Any thoughts for Civic issues?


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Old 09-18-18, 02:46 PM
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Any thoughts for Civic issues?

Hi everyone,

Looking for some suggestions or guidance on my Civic EX. Unfortunately, it’s a 1997 with about 170,000 miles on it. Before I just hand it over to the junk yard for $50, I was curious if anyone had any suggestions.

It “was” working just fine until recently. There are three problems….not sure if they’re related or not. The only thing that IS related is that they all just suddenly started happening. First, it’s leaking antifreeze. You can see some at the bottom of the radiator, and some underneath where the driver sits. I don’t see any by the radiator’s petcock, nor do I see any by the thermostat. This seemed to happen “suddenly”. Second, two minutes after starting the car, the RPMs surge from 1,000 to 2,000 – back and forth, back and forth. Third, the brakes go down to the floor and pretty much don’t work. I doubt that one is related.

Any thoughts would be awesome. Even if it’s just a quick fix to get the brakes working enough to get the car down the street to the mechanic.

Thanks!
 
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Old 09-18-18, 03:20 PM
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That would be indicative of a rusted thru brake line.
Look under the car with a flashlight to see if there are any fresh puddles.

With a vehicle of that age..... when one line rusts thru..... others aren't far behind.
 
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Old 09-18-18, 03:37 PM
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Don't know where the water pump is on that car but they fail and cause increasing amounts of coolant loss as they go. With a coolant leak, you have to get in there and see where the leak is occurring.
 
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Old 09-18-18, 03:54 PM
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They do not seem related.

Coolant, anything from a leaking hose, a water pump, a trans cooler connection. need to get in and under the car to locate.

Brakes, bad master cylinder or vacuum booster, if you can pump it back up it's not a line, it would never come back with an open line.

RPM, take it to a auto parts store and see what, if any codes exist, that might point you in the right direction. A ECM, sensor, Mass Air Flow!
 
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Old 09-19-18, 09:51 AM
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Originally Posted by PJmax
That would be indicative of a rusted thru brake line.
Look under the car with a flashlight to see if there are any fresh puddles.

With a vehicle of that age..... when one line rusts thru..... others aren't far behind.
Can't seem to find fresh puddles. Only see green puddles of the antifreeze. If the brake lines are bad and I'm losing brake fluid, would the reservoir under the hood also show a drop in fluid?
 
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Old 09-19-18, 09:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Marq1
They do not seem related.

Coolant, anything from a leaking hose, a water pump, a trans cooler connection. need to get in and under the car to locate.

Brakes, bad master cylinder or vacuum booster, if you can pump it back up it's not a line, it would never come back with an open line.

RPM, take it to a auto parts store and see what, if any codes exist, that might point you in the right direction. A ECM, sensor, Mass Air Flow!
Thanks...and that's part of my problem, I can't get it anywhere because of the failing brakes. I did the little trick where you put a paper clip in the connector under the passenger side dash. The CEL is supposed to blink the codes. My check engine light isn't typically on, though. The SRS light has been on for a few years, so I'm assuming that means the airbag system is bad. For some reason when I do the paperclip trick, my SRS light blinks instead. It through codes 71, 72, and 73, which for the CEL codes shows up as "random misfire cylinder 1, random misfire cylinder 2, and random misfire cylinder 3". But again, that's for the CEL. Not sure what it means that the SRS blinks instead of the CEL.
 
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Old 09-19-18, 10:22 AM
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if you have any leak in the brake system it would be low on brake fluid would make sure its full apply the brakes several times and then look for leaks if its not low on fluid and you haven't had to add any probably just a bad master cylinder if you have no brakes at all.
 
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Old 09-19-18, 02:35 PM
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You have air idle speed control valve. That happens to be irrigated by coolant. Has coolant lines connected to it. Hence, if you have issues with coolant, that directly influences idle speed. Also, as being coolant irrigated, it develops build up inside the valve. So it needs to be taken out and cleaned. As in - disassembled, cleaned, resealed, reinstalled.
Brake. You have busted master cylinder seal. Hondas do do that. MS for a Honda is dirt cheap and is not that hard to replace. No point in rebuilding it with a rebuild kit, cost is about same. You will need special wrenches to undo hydraulic lines from MS and bleed system after.
Looks like you need a new radiator, they are also very cheap and not that hard to replace. Coolant leaking "where driver is" is likely from air intake manifold gasket, as Honda has coolant passing through manifold to warm up air.

Find a buddy with tools and hands, it's about 5 hrs leisure job on Saturday. Beer you ow him is AFTER job is done, not during.
 
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Old 09-19-18, 06:14 PM
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Cool thanks. Would you be able to point me to those special tools that would be needed?
 
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Old 09-19-18, 06:54 PM
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For those interested, here are two videos of the RPM surge:

Tachometer view:
https://youtu.be/2LZJ2TaXTeU

Engine bay view:
https://youtu.be/qgTtDCU3fRs
 
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Old 09-20-18, 11:44 AM
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You will need box wrench for hydraulic line nuts. Has a slot for the line to pass through. If you want my opinion, I'd rather use vise grip, but that usually ruins nuts after few loosen/tighten applications. I have set of those wrenches but, even being quality ones, they tend to spread on the nut and slip. And then - vise grip anyway.

http://www.diseno-art.com/images_2/line_wrenches.jpg

Don't forget to bench bleed master cylinder before install.
 
 

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