dolphin5400

Jan 26, 2007 (3:40 pm)

I could use someones help. I just purchased a 1999 Honda Civic but now that I have driven it a little while I have noticed that when I put the car in reverse it makes a whining sound. The car is an automatic so I don't know where the noise could be coming from. Anybodies help would be greatly appreciated.

#4 of 401 Odors in the heater by nikky7

Jan 29, 2007 (1:52 pm)

I have had my 2003 civic since it was new. In the past few months, when the heater is on, there is a hot chemical odor. Also at times it smells like paint thinner. Does anyone have any idea what this smell is and where it is coming from?

#5 of 401 electrical problem HELP! by wsustudent

Feb 22, 2007 (5:32 am)

Hi everyone again. I'm sure you're sick of hearing about my 2003 Honda Civic EX coupe 5spd. Its basically on every maintinence forum on here at some point because of all the problems I've been having. Well I've got a new one for everyone.
 
I was driving home from school last night and the ABS light came on. Within 2 minutes, the gauges stayed lit but they all went dead (tach to 0, speed to 0, fuel and temp to low). Then my lights went dim and started losing all kinds of power. Other system lights came on such as the airbag light, cruise control light, check engine light (cause by this point the engine started misfiring due to low electrical). I pull over to the side of the road and the car misfires to a stall. Could not get the car restarted right away. So I end up pushing it into a parking lot and let it sit for like 45 minutes while I wait for my dad. He gets there, we go outside, and the battery recovered itself enough to get the car started. We are running the car, and the battery voltage across it only reads 11.5 Volts. We turn on the lights and the ABS light turns on again and the whole sequence starts over.
 
Here's what we checked:
 
Grounding connections
Fuses
Battery
 
All checked out OK.
 
Now we thought maybe the alternator, however the battery light on the dash was the ONLY light NEVER to come on during this whole sequencing of powering down. When we got it started the battery light flickered a couple of times but went away.
 
Would anyone agree with me that maybe a wire to the alternator was damaged or came loose from the head gasket replacement I had done last week?
 
Any other suggestions as to what it could be or similar experiences?
 
I appreciate any help or suggestions I can get.
 
If it turns out to be another major problem I promise everyone this will be one of my last posts on the Honda forum at least about my own car. I will still offer suggestions to others with the knowledge I acccumulated from Hondas I owned but I will be getting rid of this car and going with another brand and NEVER step foot in another Honda dealership again.

#6 of 401 1979 honda civic by jody42

Mar 02, 2007 (4:26 pm)

i have a 1979 honda civic with 47,000 original miles, as i was driving the other day it just stopped, and after a few minutes it started up again only to die after a few minutes. this contuned a few times,any one have any ideas where to start looking for problems? thanks

#7 of 401 Re: electrical problem HELP! [wsustudent] by jd10013

Mar 05, 2007 (8:19 am)

Replying to: wsustudent (Feb 22, 2007 5:32 am)
it most deffinitly sounds like your altenator is dead, or rather, dying. your car runs off the battery, but the altenator recharges the battery. If the battery is not being sufficently recharged, then the problems you describe will occur. take the car to a mechanic. They can check to see how much power the altenator is producing. In short, whats happening is, the longer you drive the car, the more power your drawing from the batter. But, the atlenator is not recharging the battery. Even the best batteries will eventulay run out of power if not recharged.

#8 of 401 Re: electrical problem HELP! [jd10013] by wsustudent

Mar 05, 2007 (8:56 am)

Replying to: jd10013 (Mar 05, 2007 8:19 am)
Thank you for the reply. My dad looked at it and it turned out that my mechanic that fixed the head gasket did not tighten the alternator power cable to the lug properly, causing the wire to overheat, and eventually short out after arcing. It's been about a week now and everything looks good so far. Again, thanks for the reply!

#9 of 401 Speedometer Not Working by 92civic

Mar 25, 2007 (8:22 am)

I have a 1992 honda civic that the speedometer stoped working does this car have a speedometer cable or it a computer that this runs off of.
 
Is it hard to repair or replace?

#10 of 401 91 Honda civic by evandl

Apr 05, 2007 (10:45 am)

91 Honda Civic distrubtor 1.5. At an idle in gear, neutral, does not matter but there seems to be a bit a rough idle intermittently. It seems as though it has a bit a of a miss, or about to stall but it does not. IF the idle is increased a bit the problem vanishes. The cap had cracks and burn marks but with over a 100k miles, so it was replaced. Wires and plugs are good with no carbon tracking and gaped fine. I have also noticed this problem in friends cars around the same year and mileage. This all happened after the head gasket was replaced. Timing is also on the mark. The only problem I could think of is the throttle body may need cleaning, but have not been able to get around to it. I was wondering if any one else has encounter this problem?

Messages Page 1 of 40

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement