Idle Problems

[tenchu]

The wideband would be telling what your current fuel system was, weather or not you were getting enough fuel. Not going to fix anything but it would help you figure your problem out.

[.saint]

would help... if you knew it was a fuel problem.

[spdyslvrEX]

So how is the Wide band which is about $300 different from a AFR gauge for about $30....I mean I can understand if one was a little more accurate but if I am just trying to see fuel/air ratio then I don't see why a cheap one wouldn't work....Just curious....Don't really want to buy anything else i don't need.

[spdyslvrEX]

Just got off the phone with one of the local guys around who is really into Civics. Tampa Mike is what I know him as. I told him the issues i am having and he asked how old the spark plugs were. I said about 12000 miles old and he said "I can't believe you have made it this far on those plugs" So I ordered some new ones from AZ and they will be here tomorrow....We will see what happens next....I also had the Coils tested and they tested good. (compared to a brand new one, they were the same OHM Parameters)

[kotomile]

A wideband will tell you your air/fuel ratio, and that's it. If you knew you were idling at 11:1, say, then you'd know you were idling rich.

A "narrowband" O2 sensor, like the one that came stock on the car, only reads rich, stoich, and lean. So it will tell you you're either richer than stoich, stoich, or leaner than stoich, but not by how much. The wideband will give you data you can use.

It's not a 100% solution, but if you had one you could at least tell us things like what it idles at when it's surging (I bet it's lean), what it idles at when it's idling fine, where the AFRs are when boosting, when the boost cuts out, etc.

[spdyslvrEX]

Matt, I feel you would be wrong to say it was lean because, my plugs are JACKED (Spark Plugs not igniting enough = too much fuel = RICH)....apparently I didn't realize that my $14 spark plugs only lasted about 6000 or less....which would make sense as to when I started having this problem.....I am still waiting on my spark plugs they will be here around lunch time....Hopefully....I really hope this fixes my problem.....I have a feeling it will.....Sorta

[kotomile]

Kinda.

Your plugs will reflect sort of an average of the conditions in each cylinder. Having unburnt fuel in the equation changes things a bit, I would think. IIRC I was seeing full lean on my WB when I had blown coils during the times where I'd met their limit and the car was sputtering, but the plugs looked black.

For plugs though, they're so easy to change on our cars I just go for the cheaper type NGKs, in whichever heat range you're comfortable with. I change them whenever I feel like, which usually works out to every third oil change. Good to keep tabs on the individual cylinders that way IMO, since once I discovered that two injectors weren't pulling their weight.

[tenchu]

Kinda.

Your plugs will reflect sort of an average of the conditions in each cylinder. Having unburnt fuel in the equation changes things a bit, I would think. IIRC I was seeing full lean on my WB when I had blown coils during the times where I'd met their limit and the car was sputtering, but the plugs looked black.

For plugs though, they're so easy to change on our cars I just go for the cheaper type NGKs, in whichever heat range you're comfortable with. I change them whenever I feel like, which usually works out to every third oil change. Good to keep tabs on the individual cylinders that way IMO, since once I discovered that two injectors weren't pulling their weight.

Every 3 oil changes on the cheap NGKs?? Was your car tuned by God?

I run the GOOD NGKs and change them every other oil change at the least. Or every other track event.

[spdyslvrEX]

Ok, so I went to Advanced and got the cheap Auto lite plugs (the ones you guys told me not to get). Just because my NGK's weren't going to be here until Monday....I needed my car to get to work...anyhow, I gapped them at like .030...put em in and the car of course idled all crazy...I drove it down the road (boosted it all through 4th) just to see how it felt....real smooth. Except for the red lines in btwn shifts (not done by me, it was as if the throttle was stuck). I will go by Autozone tomorrow and see if I threw anymore Misfire codes....If this doesn't fix it...I will wait until tax returns come back and get the Wideband....install it and see where I am at.....Maybe even see if getting it retuned will fix the issue.....I really don't know what else to do here.....

When I pulled the old plugs they were saturated in Fuel, you could almost feel it and smell it....

I am still thinking that Fuel pump went bad....or maybe the regulator is jacked....IDFK!!!!

MY CAR

[kotomile]

Too much fuel != bad fuel pump