Hi Guys,

I am writing about my friend's car. I live in the bay area but am visiting with her in Portland.

The car is a 1998 Honda Civic 5-speed manual with a 1.6L 4-cyl engine. It has 246,000 miles on it.

Her previous mechanics haven't found anything: Honest One Auto on Stark St. and some guy by the name of Robert Semet.

The issue is a performance one, and I am having trouble figuring out exactly what it is.

She says the car has 'lost power' in the last few months. I have driven it and definitely notice what she means. The car has issues on small hills and needs to be in a lower gear than before to make it, accelerating is not as responsive as it used to be.

The air filter is clean, the oil is 90% full and clean (changed three weeks ago, not sure if it is burning oil or not, but no obvious leaks).

When I rev the engine and listen to it I hear an odd noise at around 4,000 rpm - not a misfire, but a rattle... I can more feel it than hear it, but it is definitely there. I wonder if it isn't some issue with the valves or exhaust manifold.

The issue is the same regardless of temperature.

In the past the car has had gaskets replaced to fix oil leaks, and the head gasket had to be replaced in 2009 as it cracked and caused the engine to overheat.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what it might be?

Thanks!

Mike

 

A motor needs a few things to run well. Clean airflow, proper fuel amounts, good compression, and adequate spark. Get a compression test done and replace spark plugs?

 

Look for mouse nest in the intake pipes / air filter box. It will kill your airflow.

Timing belt skipping a tooth will cause a sudden loss of performance. Has the timing been checked?

Idle the engine and disconnect the fuel injectors one at a time to confirm all 4 cylinders are working. (this test is usually done by disconnecting the spark wires, but that is prone to blow the coil on a Civic).

 

perhaps checking the timing might help; you might need to advance it a bit.

 

Try using chevron plus gas? Maybe fuel injectors are clogged?