car is having a problem! - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

98civicDX · 08-03-2011, 10:12 PM

My car seemed to stutter a little today on my drive to culvers

and i noticed the battery light flicker for like 2 seconds. at stops the engine seemed close to stalling and the engine was causing vibrations in the cabin. my battery light has only done this since i put the ultragauge on. Pulling the code p1399 as well which i just read is a random cylinder misfire??!

98civicDX · 08-03-2011, 10:22 PM

i just watched a video about random misfires showing some of the possibilities. the final one he showed was a bad battery so maybe thats my issue. i need to get it checked asap. Hopefully its nothing worse

SentraSE-R · 08-04-2011, 12:53 AM

I don't know how applicable this is, but my xB regularly shows multiple cylinder misfire codes as soon as I turn the ignition on, before I even start the engine. One theory is because of EOC, the OBD-II sees engine or vehicle speed, but no ignition activity, before I shut it off. Those conditions trigger a pending code, and turning the ignition on turns it to a trouble code.

The other theory is it's somehow linked to the evaporative emissions charcoal canister.

98civicDX · 08-04-2011, 01:32 AM

but does the motor run bad? i totally felt it. Funny thing is i wouldve never known if i didnt have the gauge. prob wouldve thought it was just idling rough. Ill check the battery tomorrow

Ryland · 08-04-2011, 02:25 AM

How many miles are on your spark plugs and how does your distributor cap look inside?
If you do alot of short trips or drive with your headlights on alot you might try just putting your battery on a trickle charger over night and see if that takes care of your "bad battery", I thought mine was on it's way out a year ago, charged it up and it was as good as new even on the coldest winter day, turned out I was driving to much at night and it never charged up.

98civicDX · 08-04-2011, 02:48 AM

so if i take it to get the battery tested and its below 12 volts it still might be ok? spark plugs idk how may miles, ive only had the car for 18k miles. i plan on changing them though

SentraSE-R · 08-04-2011, 03:51 AM

My engine runs fine.

Ryland · 08-04-2011, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98civicDX

so if i take it to get the battery tested and its below 12 volts it still might be ok? spark plugs idk how may miles, ive only had the car for 18k miles. i plan on changing them though

What do you mean by tested below 12 volts? if it's below 12v without a load on it then it's dead and hasn't been charged, but if you take it in to get it tested they should do a load test on it where they hook up a big resister and a volt meter and see what the voltage is with a load, but if your battery is sitting there at less then 12v then it's really dead.

If you have managed to put 18,000 miles on your spark plugs on top of what the previous owner put on them and they are supposed to be changed every 15,000 miles then I think we found your problem right there, your car needs a tune up and basic maintenance.

98civicDX · 08-04-2011, 03:46 PM

yeah im making a list of things i want to get done on the tune up, spark plugs are on there. 15k miles for plugs is way too soon, you can get 50k mile on them easy

98civicDX · 08-04-2011, 05:58 PM

Went and got the battery checked, it was still good. Before reattaching it i cleaned the connections even though they were pretty clean. took it for a test drive and was fine, then it warmed up and kinda idled rough, mostly at stops. didnt throw the code on the ultra gauge though. Gonna check a couple other things, spark plugs and compression test first probably. Wanna clean the IACV too