For those who know shit about cars..

East.

East.

Active member
So here in Maine the temp's been pretty low. Like near 0 for an entire week, which obviously means I should warm my car up before I go to school. Well I woke up 10 minutes before class, therefor I had no time to start my car. After an extremely cold car ride, I noticed that my car wasn't actually warming up, then I saw that it was overheating. I didn't know what happened yet, but I figured it was the fuel line freezing up or something.

So I left school later, parked my car, and it turned out my radiator burst. So, I got it towed to a shop, got a new radiator, and picked it up today. All is well, right? Wrong. I left the shop, drove to my girlfriends house, but now my 'check engine' light is on and my engine jerks when im in gear (i revved it in neutral and it didnt jerk). The car is a 99 Honda CRV, and the engine kinda chugs at around 2-3k rpms. Anyone know what the problem could possibly be? I try to be a vagina and stay away from cars, hunting, and lip packing, but I'm sure there are some greasemonkeys that know what is up.

sparknotes: radiator burst, car overheated, towed to shop, got new radiator, now car jerks at 2-3k rpm, check engine light is on, and I dont know anything about cars.
 
it could be a few things, but the best advice that i have for you is to find someone with an OBD2 code reader. Usually at autozone they let you borrow theirs if you bring your car there so you can see what the check engine light is on for. With the radiator bursting my best guess is that it affected some of the heating lines afterwards. i would check all your fluid levels tonight if you can, might be low on antifreeze or something. Your two problems might not be related but without seeing it I cant tell for sure
 
Maximum allotted absences per half year = 8

my absences so far = 8

And I didn't realize my car was overheating till it was obviously too late.

^ and thanks, I think I might drive over to autozone right now.
 
Yes I realize the car was overheating, no I did not stop. Why? because I was late for school. Yes the car was steaming. Why did I not notice? Because it was .4 degrees outside, even my ipod shuffle was steaming.
 
This may not be related but whenever a car overheats immediately change your oil and transmission fluid. The extra heat can cause more wear which creates more particles in the oil and will also break down the oil so it will not do it's job correctly. Get them changed ASAP.
 
They changed the oil, but it might be the tranny fluid that needs changing too. I dunno, but thanks.

And aspendukes, I'm 18 and I honestly don't need your words of wisdom. kitchens are for cooking, not for newschoolers. bye bye mammiiii
 
bahahaha

on a side note. A. dont talk to my future wife like that, and B. you should depending on if you wanna get it checked at auto zone or not, get it looked at by a professional...but let us know what the code is.
 
I asked what people knew of overheating cars in relation to a 'jerking' engine.

If I needed someone nagging me on what I should have done, I seriously would have asked my mom. Actually she already did that today. So you're kind of like my aunt, maybe like a really old grandmother.

And don't take these as insults. I'm actually a nice person in real life.
 
Go to autozone, ask them to check your engine light. They will do it for free. You said it is "chugging", is it pitching your forward when it chugs? Can you feel the power of the car kinda slip for a second?

Chances are you have a cylinder misfire. I just spent the last 20 hours trying to fix one on my WRX so I know they can be a huge bitch haha. If your engine overheated, you could have very easily damaged a spark plug because they are only set to work in a specific temperature range. What kind of car do you have? If you get a check engine light code for a misfiring cylinder, the first step is to change your plugs and wires. This is a relatively cheap repair, $50 or so most likely for a mechanic to do it. I doubt that it is your tranny fluid, and if your oil has just been changed I doubt it is that.

Are there any other times that you feel this "chugging"? Does it happen at idle at all? You say it happens at around 3-4k rpm's, if you accelerate past that range does it still occur? Also try reving your engine to 4k rpm's and see if it still does it. It'll make it easier to diagnose the problem.
 
What he said. However it may also be a tranny problem since you said it doesnt chug up when in neutral. Do you have an automatic tranny by chance? How does the car drive when in gear? Does it feel like your pulling a huge weight in the back?
 
