Last Friday I purchased a 1994 Civic DX with 121k miles and clean Carfax. They had totally tuned it up, new battery, new tires, etc. I went to a dealership but have heard a lot of good things about them.

On Saturday, I was getting off a highway exit, and at the intersection the car gently shuttered and then shut off. I put it in park, restart it, but it would lightly shutter and turn itself back off. No warning lights were on, no weird sounds or smells, no smoke/steam. Just a light shutter and shutting itself off. I pulled it off to the side of the road as best as I could, because after running for a few seconds it would do it again. I called AAA, they tried to start it, it did the same thing. Every time it would start fine, but then lightly shutter and shut off. They towed me home. I also called the dealership and told them that I had driven their car 30 miles, and I was stuck on the side of the highway less than 24 hours after I had bought it. The guy was apologetic and said to bring it in on Monday. T

I thought, at first, that it might be a faulty fuel gauge - when I bought it the gas was on F, and it had already gone down halfway (but, to note, the gauge itself didn't seem to exact). Just in case, today I started it up and drove it to the gas station (a block away). It started and ran fine, but the tank itself only took $7 to fill up - so I know it wasn't a case of no gas. I drove home fine and parked it. The AAA guy said it might be a sensor in the transmission.

Is this a common issue with Civics? I've been wanting to learn more about them to work and customize mine a bit, but having the car stall after less than 24 hours is discouraging. The dealership will be looking at it tomorrow, and see what needs fixing.

 

Sounds like fuel problems to me. It could be a faulty fuel pump, a clogged fuel filter, or bad injectors. I would first try replacing the fuel filter, as that is by far the easiest fix, and the simplest problem. I'm not real sure about your model, but if you have a bad pump then it may mean having to drop the gas tank, and thats just a pain.

 

It really does sound like a fuel problem doesn't it?

I'm going to have the dealership look at it first. Here's hoping that it's an issue they won't fight.

 

it sounds like fuel to me purely because of the sputtering. it sounds like its getting fuel, then something changes in the fuel system to keep it from getting fuel... meaning it will burn what is left and sputter to a stop. Good luck at the Dealer.

 

So, I went to the dealer today. And spent 5 hours there.

There was (I didn't realize it at the time) a language barrier between the mechanic and the salesman. The salesman told the mechanic something different. I waited 5-6 hours (they put in a main relay) and on the way home, it stopped again.

But, I targeted in on the issue, and it's an idling problem. Whenever I am at a stop light or stop sign, it shuts off. It can run while in park, and it drives fine. Just when I idle it shuts off. To get it back to the dealership, I drove it back, but whenever I had to stop I kicked it into neutral and fed it a little bit of gas, and it did fine.

I was talking to a different mechanic today, and he said that the inside is completely rebuilt. New engine, new radiator, tons of stuff. This makes me wonder if I had a honda-lover that owned it before me and completely rebuilt it (it's older, and that would make more sense), or if they couldn't find the issue so they just replaced things and gave up.

The thing is, it runs perfectly while running. And while in park. I talked to the mechanic working on the car directly, for about a half an hour, so there were definitely no language issues anymore - he mentioned that the idle might be set too low (apparently the bolt is frozen, and he didn't want to strip it), and the distributor seems to be on wrong. Either way, talking to him directly got all the info across, and he went from "just trying something to fix the issue" to "oh, this is wrong, that is wrong, let me fix this.."

It's at the dealership overnight. I'll be interested to hear what the mechanic says.

All the work is being done, free of charge. But does anyone know (if god forbid) they CAN'T find the issue, are there any laws in place to protect consumers?

 

It doesn't sound serious to me.

Does the CEL turn on for 2 seconds and then turn OFF when the key is turned to ON(II)?

My guess is a dirty or bad IACV (idle air control valve). Cleaning it will often fix idle problems like yours. Click IACV link in my signature.

 

RonJ, you were right on target. The car stayed at the dealership overnight, and he said the idle air control valve had nothing but gunk inside. He cleaned the entire thing out. I 'test drove' it before I officially gave the thumbs up, but I idled in rush hour traffic for about 30-45 minutes. I'm still nervous as hell driving it (I totally don't want to get stranded), but it seems to be working ok.

 

I have an 1994 Honda civic ex on the way back from work one day my oil light start flashing when I start slow down on the brake and it cut off on me on the interstate and I stop and put it back in park then turn the key it crank back up then I stop by the part store and put a bottle of oil in it then the flashing oil light went away then once I got home I went to walmart and came back pulling in the yard it kinda idle rough then cut off again I put it back in park and try to crank it wouldn't crank the starter just started clicking now I try jumping the car with cables but still nothing the started just was clicking now when I try to crank it the lights and everything comes on but when I start to turn key to crank it the started is not doing nothing its not clicking or doing nothing what can be the possible problems of this situation.

 

Running out of oil tends to cause severe damage to the engine. It may be mechanically seized up. Try to turn the engine by hand-- with the key off, transmission in park, put a socket wrench on the crank pulley bolt and it should turn with moderate effort. If it won't budge, likely the engine is bad. Sometimes the alternator, power steering, etc. will seize and do about the same thing, so take all the belts off and try again.