I have a 2001 Civic 5spd. The car has about 120,000 miles on it and has been mantained regularly. The only upgrades to the car as far as the motor is and Ingen Short ram intake and a magnaflow performance exhaust. I was told by the dealership that the timing belt was supposed to be changed at 105,000 miles. I know this is something that in time has to be changed but the performance of the car is decreasing very rapidly, it skips on take off and when you run the A/C you better not pull out in front of anybody. What could cause the motor to suddenly start loosing power so quickly??? I soon want to get the timing belt changed but I don't have the cash to afford it. Is there anything I can do to squeeze a little more time out of what I have...or is it something I need to look into asap??? thanks for the help guys

 

Think you should sell the short ram intake cause it isnt doing an performance for you. Possibly the exhaust to and use that to get the timing bet replaced, cause if the timing belt snaps, good by engine. That will cost a lot more than i timing belt change. Also when you get the timing belt changed you should also get the water pump changed as well.

 

Exhaust and intake are fine, leave them alone. You might have bad spark plugs, etc. Try doing a basic tune-up

Definitely get that timing belt replaced before focusing on any more performance. It's past due and could snap any moment.

 

i was just saying to sell them to get money so he could pay for maintance. Yeah your ehaust and intake arent causing the problem, I was just giving you an idea to help pay for repairs.

 

i get you now

 

Is the CEL ON?

As Trust said, start by replacing the spark plugs. Also consider a Seafoam treatment (see DIY section).

 

No lights on in the dash accept for the SRS light which came on after i hit the last bump in the road. I've also noticed some other things going on with the car. Poping coming from the front wheels with taking off and braking (which i think to be the CV Axles), what seems to be the throw out bearing in the trans making noise (not a grinding noise but almost like you can hear the gears rubbing together), the Master and Slave cylinders for the clutch started squeaking horrible (although i just had them replace about 2 years ago for the exact same reason) and going along with the spitting and sputtering is a serious lack of throttle response(almost like it hits 4 different stages of vtec), but the car idles GREAT!!!

 

Weak or worn plugs.
Weak or worn ignition wires. Ignition wires pass less voltage as they get older due to a breakdown of their internals. This can add to weakened performance.
Air filter in good shape?
PCV valve clean or needs replacement?