Hello...I AM A Noobee...With a 2000 Civic EX, 120562 miles. Just started to run rough while driving. Have a check engine light on...or at least it was til I reset it, now it flashes. I was going to check the spark plugs to see if one was fouled, but thanks to them seals down around the spark plugs I can't. How the heck do you get them out?
AND...am I wasting my time there? I can sit there with the car in park and it idle fine. Put it in drive, it will idle down, sometimes pretty low. I'll accelerate while in gear, holding the brake (power braking it), and when it gets to 1500 rpm, it has a definite miss. One cyclinder is dropping out, then you just can't accelerate any more, turns into a real dog. What do I gotta do to get this thing running good?

 

If your check engine light is flashing I believe that means it is in limp mode and you should not be driving the car until you find the problem. Find the code and start fixing the problem before you do serious damage to the engine.

You shouldn't need to remove the seals to get the plugs out. Just get a spark plug socket and carefully remove the plug. Make sure you don't split the plug in half. A real pain to remove if you do.

 

If it's a US 2000 model, it will have a distributor with high voltage wires to each plug. Grasp the "handle" on the top and pull the wire assembly straight out of the head. Then you can use a 5/8 inch spark plug socket with extension to unscrew the plug. But the wires are often the cause of a misfiring problem. You can't tell if they are good by looking, replace them if old.

 

Flashing CEL is code for cylinder misfire. I agree with mk378, check wires.

 

If im understandin you correctly it sounds like the bottom of the boot came off in the plug hole and in that case you can use either long needle nose pliers or a long 90 degree pick to get it out either way they are a PITA to get out once they come off. Now when you pull the plugs look for ashy deposits usually gray in color if they are black and moist its prob oil if its black and dry its carbon build up but either way I would replace the plugs and wires if you pulled the boot off of one wire

 

x3 on the misfire, you could have bad plug wire or bad spark plug

 

91crx...yep, the boot came off the end of the wires. I was able to find a looong needle nose and get them out, er well two of the in the whole two, not so fortunate. Looks like they just slide right back on the end of the plug. Any way, got the plugs out, and boy were they...loose. I could have got them out with a 1/4" drive rachet. The plugs are pretty worn. The gap on them is darn near .080 and the center electrode is almost non exsistant. So, it looks like im replacing the plugs and wires. I wuz gonna check the cap and rotor...wuz. I got the first bolt on top out, the second one below that on the front side is GONE! Well, apparently, someone tried to take it off before, and broke the head off. On the back side bolt/screw, I put some cow slobber on it and let it do its thing, but it didn't do. I could see that the head of the bolt was turning but not the threads in the body of the distributor. Don't know what I'm going to do about that, at this point in time. I'd appreciate any tips here.

COLOR="red"]Tigger[/COLOR]...I was afraid to take it up to the AZ with the fear of something drastically going wrong. Gonna take a chance and put some new wires and plugs in...lord knows it does need them.

mk378... I'm assuming that MFG By Honea of America means its a US model.

Thanks to all,
civic126 (dano)

 

Well, new plugs and wires done the trick. Runs better. Now just got to get the distributor cap off with out breaking off the screws.

 

Im not 100% sure but I do believe that the holes for the dizzy are open on the other end if you get something like a small but kinda long screw drive or something that you can get a bite on the broken screw head you might be able to turn it far enough to get a apair of needle nose pliers to extract it the rest of the way out other wise you might find someone that has a easy out kit