I could see it being a tranny problem, but only if he was changing gears at that range. Let us know what your tranny is and we can try and figure it out.
 
Its very possible that its both. If he has an automatic transmission and his tranny shifter solenoid burns out, then the car can get stuck in gear and cause the engine to misfire.
Anyway, i could be something simpler. But if its the tranny your looking at a $200+ bill.
 
About $200-500 depending on how deep they need to dig into the tranny to get to the solenoid assuming if thats whats wrong with it. $2000 would be for a whole new tranny.
 
Basically what everyone else said.

Autozone/ Advanced Auto/ other car parts place would check the code for free and tell you what's wrong with it.

Most likely a spark plug or tranny issue (maybe low fluid). Probably trans. if it kind of jumps when you shift.

Definitely check all of your fluids (antifreeze, oil, tranny. [sometimes there is no dipstik for tranny fluid]), and check your filters. Even though they just changed the oil, there may be a leak so I'd at least check all dipsticks.
 
Okay, so I went to Advanced Autoparts which I thought was Autozone and they didn't check my light for me. I'm gonna go to VIP tomorrow when they're open.

I read the recent posts and I'll try and be as specific as I can.

The 'chugging' happens when I press the gas pedal down further than an inch and a half or so. If I press the pedal to the floor, no matter the gear, the chugging comes immediately. As for idling, there is no 'chug' whatsoever, and even when I press the pedal to the floor (I didn't but I pressed it enough) in neutral, there isn't a chug.

Also, when I'm in a higher gear, say 4th going at 25-30 mph, the car chugs when I'm not pressing the gas hard.

Oh and its a 99 Honda CRV.

Thanks for the help and plus karma to everyone thats helped so far! and +karma to aspendukes for apologizing.
 
I'd almost guarantee you are having a wire/sparkplug issue. The reason it doesn't "chug" or misfire when you are idling is because there is no load on the engine. Since the plugs or wires are just starting to go bad, they don't do it at a low load, like when you aren't accelerating very much or at a lower speed. When you are in a higher gear, you have a greater load on the engine and so it misfires more. Take the car to the shop, or do it yourself if you want. It's pretty easy if you know anything about cars or know someone that does. All you need is some new plugs (Platinum plugs for longevity, Copper plugs for performance, Iridium for a performance and longevity) and some wires. All together shouldn't cost you more than $30-$40 for parts.

Now, I don't know if CRV's have coilpacks instead of wires. If you have coilpacks, that's not good. I had a bad coilpack this weekend and it ended up costing me about $30 for new plugs and $100 for a new coilpack. Chances are tho you won't have coilpacks because CRV's aren't performance oriented. All in all not too serious of a problem.
 
I had the same issue. It's more of a hesitation or bucking right? I had a faulty o2 sensor and replaced it and it was fixed immediately.

Before that I went through plugs, wires and my pcv valve.
 
Ya that could also be a cause. That's where you need to know what your Check Engine Light (CEL) is showing. If it is just one cylinder that is misfiring, then it is probably plugs or wires. A valve could be going bad or need to be tuned but that is less likely.

If you are getting random misfires in different cylinders, then it is leaning more towards an O2 sensor or fuel related.

I'd still change plugs and wires firs though, that is much cheaper than an O2 sensor. I know an O2 sensor for my car is around $300 or so.
 
sickkkkk thanks for the detailed posts.

now... the real question. If i were to drive to the mountain, would it fuck up my car or would it just drive funny without any long term effects. cause i wanna ski.
 
if it is a spark plug/wire issue it shouldnt be that big of a problem. just less power .. blahh id go for it
 
Dude i just bought a lightbulb for my pididdle and I dont even know how to get the fucking clear plastic shit out so I can replace it.

that means I don't speak spanish. or car.
 
