Honda Civic - Loud Engine and Slower Acceleration

Over the past few days, I have noticed that the engine on my '99 Honda Civic is much louder then before, particularly when accelerating and the car feels slower/sloppier, so I need to push gas pedal more to get the same acceleration.

Any ideas on what to could be causing this or what to check.

Thanks, Rale

Reply to
Rale
Loading thread data ...

Mainly to cover the bases... how many miles/years since the last timing belt change? Jumped timing normally makes the engine hard to start, but it isn't always apparent. It also causes the acceleration to be noticably poorer and makes an odd hollow sound from the exhaust. My concern is that if the belt has jumped, you are on the ragged edge of timing belt failure with a great likelihood of severe engine damage. If the timing belt change interval has been more than the mileage or time specified in the owner's manual, it needs to be done now!

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

can you detect that without taking the timing belt cover off? if you check the ignition timing with a timing lamp and of course jumper the service check connector to siable the ECU timing adjustment? can that be spot on if the timing belt jumped? I am asking because my 97 Civic does the same and I already replaced spark plugs, checked the wires and the distributor, and I adjusted the timing spot on. I still have to check the PCV valve though.

Reply to
chibitul

Exactly - the ignition timing will be significantly retarded if the belt jumps, so if you didn't have to adjust the distributor more than a bit the timing belt isn't your problem.

I realize timing belts fail completely more often than they jump, but jumping is such a dire warning that it's good to check that first. If the belt has jumped, you don't want to run the engine until it's fixed.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

i have a really hard time believing that a correctly tensioned belt can jump. but based on what i've seen with my honda, and the fact that you /have/ to have the timing cover mostly back on before tightening the tensioner [making it impossible to "see" if the belt is right], i'd say that there's a significant chance any belt that's been changed is going to be loose. and if it's loose, it's much more likely to jump.

Reply to
jim beam

Manifold/vacuum leak would be my guess only because of the increased noise level. Timing belt (as suggested) may be a culprit, but I don't think that would make the engine louder. Of course, it's hard to tell without hearing the difference.......

Reply to
L Alpert

my expirience was on '98 civic that missiong oil can cause that

explanation i get from dealer is that vtec isnt working (i cant reach more than 5000rpm , motor was lauder and performance degraded)

check oil

b.

Reply to
zagor

Thanks a lot to all of you who replied! I will make sure to make a posting as soon as I figure out what the actual problems is.

Reply to
Rale

When was the last time you had the clutch replaced? A worn out clutch will result in slower acceleration while the higher engine revs will result in greater noise. Just a thought.

Reply to
mahadragon

And thanks to you (in advance) for following up. Our collective advice gets better when we get more feedback.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

Well, this only proves how little I know about cars: after changing oil and air filter, I took the car to the shop and it turns out that the problem is not really with the engine but with exhaust pipe, which is now fixed. The problem became much worse over the course of the last couple days that it became clear, even to me, that the sound was not coming from the engine. I am sorry for giving misleading information. I really apprecaite all the advices you gave me, and all the effort to have this resolved.

Thanks again to all of you who replied to my message.

Reply to
Rale

So do I get a gold star for being th closest? ;-)

Glad to hear you found the solution.

Reply to
L Alpert

Reply to
Rale

No problem. As long as you found the real problem and were able to take care of it for the least possible cost!

Reply to
L Alpert

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.