Problem: extremely low revs at idle

vinnym86 · 08-24-2007, 03:47 PM

I have a 1993 automatic Civic with close to 205,000 miles on it, and its finally showing its age.

Today, at a red light, the rpms dropped close to 0, and the battery light started flickering. The engine temp read completely cold, as if the guage was not even working, and the car itself was vibrating quite a bit. I was scared that it would just stall out, so i put it on neutral, and held the gas down til the revs raised to about 1,500-2,000, til the light was green. Got home, and before killing the ignition, same problem. 5 minutes later i fired her up again, just to make sure she started, and all was fine for the first 20 seconds, before the revs dropped right down to near 0 again...

whats wrong?

UncleBob · 08-24-2007, 07:29 PM

could be a misfire, could be the ignition timing jumped, could be the timing belt jumped. Plugged EGR ports and a sticking EGR valve is also common. Vacuum leaks are another possibility

Thats a short list mind you

vinnym86 · 08-25-2007, 02:23 AM

i'm a dunce when it comes to the technical works of cars, i'm sorry. I'll bring this up to my mechanic, but, would there be a way i can solve this problem myself with some research?

UncleBob · 08-25-2007, 02:34 AM

No simple solution, sorry. They are all guesses without diagnostics. And guesses are worth what you pay for them. (that be zero)

vr4GTO · 08-25-2007, 02:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinnym86

I have a 1993 automatic Civic with close to 205,000 miles on it, and its finally showing its age.

Today, at a red light, the rpms dropped close to 0, and the battery light started flickering. The engine temp read completely cold, as if the guage was not even working, and the car itself was vibrating quite a bit. I was scared that it would just stall out, so i put it on neutral, and held the gas down til the revs raised to about 1,500-2,000, til the light was green. Got home, and before killing the ignition, same problem. 5 minutes later i fired her up again, just to make sure she started, and all was fine for the first 20 seconds, before the revs dropped right down to near 0 again...

whats wrong?

make sure all your tubes and all the vacuum line's that go from your air filter to your throtal body are still attached

INF3RN0666 · 08-25-2007, 10:12 AM

Ok. The easiest thing ANYONE can do before you take your car into the mechanic's is to check the alternator charging level.
So bust out your multimeter (voltmeter) and check the voltage on the battery when the car is running. It should read 14.4 volts plus or minus 0.4. Otherwise, your alternator is dead, and your car is sputtering because it's getting very low voltage off the battery. Hence, it'll run ok for 20 seconds, then the battery is exhausted and the car acts up.

Other than that, you can't do much diagnostics other than test ignition wires by swapping them with new ones.

vinnym86 · 08-25-2007, 12:00 PM

thank you for the help everyone, I'll test the battery out today. If the alt is not the problem, then I guess its good timing to fix up the car, as inspection is next month anyway.

vinnym86 · 08-28-2007, 02:12 AM

I tried to test the battery today. With the ignition off, it read about 14.2v. Went to start the car, and it decided to start for only half a second before stalling, and never starting again. My dad thought it was just a discharged battery and gave a jump with his car, but it didn't do anything. My lights/radio/clock all still work. The starter motor is working, so i dunno wassup.

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