whats wrong with my civic? any ideas

[adaly86]

Some of you may recall that i had a problem with my 91 civic 1.3, there was a puffing sound coming out of the exhaust every so often and at that moment the car would shudder.
It mainly occured when cold but today after my sister was using the car for about an hour learning how to drive, (no disasters, just a few jumpy start offs, manual gearbox) i noticed that the car when idle would make this puff sound and every so often two of the sounds together, the car at this stage was fully warm and the fan was coming on.
At one point the car just cut out and when i attempt restart it started first time and just continued this puffing sound. There is a smell like petrol from the exhaust of the car a lot of the time, Anyone any ideas? Thanks Alan

[civicrider187]

my guess would be ure head gasket

[Kandi]

Im having the same type of problem except that mine cuts out when Im driving, it only spits when its cold but when it warms up its fine... I finally figured out why it was doing that, it was my distributor.

[travagliante]

Originally Posted by civicrider187

my guess would be ure head gasket

No headgasket would be white smoke burning and it would be constant due to coolant burning or even oil.

Is the ecu throwing any codes? My guess would be check the ecu first. Not sure but i believe your car is running to lean, or too much fuel. Could be a bad fuel injector, o2 sensor. But not really sure.
Is the check engine light on?

[adaly86]

Originally Posted by travagliante

No headgasket would be white smoke burning and it would be constant due to coolant burning or even oil.

Is the ecu throwing any codes? My guess would be check the ecu first. Not sure but i believe your car is running to lean, or too much fuel. Could be a bad fuel injector, o2 sensor. But not really sure.
Is the check engine light on?

How do I check the ECU, i know its under the carpet in the passenger foot well, but what to i do to get to it?
There is a constant steam coming from the exhaust all the time but i just think it is water, If its not the ecu could bad spark plugs be making it do this?

[KoRnSaQ]

i dont think it would be the ecu, but you check the ecu to help you find out what is wrong. you need to lift up the carpet on the passenger floor board. Turn the car on and see how many times the redlight blinks before it pauses, then go to this site and see what your problem is.

http://www.prostreetonline.com/pso/p...sp?articleid=4

[adaly86]

Originally Posted by KoRnSaQ

i dont think it would be the ecu, but you check the ecu to help you find out what is wrong. you need to lift up the carpet on the passenger floor board. Turn the car on and see how many times the redlight blinks before it pauses, then go to this site and see what your problem is.

http://www.prostreetonline.com/pso/p...sp?articleid=4

Where abouts is the ECU on the passenger side i managed to remove the carpet a bit but where the floor is flat it seemed to be glued down, is it behind the padding at the very front?

[travagliante]

The ecu is where you rest your feet in the middle of the passengers floor mat, towards the back. Dont worry you cant miss it. Its usually like a copperish goldish color. its also about 8x6inches wide. There will be a large metal cover over it. But there will be a little circle in the middle for a peep hole. Turn the ignition to acc but dont start it, and count the blinks if any.