It didn't win anything at the SAG awards though. Just kidding.

Three problems.
1. when starting the car cold, itwould turn over then stop. I would restart it and push more on the accelerator and it would start. This happened twice when the weather was really cold.
2. After stopping at a stop light, the engine surged than dipped low and then back up to normal idle.
3. I recently did some preventative maintenance stuff, changed the oil, oil filter, PCV valve, distributor cap and rotor after 1 and 2 happened. Today, I changed all four spark plugs. I discovered that there was dried up oil on the spark plug boot of cylinder 3 and the spark plug was fouled. and the spark plugfor cylinder 2 didn't have any resistance when I got around to unscrewing it (I guess I didn't tighten it enough???). There was oil on the spark plug tip, threads and spark plugboot, but not dried up, just wet.

I don't know if it is because the PCV valve was bad that 2 and 3 were dirty. Spark plugs oncylinder 1 and 4 were clean.
I don't know if I need to replace the spark plug wires since 2 and 3 are dirty, clean contacts on the inside though.

 

My car has had a hard time starting lately too because of the temps, but I also think it's becuase because my battery is starting to go. I've also had a problem where if I stop at a light, my engine will also surge and then dip low and repeat.

Unlike you, I haven't had a chance to try to figure out why it's acting all wonky so I'm pretty much in the same boat.[&:]

 

I think that if your spark plug was fouled then you mean actually bent. Which means there was either a foriegn object in the combustion chamber (really bad) or your plugs were too long (not so great either). But I will type what is in the back of the haynes manual for what oil deposits on a plug mean.
Oil Deposits: Symtoms: oily coating caused by poor oil control. Oil is leaking past worn valve guides or piston rings into the combustion chamber. Causes hard starting, misfiring, and hesitation.

But since the boot is also covered with oil that would say to me (if it were my car) that your head gasket is going. Basically there should be no oil residue anywhere in the combustion chamber or the spark boot. Don't know if you can but get a small camera or (of course) a mechanic to look at the cylinder where the fouled plug came from. You don't need to have a knick on your cylindertop that will lead to a hot spot and potentially melt a hole through it.

As for the surging (I had a 98'd16y7 auto sedan but never had any idling problems), check all the vacuum lines and connections,check the air filter for not being clogged. if not that then look at the fuel pump (I had an 89' vw 5-speed that had a whiny fuel pump and that thing surged at idle and didn't start sometimes; I don't drive it anymore), your head gasket could be leaking (which I knew was an issue with the VW), or your timing belt, pulleys, or camshaft lobes could be worn. Start with the simple thing first. Work your way up. My civic with 186,000 miles (from 6 miles new) never had any idling problems. And I would push that thing to its max on the canyons. I hope its something minor.

 

Fouled spark plugs just mean that they're gunked up or covered in deposits. You can see pictures of this in your Haynes manual.


I would say that the spark plug seals are going. I don't think it's going to affect your performance that much. It should just make spark plug removal more of a pain.

I would check the resistance on the wires with an ohmmeter/multimeter. I think autozone rents them out for free (with a deposit) or you can ask the cashiers to do it. If the resistance on the wires is okay, I'd check the gap on the spark plugs to make sure that's good too. If your car has over 100k miles and hasn't had an engine rebuild before, I'd run some engine cleaner (I personally like Seafoam). I had some idling problems and startup problems from heavy deposits inside my engine, which an engine cleaner should take care of. In my opinion, the fuel additive types aren't nearly as effective as seafoam in your vacuum system. If your car doesn't have a lot of miles on it, then I'd replace the spark plugs next (or re inspect them for wear and proper gap size)

 

Oil on the outside of a spark plug has either dripped down the tube from the seal in the valve cover, or blown out of the cylinder because the plug wasn't tight.

The other problems you're having suggest a sticky idle air control valve. Try cleaning it first because it's expensive to replace.

 

it deffinatly sounds like bad seals, clean it all up, relpace the seals, and see how it runs. and like it was said above, try cleaning the IACV, and possibly the FITV.

 

So far, my car is running better. No problems starting the car cold, no problems while stopped in traffic, and I'm getting fuel economy.

 

I changed the spark plug seals.
Only spark plug 2 is still oily after I clean it. Spark plug 3 is no longer oily.

It's been warm so I haven't had any hesitation problems. I don't know where the IACV and FITV are. I've got a repair manual but it doesn't have pictures of these parts.

 

What year Civic? The IACV and FITV are attached to the throttle body.

 

1995 Civic LX 4-door with "non-VTEC poop" D15B7 engine.

There are a couple vacuum lines going towards the intake manifold area. I don't know what the IACV or FITV look like.