Sounds to me like your coolant froze (or slushed up),caueing your radiator to bust, as you continued to drive the overheating car your engine wasnt cooling its self, and thus you blew your headgasket.
if this is the case, and you drive the car you will be looking for a new motor.
a good way to tell if to pull the oil dipstick and see if the oil has a murky brown color to it. if it does you have water in the crank case, which is a possable symptom of a blown head gasket.
btw i have worked in the automotive service industry for almost 2 years, and have rebuilt two engines and a transmission.
 
Also a fucking stupid answer.

Fact is, you don't know what the problem is yet. Could be simple plugs and whatnot. Could be that when you overheated your engine, you warped the head, blew your head gasket, or any number of very bad things. Until you know the problem, you should drive the car as little as possible to avoid doing more damage if it is a serious problem.

Even if it is the wires and you drive with a misfiring cylinder, you run the risk of detonation or other early/late ignition issues, which can lead to damaged pistons, spun bearings, etc (read: lots of money).

Cliffs: Drive the car as little as possible until you know for sure what the problem is and have fixed it.
 
Actually the mechanic who is my parents friend told me when I picked that car that the overheating didn't damage the engine which was what I was concerned with. That is also why I was confused when my car was pretending to have seizures. I'm not too worried.
 
Even still. I didn't think to connect the overheating to the head gasket, that could be a serious problem. And if the overheating didn't affect your engine like your mechanic said, then it may just be coincidence that your plugs are going. Either way, if you are having a misfire, don't drive on the car that much. Like he said, you can cause serious damage to your engine if you drive it alot. Plugs and wires is like an hour install and really cheap, should at least get your CEL looked at and think about changing your plugs/wires.
 
Okay update: I got the CEL looked at and its def. misfires.

Now, I need some help on changing the plugs and wires. Like i've stated, I dont know jack when it comes to lifting the hood.

I know where the fuses are, and I could most likely find where the spark plugs are, I just don't know what spark plugs and wires to buy and replace. If its too complicated I'm just gonna take it to the shop and make them do it, but if you guys think I have the intelligence to do it, I'll go to VIP and buy whatever I need and fix my car.
 
Just take it to a mechanic. The swap is cheap and easy and you should get your car back in under an hour. If you do it yourself you risk getting the wrong plugs and end up fucking up the engine.
 
Okay well, I'll try and get an appointment for friday or something, but in the mean time if anyone has some advice for the plugs/wires and thinks I could do it tomorrow, let me know!

thanks for all the help.
 
Look up changing plugs for a CRV of your car online. Depending on the car it could be hard or easy.

For my WRX it wasn't too bad, but it requires taking out the intake, water pump/resevoir, battery and then getting at the coilpacks and plugs near the bottom of the engine bay. I'm just showing an example of how it could be a more complex install depending on the car.

As for what you want, go to VIP or wherever and tell them you need plugs and wires. They can look it up on their computer and get you some good plugs. You probably want to look into getting Platinum plugs since they will last you the longest and be good for what you need. They will be pregaped so you don't have to worry about that. Good brands are either Denso or NGK, I prefer NGK. I hear Champion's are good too but I've never tried them.

Oh and also, what CEL were you getting? Was it for just one cylinder misfiring? Or was it for multiple cylinders? That is really important.
 
Nah don't really know that much. Just certain things I've had experiences with. Lot of researching online is all it takes.
 
Haha first of all I think you're the most helpful person on this site right now.

Second, I got the reading and the guy was kind of awkward about it. They wanted me to pay them 75 an hour for the full diagnostic and I only wanted the code, so they checked it and all the guy told me was that it was a cylinder misfire and to check the plugs and wires. Well I already knew that (thanks to a freeskiing site, sheesh)

Anyways, I'll go back tomorrow if I have a chance and I'll have them re-read it and tell me how many cylinders misfired and what number they are. From there I guess I can change the corresponding plugs/wires, right?

and I'll look up where the plugs are.
 
Go to a valvoline or napa. Ask them for the specific code. My car was misfiring on the 4th cylinder and I wasn't getting an o2 sensor code until about 4 months after I noticed the first buck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top