So I started up my car this morning, and it idled around 800-1000, normal for the temperature in my area this morning. I backed out of my garage and stopped so I could close my garage and noticed that it was already down to 500-600 RPM, which was its normal operating temp.
I came up to my first stop,took it out of gear and the RPMs dropped all the way to 100 and was about to die. So I gave it gas to keep it from stalling.
I turned off my car then turned it back on, and it idled perfectly then I gave it a little gas and when the rpms came back down it dropped to about 300 then worked its way back to 500-600...so I continued on my way to school and noticed that once again if I didn't keep giving it gas it would die.

What could this be? This has never happened before. I'm thinking it's either a bad spark plug or a bad injector, mabye a bad air temp sensor? I really have no idea what it could be, I'm just guessing. Any help would be great.

Car: 1998 Civic DX Coupe - 5 Spd

 

When was your last tune-up?

Did your car actually stall from this, or did the idle just go really low?

Mine tends to idle really low when it is hot outside.

Also, with a stock tach the lowest you can read your idle at is 500 rpms. The line directly above 0 is 500.

Might also want to check your IACV to see if it is very dirty, replace fuel filter if it has been a while, check to see if your air filter is dirty, and check vac lines.

 

It does stall.

What's an IACV, Intake Air Control Valve?

Thanks for the help.

 

Yes.

According to the Haynes manual if the Engine stalls:

1. Idle speed incorrect
2. Fuel filter clogged or water and impurities in the fuel system.
3. Distributor components damp or damaged
4. Faulty emissions components.
5. Faulty spark plug wires
6. Faulty or incorrectly gapped spark plugs.
7. Vacuum leak in the fuel injection system, intake manifold or vacuum hoses.
8. Valve clearances incorrectly set.

Hope this helps. Let us know the outcome.

 

I have a Haynes manual at home, but I'm in class right now..I'll read over it before I take it to the dealer...i am not in the mood to deal with it myself right now...

 

noooo, not the stealership! We're here for you man!

 

head gasket shot, resulting in loss of compression possibly?

 

This happens to my 96 Dx occasionally during the summer.. It hasn't happened in a while however. I think its related to emissions components.. I have changed everything on my car excluding the pcv valve and the cat and it still happens but very rarely. My guess for my car is the cat, however I'm not sure if thats even possible. How many miles do you have?

 

I have the same problem, and my cat is immaculate. 100k miles on my Y8

 

and I cleaned my IACV, and it got better, then i changed my TB to a GSR and hasnt happened since , although it does idle low sometimes like it wants to die.