1. Lab Project Case Study
1999 Honda Civic DX
German Izaguirre
Auto 132: Engine Performance
Br. Josh Tollefson
2. • 1999 Honda Civic CX
• VIN number: 2HGEJ6612XH529317
• Costumer’s name: Merril Carson
• Concern: Car stalls at times and
sometimes does not start.
3. Verify the problem
• We received the car with the concern
from the costumer that the car
sometimes would not start or after
starting it would stall after running
for a while.
• We were able to verify this right away.
When we were about to leave for a test
drive, the car died.
• While verifying the problem we were
able to find a lot more things.
5. Visual Inspection
• During this step we were able to find a
lot more problems the car had
«hidden»
• We noticed that the exhasut manifold
had a huge crack between exahust pipe
two and three.
• We found a very greasy and oily oil
pan due to a leak caused by a slow oil
leak.
• Coolant condition was old and did not
have the proper color.
6. Exahust manifold and catalytic converter. Notice the big crack
between exahusts two and three It cover back to front from
the manifold.
7. Gather Data and Study It
• While looking for information to figure out the
stalling problem we found that there was a recall in
the ignition switch for Honda Civics between 1998 to
2002. The report said all of the ignition switches from
those models should be replaced due to a stalling and
no start problem. This could be dangerous while
driving.
• We also found that the crack in the exhaust manifold
could cause severe emission problems and O2 sensor
bad readings. After warming up and driving for a
while.
• The oil leak was mainly caused becasue of an old oil
pan gasket that may be cracked or pierced.
• Coolant wasold and since several years ago that car
had not had a coolant flush.
8. Instructions of catalytic converter and oil
pan gasket installation. (Examples of part
installation procedures).
9. Develop a Diagnostic Plan.
• The problems we found on the car were very
easy to identify and in a certain way obvious
so we did not have to perform a lot of tests.
But the costumer’s main concern led us to
narrow other problems through a thorough
inspection of the vehicle.
• Our plan of action was: 1) replace manifold,
2) Replace oil pan gasket, 3) Coolant flush.
10. To develop a diagnostic plan we used diagrmas that helped us
understand how to repplace and work on certain parts of the vehicle.
For example, we figured our that we could not replace the exahust
manifold without replacing the catalytic connverter because they are
one system that works altogether as a whole.
11. Testing
• We used a Solus Ultra code reader to
verify for any emission codes due to
the exahust manifold crack. We did not
find any, but the fault was obvious and
could’ve caused problems in the
future.
• We «wiggled» the ignition key to test
if that was really the issue for the car
stalling. It turned out that sometimes
with the slightest touch to the
ignition the car would shut off.
12. Many of the parts we replaced had torque specifications. While
installing the new parts we always ensured we used the right
torque. (Tool provided by Br. Tollefson, I will ask next time before
using his torque wrench...)
13. Determine the root cause.
• For the exahust manifold we
determined that the root cause was
excessive temperature changes and
normal wear.
• Oil pan gasket had not been replaced
for a long time.
• The recall on the ignition switch had
not been performed.
• No coolant flush had been perfomed in
years.
15. Verify the Repair.
• After fixing everything (note that we
still need to perform the coolant
flush) we verified that no oil leaks
were present after a few days of the
oil pan gasket replacement.
• The new exhaust manifold was
steaming after replacing it due to the
grease stuck in the gasket from our
fingers while installing it. It does not
affect proper perfomance at all.
17. Conclusion
• I had fun while working on this project. I was
able to work on doing major repairs on a car
for the first time and I learned a lot from it.
• I also think that the seven step process
helped to keep an effective and efficient way
to approaching the root cause of the
problems.
• I did not cover the part where we blew the
radiator while trying to do the coolant
flush, but even that was a great learning
experience and our teacher helped us solve
the problem.
