Hi guys,

First post. I just bought a 98 civic EX. The engine was filthy when I bought it and decided to clean it out. I used engine cleaner and hosed it all off. I was not to careful with the electronics and knew I was playin with fire. Well anyway I started the car after and it was fine. I let it idle for about ten mins then took it for a spin. Just out of my driveway it bogged bad and eventually died. It did restart but it was hard to get it goin. The CEL came on. It is okay in the upper rpms but down low it bogs bad and idles fine at times but eventually dies. Im thinkin the map sensor went out. What do you guys think? Im gonna get the code read at autozone tom.

Thanks,

Erik

 

Ok I did the little paper clip check engine thing. Getting 3, 72, 73, 74. 3 is MAP 72-74 are misfires in cyl 2 3 4. Kinda odd I didnt get a misfire in 1. Is this as simple as swapping out the map sensor?

 

well the misfires could be due to a couple things... but if you were hose'n it down, what might have happened is that water got in and around some of the electrical connections and caused it.. ie on the map, it could have changed the reading that the computer was seeing and thus the computer didnt like it and threw a code... the water might have also caused the spark on cyl's 2,3,4 to short out to ground...or the other option might be that if the map shorted at just the right time, and the short spanned the firings of cyl's 2-4 it might have changed the fuel delievery enough to cause it to misfire... i'm not exactly sure how the engine knows when a particular cyl misfires... i know that on the newer cars, like the acura tl, the computer knows the normal engine noise that comes into the computer via the knock sensor, and it actually filters out the normal noise.. if the noise is missing, then it calls that a misfire... i dont know if thats true on the older models or not.. but thats something to think about anyway....

does it still run funny/poorly now that its had some time to dry out?

 

Thanks. The car drives better now that it is dried out but still misfires and studders. Its not like it was pre-wash. It ran great even with 175,000 on the clock. I think the washing just pushed the map over the edge. I have a new one coming hopefully it will fix the prob.

 

let us know how that works out for ya, it could be that the water shorted out something on or around the map, and caused it to burn up inside.. i'm not sure how they are constructed, so thus im not sure what it would take to destroy one...
best of luck on that one

 

Have you opened the DIzzy to see if theres moisture inside?

 

No but I will look. Anything special I need to do?

 

Well I replaced the MAP and alls well. Now its time to do the timing belt. Hopefully I can do it friday.

 

i did a similar thing with a 91 escort i had just power washed the engine didnt bother to cover anything up but made sure i didnt directly spray it at anything electrical, pretty stupid really, and the car started but when you but your foot down on the throttle it just bogged out, i disconnected the air flow sensor and it worked fine