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I changed out the head gasket on my daughter’s 2002 civic based on recommendations from dealership mechanic due to overheating issues. I have completed the job, with the help of your videos plus other youtubers and from my Hanes manual. The vehicle will turnover then immediately shut off. I noticed that there’s oil all under the floor after attempted starts? I’m pretty sure I put everything back together, but since I’m a novice repair person, I’m really not sure now! My buddy mentioned that the engine might not be timed properly; any ideas?
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If your cam timing was that far off then you most likely bent some valves. Do a compression and leakdown check to start. Address the battery issue later after the engine is running well.
Thanks for the clarity. I’m not saying you should start a new thread for each issue, but it’s helpful to know how you fixed the previous issue, and what you’ve worked on since. That way we won’t give you advice to check things you’ve already done! B)
Re: alternator light flashing. I had this happen once and it was because the drive belt wasn’t tight enough. Check the belt tension and tighten if necessary.
Re: rough idle. As I understand this, the instrument display reads 0rpm but this isn’t correct because the engine is running. Do you have a scan tool that can tell you the actual RPM? What happens if you press the throttle? Does the tachometer increase? Also, check the connectors on the ECU and make sure none of the wires are damaged.
alternator light flashing. I had this happen once and it was because the drive belt wasn’t tight enough. Check the belt tension and tighten if necessary.
The alternator belt in on there pretty tighlty! I got plently of practice tightening/retightening the old alternator before giving up on it.With the new alternator installed, the battery appears to be charging (approx. 14.5v) the only thing is the pesky amber alternator flshing light.
rough idle. As I understand this, the instrument display reads 0rpm but this isn’t correct because the engine is running. Do you have a scan tool that can tell you the actual RPM? What happens if you press the throttle? Does the tachometer increase? Also, check the connectors on the ECU and make sure none of the wires are damaged.
Don’t have a scan tool, but I might try autozone tomorrow! If I press the throttle, the tachometer does increase. Not sure where the ECu is but I will locate and verify.The alternator might not be charging because the engine is running so poorly.
Actually it’s not running that terrible with the exception of the issues menioned. My understanding was that onceI set initial timing (mechanical) another exercise was required to set the elecronic timing, and all would be well?Is your check engine light flashing? Your check engine light will flash when there is a catalyst damaging misfire occuring.
I have never seen the “battery” light flash, that one is red.
Maybe a quick picture would be helpful so we are all on the same page.
Guys, a round of appologies for the bad information reported:
Master_P you’re absolutely right,I was looking at the speedometer and not the tacometer :unsure:
ridinred24, second thought, the car is running like crap!!! when I got home, I removed the batery cables and the car continued to run, so I take it the alternator is functioning?
Is your check engine light flashing? Your check engine light will flash when there is a catalyst damaging misfire occuring.
Would you believe the light is not flashing right now; maybe it’s because I diconnected the battery and it will have to wait a while for it to reset!I think you’re right about the check engine light! The flashing light I reported about is the amber ligt to the right of the battery light (red) and below the amber coolant light when the dash is lit? Sounds like I just threw away $119 that I don’t have :angry:
Verified that the car will go beyond 60mph!
SRS light still illuminated!! No flashing battery light; though it did come on when I depress the gas pedal with my old battery (just momentarily, not flashing).
I will look at some old EricTheCarGuy videos to see to see exactly how to measure the compression and leakdown check!!!
[quote=”NigelTheCarNovice” post=48574]With the new alternator installed, the battery appears to be charging (approx. 14.5v) the only thing is the pesky amber alternator flshing light.[/quote]
I have a sneaking feeling this amber alternator light is actually your check engine light. Can you please get us a picture of this light when it’s illuminated on the instrument display?
My understanding was that onceI set initial timing (mechanical) another exercise was required to set the elecronic timing, and all would be well?
I don’t think so. I think the 02 Civic uses direct ignition coils so the ECU should control all the timing once it’s set.
Master_P you’re absolutely right,I was looking at the speedometer and not the tacometer :unsure:
Glad to hear it! Ok, what is the tachometer reading at idle? It should be somewhere between 600-900 after the engine warms up.
If you want a good and inexpensive scan tool, check out the Torque app for droid phones. Use that with an ELM OBD2 Bluetooth adapter (buy them online for $15) and pay $5 for Torque Pro… you’ll get tons and tons of information at your fingertips 🙂
Guys, you’ll are correct about that flashing light being a check engine light (see attachment); things always seem to make sense after the fact!
I think the 02 Civic uses direct ignition coils so the ECU should control all the timing once it’s set.
It does, no distributor cap but instead coil packs…Glad to hear it! Ok, what is the tachometer reading at idle? It should be somewhere between 600-900 after the engine warms up.
It’s running around 1000rpm. Thanks for the info on the Android app, I will definitely look into that.Have not had time to look into the code as yet, but I plan to asap. I still have an action to look into doing a compression/leakdon check as per ridinered24!
You can probably rent a compression and leak down tester at your local auto parts store. Thanks for the update!
Rechecking the mechanical timing is a good place to start. Also, if you didn’t install the head gasket correctly then it could cause the oil leak. In short, your work is suspect. I recommend you go back over all the work you did and make sure everything is connected correctly and timed correctly. That’s a lot of work and the most likely cause is something that you did inadvertently. Lastly, you MUST make sure you purge all the air from the cooling system after you do any kind of repair to the cooling system.
Thanks Eric, but I’m way past that point thanks to ridinred24 and Master_P. To rehsh, I now have the following issues:
1. SRS light stays on?
2. Check engine light flashing?Last action item I took from discussions (read entire thread), is to perform a compression/leakdown check? Will do soon!
In the mean time, I got my codes checked and they read P0301/02/03, P1298.
For codes P0301,2,3:
Came home and look at the plugs (check for oil, ..) then reinstalled and drove around a bit and the check engine light seems to have disappeared! Does this suggest that I should change out plugs or just keep an eye on them for now?For code P1298
Will have to do some research, but I bet it has something to do the SRS issue!![quote=”NigelTheCarNovice” post=49160]
In the mean time, I got my codes checked and they read P0301/02/03, P1298.For codes P0301,2,3:
Came home and look at the plugs (check for oil, ..) then reinstalled and drove around a bit and the check engine light seems to have disappeared! Does this suggest that I should change out plugs or just keep an eye on them for now?[/quote]A flashing CEL indicates excessive misfires. The P30x codes reflect that too. You need to go back to check the timing. I would not drive the car without doing that first.
For code P1298
Will have to do some research, but I bet it has something to do the SRS issue!!I looked it up and it’s an ELD fault. You might have a short to ground somewhere. Here’s a link with the troubleshooting steps for that code directly from the repair manual:
I would start with the p1298 first. I typically start with the manufacturers codes first. One of the symptoms of the p1298 is multiple missfire, so my bet is the eld is bad.
^^ Great point. I completely forgot about that. Plus with DI coil packs, there really isn’t a mechanical adjustment for the timing.
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