Any and all help welcomed, 3 months is all I need...3 months and I'm selling this nightmare on 16" wheels...here's my issue:

Car Specs
1998 Honda Civic LX

Symptoms
Car will start perfectly fine. Upon car reaching operating temp., the car currently idles very very very rough, as if it's going to cut off in a moment. Well, low and behold, the car does finally shut off. I put the car in park and try to crank it...nothing...as if the battery wasn't even connected. I take the key out, and try to crank it...it turns over, but doesn't want to start. But after a few minutes (or several last attempt) the car starts.

The car drives very very sluggish also.

Work completed on car during last trip to dealer
Diagnostic work completed (problem diagnosed as belts not being tensioned correctly and the spark plugs here carbon fouled)
Spark plugs replaced
All belts replaced (timing was done on previous repair job)
Valve Adjustment

Previous work order on car
New Distributor installed (timing checked out fine)
New plugs
New Cap and Rotor button
New Wires

 

Also, No CEL

 

head gasket?

 

maybe your battery is at fault, like it has an open cell or something. my battery had an open cell though and it wouldnt even start...

so, maybe thats it. give it a try.

 

A bad battery wouldn't cause rough running only when warm though. The car likely wouldn't turn over at all. I'm guessing it's a sensor/switch/wire problem. It's definitely electrical. If it won't even turn over, I'd start troubleshooting from the key switch to the battery, starter, and coil. It may be something as simple as a bad ground from corrosion, looseness, breaking, etc., so check your grounds first.

Get yourself a decent multi-meter and read the directions for it's usage. Sears or Home Depot version should work great, as long as it can test ohms, DC volts, and DC amps. If you want to use it for projects around the house, get one that can test AC as well.

 

All bets are off with what the ECU will do when it's not getting the right power because of a major electrical problem. Fix that first. Could just be the connections to the battery are loose.

 

I have a good volt meter...battery checked @ 14v. Battery is brand new...distributor is new also.

Now what gets me is this; the idle of the car, before the car cut out on me that first time, the idle was fine. But after I got it back, that's when it started idling like crap.

Totally sucks when the CEL doesn't pop on...it's like the car is saying why bother.

 

Gee, someone's gonna buy your nightmare!

 

Could be a bad idle air control valve. Or your idle could be set wrong. Or the coolant temp sensor in the throttle body is bad. There could also be air bubbles in your coolant, causing any of the above to go haywire.