Civic break down

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by honfit

If you pull the coil you may find discoloration/burn marks on it from trying to arc elsewhere.

Thanks Honfit and other suggesting a coil check. The ignition problem began to return within a few hundred miles of installing the new plugs. And it was getting worse. I decided to test the coil (finally). The prescribed resistance test in the Honda Service Manual showed normal ranges. But I noticed that the distributor cap and the rotor no longer looked all that normal to me. Half the rotor's contact strip was burned brown to black. The inside of the distributor had that chalky-looking grey/white corrosion on the contacts. I changed the rotor, cap, and spark plug wires. Runs beautifully again.

I'm wondering now if a faulty MAP sensor could be contributing to all this? I got the DTC P0108 randomly two days ago. I reset to see if it was random or recurring. I have not gotten the CEL again, but the MAP sensor could be precipitating some of my poor running, acceleration, and FE problems associated with all this ignition trouble, no?

[honfit]

In my 5+ years as a Honda parts specialist,I have never sold a MAP sensor. That being said it still may be the culprit. I will consult with my techs and co-workers when I go to work this afternoon and further pick their minds. My wife and I were in 1000 Oaks several
weeks ago visiting my sister and her family-still recovering from Venice Beach and PC Highway culture/enviromental shock, where are you in relation ? Good luck.
-Sean

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by honfit

In my 5+ years as a Honda parts specialist,I have never sold a MAP sensor. That being said it still may be the culprit. I will consult with my techs and co-workers when I go to work this afternoon and further pick their minds. My wife and I were in 1000 Oaks several
weeks ago visiting my sister and her family-still recovering from Venice Beach and PC Highway culture/enviromental shock, where are you in relation ? Good luck.
-Sean

It ran beautifully to work today. I'm worried about the MAP sensor, though. Couldn't find a test for it. Seems people replace it when they get the P0108 DTC. Venice Beach. I've been there, of course. And the PCH runs within a quarter mile of my house. But I am way south in Orange County. Traffic on the PCH gets bad here too occasionally, but not as bad, as often.

I'd love to hear what the techs think...

james

[some_other_dave]

The MAP sensor should not be able to affect the inside of the distributor. It sounds like you may have some kind of bad contact in your ignition system? Double- and triple-check the plugs and wires, cap and rotor.

If the stuff you saw in the cap was reddish-colored, I would tell you to get a new distributor. The "red dust of death" is a known failure mode for those...

-soD

[honfit]

James-
Several experienced techs confirmed that MAP sensors rarely go bad,but if
DTC P0108 recurs then consider replacement. Our dealership has only sold 2-3
this year for your civic ,if you don't count the returns from those that thought this would fix whatever was wrong with their car. Your replacement of tuneup parts was probably due anyway as part of routine maintenance every 30-60 k miles.As you probably know,one worn part puts stress on others in system and can cause them to fail.For example,worn or overgapped plugs WILL cause coil to seek path of least resistance and cause arcing inside distributor. I hope this helps and please keep us posted.
-Sean (Honfit)

[jakobnev]

Did you search for map sensor testing on youtube?

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by jakobnev

Did you search for map sensor testing on youtube?

I found one that tests using a vacuum pump. Don't have that tool. Could buy one, I guess. Darn.

[user removed]

Sorry I didn't look over this thread Cal98Civic. A couple of suggestions.

1. At night when it is dark take a spray bottle with water in it and spray it over your ignition wires. Look carefully for any visible spark. If you see any replace the wires with new ones. Don't buy cheap stuff, the blue Bosch wires are good. Get wires made for the car if you see any spark in the dark with the wires dampened with the water mist. DO NOT GET TO CLOSE TO THE WIRES OR YOU MAY GET NAILED, A COUPLE OF FEET AWAY IS FINE.

2. Remove and clean all of your ground wires and your battery cable ends where they connect to the battery. The engine to chassis ground wire is especially important, as well as the condition of the battery cable ends and the battery posts. They may look good externally but still have hidden corrosion that can cause bad connections and serious voltage fluctuations.

3. Inspect the fuse box for corrosion or loose, burnt fuses. Probably not you problem but could contribute to unreliability.

4. Inspect for old cracked or broken vacuum lines and replace then if they are brittle from age and heat.

My biggest suspicion is the engine to chassis ground, the battery terminals, or bad plug wires. The original wires are numbered to the cylinders and possibly date coded. The huge plug gap would also cause problems with the plug wires if they have no bee recently replaced. If they are cheap wires then consider replacing them, but you do not need to throw parts at the problem and waste money. Might also check the fuel filter, but that usually gives symptoms of stumbling when under high loads. I used to like to take the filter out and blow through it to see what comes out. This way I could warn the customer about his choice of filling stations. If you do not have E10 fuel there you might try some fuel treatment to remove water from your fuel. It can really cause aggravating intermittent problems.

regards
Mech

[California98Civic]

If you had my 1998 Civic DX 5 speed manual and needed a new ECU, as I do in my effort to resolve these ongoing running problems, would you get the 1996 Civic 5 speed manual ECU (Federal) or a 1997 Civic DX 5 speed manual ECU? I can get either, test it, and return it within 24hrs if it does not solve the problem. The cost is a mere $107... nearly 700 bucks less than the dealer quoted, 500 cheaper than online might have been.

I go to get one tomorrow, would love to have forum members' input first.

Many thanks in advance, guys.

james

BTW, I'm still considering the HX conversion, but this is a cheap way to get my daily driver back on the road ASAP (I hope it works).

[Cd]

Wow - so many replies !

I just skimmed over the thread, but i can see we have similar problems.

Here is my post :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...s-19654-3.html

I posted my problem at two other Honda forums, but after over a week had only one reply.
I have had more help from Ecomodder, specifically 'Old Mechanic'. ( thanks ! )