i saw another post where there was low rpm power loss but not really a solution. i'm having the same exact problem as of today, it started after I did a radiator flush and bleed earlier . thing is i know I needed a new iacv before that and ordered one, was gonna pick it up tomorrow so Not sure if iacv finally fully on the way out or is there still air in radiator i doubt it though i followed instructions on proper bleeding (I already cleaned the iacv last month by the way so i'm sure it needs changing). The dash lights surge as well as my headlights and the mph gauge fluctuated, dropped back to 0, then stopped moving completely. Doesn't surge when at complete stop though yet stays at 0 if i press gas, only when I press gas. and my cel light came on a few months ago after i changed the upper o2 sensor a few months before that. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

Do you have a 96-98 Civic? Check whether fuse 15 is blown. You also should read this service bulletin:

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/civic/x99-029e.pdf

 

surging lights when you press the gas is also potentially a sign of a bad alternator.

ask me how I know?

 

just got done checking, fuse #15 was in fact blown, changed it. Still minor dimming in the dash lights but can't really tell so I'll wait until tonight to see better on that. My mph gauge isn't moving at all anymore. That's like really important......any advice on that?



ok mundy how do you know? lol.....well i vaguely remember i was told my alternator wasn't charging properly before by a battery store I went to......cept I found out that actually the belt popped off. I do suspect that maybe it's going bad though since my jl audio midranges sound crisp at times and other times sound like pure garbage as if they're barely getting any power.

 

You need to tape up the frayed wires behind the engine or the fuse is just going to blow again; it may already have.

With that fuse blown the alternator won't work properly and also you may get an oxygen sensor code because there is no power to the sensor.

 

glad you asked. I had very similar symptoms for a few years. but b/c the car started, I didn't bother with it. but there were other electrical issues with my cd player. it would not keep the previous location and so it would start back at track 1 everytime I started the car. it turned out that the alt was not charging the battery enough so there wasn't enough voltage to maintain the memory in my cd player etc.

eventually my alt was unable to charge my battery above 12V and then I had poor start and eventually no start issues.

it might even solve your low idle issues or it might not. but it is definitely worth figuring out.

 

Just got from under the car, turns out a wire connected to the same harness as the alternator and speed sensor was got disconnected somehow. My mph gauge stopped working properly as of last night so I'm guessing maybe the sensor burned out because of this? I really hope not. Is there a way to test the sensor or maybe cleaning it would help?


I will definitely look into changing the alternator since I'm sure it has an output problem if I don't sell the car in a few weeks mundy.

 

I think if the fuse blows the speedometer quits too. Is the fuse still good?

The extra wire may be for your oil pressure switch that activates the oil warning light on the dash.

 

I replaced the fuse as I stated and the speedometer still didn't work the surging just quit as bad as it was, checked the fuse again to make sure it didn't blow again so that's fine. But like I said I also noticed afterward that there was that wire disconnected, connected that and still didn't work. Well I decided to use some electrical cleaner on the speed sensor's connections and let it sit a few minutes to dry though I cleaned them the other day so maybe that wire that was disconnected I didn't securely plug in so lesson learned check, check, and triple check. Speedometer seems fine now.....a bit sluggish on the mph response though but I will monitor that part.


CEL light still on though, ridiculous that they actually charge $50 - $75 here just to do a code read. I'd rather save the money and get a code scanner myself. The CEL blinks once by the way but I replaced the primary sensor a few months ago hence I'd prefer a proper code reading so I'll take it to an auto shop and have it put on the computer so I know everything wrong with it one time.