car feeling sluggish and misfiring

**tengsta** · 13-09-2007 06:46 PM

hey guyz i need help.

my car (civic ek4) is not driving smoothly, when i accellerate its feels jerky and sluggish and its misfiring alot. Idle drops sometimes and the occassional black puff of smoke coming out from exhaust. I also noticed that on my air/fuel ratio guage that its sitting on lean all the time.

it was serviced about 2 months ago - changed engine oil, oil filter, spark plugs, fuel filter.

im a noob, and i dont know what to do. Anything to look for. Is it okay to drive to a mechanic if this things are happening to the car??

thanks

calvin.

**ATSE** · 13-09-2007 06:52 PM

try replacing your O2 sensor....

Get an NTK one... they have the OEM plug on the other end so it is a direct plug and play....

**g_kn** · 13-09-2007 06:55 PM

hmmz I dunno.. has the dizzy been changed and not Placed back on accurately back to its same position..a slight fraction out of place can cause to unsmooth accelerating , therefore the car being off timing.
If hasnt been changed maybe its moved out of place?
its a possibility .. but highly unlikely.

**sitta** · 13-09-2007 06:58 PM

I think its the 02 sensor that is faulty, happened to my bmw before and as it is a bmw, the new one cost me $700

**IZY-10** · 13-09-2007 10:59 PM

Have you checked your ecu for codes? If no codes are comming through reset your ecu and see if the air fuel ratio resets

**aaronng** · 13-09-2007 11:16 PM

If the A/F ratio gauge says it is lean all the time and you get black puffs of smoke (which means you are rich), then the O2 sensor supplying readings to that gauge is stuffed. Get a new one.

**Limbo** · 14-09-2007 09:30 AM

Also have a look at the timing in case its gone out

**tengsta** · 14-09-2007 01:40 PM

hmmmm wtf? i drove mi car today and it drives like normal again... -__-

no warning/engine light comes on when i start the car...

**kelviN** · 14-09-2007 01:57 PM

hey it seems i have a similar problem. The car isnt consistent. All within 40minutes of night driving....the car has behaved differently. Starting off it has nice crisp acceleration, moving as if revs. At 60kmhr in 3rd gear, u tap on it and it moves as u like. On the way back home however, it just started to feel sluggish and on 3rd gear and at 60kmhr, u tap on it and all it does it rev but the car doesnt move. Dont know what is up?

**turbo convert** · 15-09-2007 12:11 PM

in regards to the "air/fuel ratio guage that its sitting on lean all the time" i have heard that these are not the most accurate of items and i would pay to much attention to it..........imo
tengsta did you check ecu codes????
Also if the problem has fixed it self could you blame it on a bad batch of fuel, i had some recently on my rexy i thaught i might be up for some big bucks took it to sti docklands and they just said bad batch of fuel all fixed now.

**tengsta** · 15-09-2007 07:19 PM

thanks for all replies...
took it to the mechanic, no ecu codes came up and the car is working fine now. so i cant explain how the fk it fixed itself lol, i guess i could say the fuel too *dodgy coles express shell

**Simmo2302** · 15-09-2007 11:17 PM

Originally Posted by tengsta

dodgy coles express shell

that could be ur problem, not many ppl i kno like shell fuel. very dirty.

clean the tip of your exhaust then run a tank of shell and u'll see ALOT of black sediment around ur tip.

also a mate of mine (with a 02 astra) tried that new V-Power Racing
100 octane rating (with 5 or 10% ethanol).

its only available in 10 or so places in QLD. (dont kno about rest of AU)
his car ran like a bucket of SH*T (cost 145.9/ltr sooo not worth it)

same thing happened with the normal V-Power but not as bad

got him to switch to BP fuel either 91 or 98 Octane and no worries.

Moral to the story:

Shell = dirty & bad

Ethanol = Eeeeevil