Loosing Power & DONT KNOW WHY!!
Thread Starter
1997 Honda Civic EX
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
From: Miami, FL
Loosing Power & DONT KNOW WHY!!
Hey Guys,
To give you all some background on my car.....
1997 Honda Civic EX Coupe
- 2000 Civic EX D16y8 SOHC Vtec Motor (swapped with 40k miles)
- Cold-Air Intake
- 4-2-1 Headers
- Cat-Back Exhaust System
- MSD Super Conductor Wires
Recently, i had to drive back up to my school in Detroit, Michigan all the way from MIAMI, FLORIDA. While I was driving up I had my Exhaust Silencer on. About 400 miles into the trip, my CHECK ENGINE light comes on. So when i get to Atlanta, Georgia i take my car into the local Honda Dealership. They said it was probably one of the O2 Valve sensors or something like that. But when they were in there, they also found other problems, like a mis-fire in my 4th cylinder. So they put in a new updated ECU which was all covered by warranty.
However, when i got the car back, I noticed a SIGNIFICANT POWER LOSS. Mostly in the low RPMs. Its not like my Civic had alot of low-end power to begin with, but it feels like it has even less now. I'll floor it at a stoplight, and there is nothing. Before it used to take about a second and then a little kick would come. But now, there's just nothing there until the VTEC kicks in.
Anybody know what this could be? ? ? I would think if i had a mis-fire in my 4th cylinder, and now i dont....i would think my car would perform BETTER. Any ideas ????
To give you all some background on my car.....
1997 Honda Civic EX Coupe
- 2000 Civic EX D16y8 SOHC Vtec Motor (swapped with 40k miles)
- Cold-Air Intake
- 4-2-1 Headers
- Cat-Back Exhaust System
- MSD Super Conductor Wires
Recently, i had to drive back up to my school in Detroit, Michigan all the way from MIAMI, FLORIDA. While I was driving up I had my Exhaust Silencer on. About 400 miles into the trip, my CHECK ENGINE light comes on. So when i get to Atlanta, Georgia i take my car into the local Honda Dealership. They said it was probably one of the O2 Valve sensors or something like that. But when they were in there, they also found other problems, like a mis-fire in my 4th cylinder. So they put in a new updated ECU which was all covered by warranty.
However, when i got the car back, I noticed a SIGNIFICANT POWER LOSS. Mostly in the low RPMs. Its not like my Civic had alot of low-end power to begin with, but it feels like it has even less now. I'll floor it at a stoplight, and there is nothing. Before it used to take about a second and then a little kick would come. But now, there's just nothing there until the VTEC kicks in.
Anybody know what this could be? ? ? I would think if i had a mis-fire in my 4th cylinder, and now i dont....i would think my car would perform BETTER. Any ideas ????
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
Actually, there could be a HUGE difference between the 97 and 00 ECU's.
I have a 96 EX and was trying to diagnose a timing/rough idle/bad gas mileage problem. The next step was to try and swap ECU's with my girlfriends car, which is a 2000 EX. The computer in her car was less than half the size of the one in my car, and I know there are minor differences in the D16Y8 engine between my 96 and her 00.
I decided not to even attempt the computer swap to test out my car, simply based on the computer size and slight engine differences between the cars. Didn't want hers running like crap too...
The dealer should definitely be able to tell you if they're different enough to cause this, but I would think that you DO want an ECU for the 00 engine, if you didn't get the right one.
I have a 96 EX and was trying to diagnose a timing/rough idle/bad gas mileage problem. The next step was to try and swap ECU's with my girlfriends car, which is a 2000 EX. The computer in her car was less than half the size of the one in my car, and I know there are minor differences in the D16Y8 engine between my 96 and her 00.
I decided not to even attempt the computer swap to test out my car, simply based on the computer size and slight engine differences between the cars. Didn't want hers running like crap too...
The dealer should definitely be able to tell you if they're different enough to cause this, but I would think that you DO want an ECU for the 00 engine, if you didn't get the right one.