My civic experiences the near bog/stall for about 20 seconds during which there is no response to gas pedal. After the 20 seconds, the car is fine and I can drive for 5 min to 8 hours without a problem until I shut the car off. If I shut it off and start it, it will repeat this again.
Brought the car to a Honda dealer. They want $2500 worth of repairs. I said thanks but no thanks. Their diagnosis: "has codes p0420 cat failure, p0132 o2 sensor 1 failure, they both may be bad due to bad headgasket which is why car is loosing power, coolant is getting into the cylinders and it will not burn. This is also causing the coolant to go down and air pockets to form in the engine block which is why car is loosing heat, suggest replacing head gasket, thermostat, cat coverter, o2 sensor."

I checked the coolant level, it is above the max line. I do not seem to be losing any.
Right now, my heat works fine, car does not overheat, and my CEL is gone. Please help.

The IAC was cleaned, new spark plugs, new air filter, new pcv valve.

 

When the engine is cool, also check the coolant level in the radiator.

Did you reset the ECU in order to turn OFF the CEL? If so, how long has the CEL remained OFF?

Have you measured the fuel pressure?

Have you inspected the throttle body and throttle cable?

 

Coolant level is normal when engine is cool.

No I did not reset the ECU, CEL turned off by itself.

No I have not measured the fuel pressure but throttle body/cable was inspected.

What is the normal fuel pressure supposed to be?

 

Reset the ECU to clear the old codes so that, if the CEL returns, you will read only the new codes.

Fuel pressure = 40-47 psi

 

How can I check my fuel pressure?

 

 

wow thanks ronj! I'll get some help from a mechanic friend and tackle this.
Any other possibilities?


I read on another civic forum a thread where a person had the same exact problem as I do. Had the dealer replace head gasket, exhaust, etc. He spent $3000 and it still did not fix it. He ended up trading it in. So if I can find what is the damn root of this problem, I would be happy.

 

Do you see white smoke in your exhaust? Is the engine over heating? Is the coolant reservoir over flowing? If not, then just troubleshoot the current symptoms.

 

No, no, and no.

 

RonJ- Well a friend of mine and I followed the diagram you posted and connected the gauge and the pressure stayed at 45-46 psi.
However, the car did not do the bogging/stumbling thing. I shut the car off and started it about 15 times, drove it around the block even with the gauge hooked up and nothing.
So now we are really confused. Any ideas?