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Sure, check the MAF out. However, if this error still persists, I would recommend repairing any holes in your exhaust before condemning the cat. Sometimes only a small leak can cause this problem.
I currently have a similar problem (P0430) on my current car. The front y-pipe is cracked downstream of the O2 sensor and it throws the error every so often. I usually just clear the code and it will return in a couple of months or so. All the cars of this make and model have the same problem after a certain number of years. It has been this way for over a year, but I have ordered the part and will install it this week.
Just to close this thread, it was indeed the driver’s side front wheel bearing. Got the part from rock auto for $110 USD and installed it on a weekend afternoon with a friend. Car is back to normal. Thanks for your help!
P0420 is a catalyst low efficiency Bank 1. Check for an leak or crack in your exhaust pipe. On some cars this is the root cause. It can also be a bad catalytic converter or a faulty O2 sensor.
You may want to try and fix the other problems then see if this is still there.
Hello,
Me and my friend had a vibration issue after we did a valve cover job on his car. The car ran like sh*t and was vibrating very badly. We got “multiple misfire” check engine codes – you may want to use a scan tool anyways just to see if there aren’t any codes stored. Turned out we had disconnected 3 of the fuel injector harness connectors, but not properly reconnected them. They looked like they were plugged in, but when we checked more closely, we realized that they were not fully seated. We pushed them back on until we heard an audible click and all was well. Basically the car was running on three cylinders.
If someone has done work on your car you may want to check that all electrical connections have been properly reconnected. I have had issues like this more than once. They may or may not set MIL codes.
If it’s a head gasket, chances are you will be losing coolant or having coolant mixing with your oil – or the other way around. White smoke from the tailpipe is usually a strong indicator. Yes it could be possible if you car has been overheated. There are tests you can do to isolate this as the root cause if this is the avenue you want to investigate.
Have you checked the thermostat? Sometimes it can fail in the closed position, which doesn’t allow the coolant to circulate. You may want to change this out if not already done. They are usually inexpensive.
Check your brake dust shield. Sometimes it can rub on the rotor. They are usually thin and can be pried back with pliers or a screwdriver. When you pop the wheel off have a look and see if anything’s rubbing on the tire, rotor or caliper. Check to see if there are any small stones jammed in the caliper. Finally if this all checks out look at the wheel bearing. I went through this. Jack the tire off the ground and wiggle it holding the tire at 12 and 6 o’clock. Any looseness in the bearing and its scrap. In my case it was tight but still made one hellava racket. I troubleshooted by first isolating that it was definitely periodic with the tire rotation. Then I ran it with the tires off the ground (my car was fwd) and I could here the noise was still there and loudest on the drivers side. Then I took it for a drive and turned corners. In my case when I turned left (or towards the drivers side) the noise went away. Root cause front drivers side wheel bearing. I replaced it and the noise is now gone.
Be careful of the civics in the model years of 2006-2009. They are known to have cracked engine blocks and the engine must be replaced.
I think the Si models are excluded from these problems though.Suggest you check out http://www.carcomplaints.com and view the major complaints by model year. If possible always try and select the last year in the model generation. By then they have sorted most of the major issues out.
I think I’m going to pop it off and see where it’s leaking. I’m told there are two o-rings where it may leak – one from pump to block and the other between the the two main parts of the vacuum pump. I told both can be resealed with RTV. Gonna give that a try. Thanks for your help!
Would a smoke test reveal a blown exhaust manifold gasket? I had ticking on a car awhile ago and it turned out to be this.
Other idea would be to drop the pan and see if the oil is sludged. I had a car where a lifter was sticking and making an intermittent tick. The turbo finally blew and we discovered that the oil had turned into tarballs. The oil looked clean on the dipstick but it was awful in the pan. The oil pickup was completely plugged too. Im thinking you would have probably noticed sludge when you replaced the lifters though.
One question though. If everything runs normal why do you want to swap the engine? Its probably somewhat normal for an engine to get noisier with higher miles. I would wait for something to present itself before resorting to replacing it.
If you have 0 psi on cylinder 3 and the valve for that cylinder looks funny it is very likely that that is your problem. It is probably not closing and hence the air will not compress in that cylinder. If this is the case your car will basically be running on 3 cylinders.
Honesty I don’t think you’re going to see much of a noticeable performance gain on this type of engine. If your owners manual says use regular oil, I would just use that. It will save you a few bucks.
Although it can’t hurt to put synthetic oil in your car, the only cars that really need them are high performance cars, hybrids or cars with turbos. In that case the owners manual will state it. The only benefit may be that you can go further on your oil changes, but I wouldn’t recommend extending them anyways.
My buddy and I repaired the turbo on my wife’s car. Since we bought it used, we suspect that the previous owner put the regular oil in and sludged the engine. This engine runs hot and is known for these sort of issues. In this case synthetic oil is a must as regular oil will break down at the high temperatures and form black tar balls that will kill the turbo and motor.
Apart from the cat and coolant temp codes the misfire and lean codes are not super specific.
If the fuel pump has been changed out a few times and these are known to be problematic I would test the fuel pressure. Make sure it’s weak before you dig in there.
Change the coolant temp sensor and clean up the MAF and you stated and see if that helps.
On a higher mileage vehicle like this you should check the ignition components – plugs, wires, coil and distributor cap – make sure those are all okay.
I had a similar issue like this with an older vehicle – surging, stalling, cutting out with a rough idle and it turned out the distributor cap was badly corroded.
More troubleshooting details for GM with a scan tool:
http://troubleshootmyvehicle.com/gm/4.3L-5.0L-5.7L/how-to-test-a-lean-condition-3
This may help
P0300 = random multiple misfire
P0118 = Engine Coolant Temperature Circuit High Input
P0420 = Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1)
P0171 = System Too Lean Bank 1
P0174 = System Too Lean Bank 2For P0118 check the coolant temp sensor or wiring to the sensor itself. The others could be related. Check for vacuum leaks, then the MAF, O2 sensors, fuel pressure and check that the cat isn’t plugged. Normally P0420 is a cat problem or hole in the exhaust but it may be thrown due to the misfire and lean condition. If I had to guess it could be a fuel pump on its way out.