FYI for Civic '01 Owners (7th gen/ES): Defective sensor causing engine stalling

[vinj]

Just FYI to the Civic ES (7th gen) owners out there. I recently found out that there is a defect to the Top Dead Center (TDC) sensor of this model with both the 1500 and 1600 engines.

The symptom I experienced is while you're driving, you'll feel a sudden engine cut with the engine (even when you're running at speed or at high rpm) then the check engine light will turn on and your engine will just lose power and eventually shut down. If you start the engine, it will start normally and run again but the problem may recur until you park and give the engine some idle time. In my case it happened when I was driving Kennon Road at the dead of the night (of all places)! I had to start the car several times before i eventually made it up to Baguio. I also did was some engine checks (look for loose vacuum hoses, sensor connections, spark plugs, etc). After i disconnected the battery to let the ECU reset and restarted the car, the problem did not occur again; i had an engine scan done and nothing came amiss... until the problem occured last week once more. When i brought the car to Honda Marikina, I was told of the defective TDC sensor and they changed the part for free (my car is an '01 model) and the problem was solved.

The defective TDC sensor basically mismanages the firing order, thus causing the engine to shut down even if you're revving it or driving at speed... IMO, this is dangerous as it can just cause the engine to shut off anytime; imagine what can happen if it occured in a situation where one is passing other cars on a two lane highway (which i was doing when it happened on my way up to Baguio). I don't know when and how this concern was addressed by Honda as my car had been serviced by the previous owner at the dealer until i bought it last year and the part was never changed (it was only changed when i brought it in and mentioned the problem).

Thus, my advise to ES owners there is to have check with their Honda dealer to see if their car is affected by the defective part. I also did a search on the other local Honda sites (CSG) and there was mention to the problem as well but i did not see any recall bulletins unlike with the fuel tank issue... (CMIIW)

[niky]

Might be one of those "secret" defects like the Lynx ignition coil... which was redesigned due to the defect (new ones seem perfect...), but no local recall was issued.

[speedyfix]

yeah, also sometimes the cam angle sensor is at fault. just fixed a problem like that last week on an ES. no way to read the code without an obdII reader though.

[an0nim0us]

Happened to our Civic once! could be the same problem.

Happened to our Lynx too, more than once - Cam sensor naman.

I hate this kind of problem, very inconvenient.

[Zdre_Wulf]

yes boss.. sakit yan nang honda... it took my offismate 3 moths to diagnose the system himself kasi di madidagnose nang honda... intermittent kasi... tapos research kami ayun... TDC nga.... dala nya oto sa honda... pinapalitan...ok na......

[afrasay]

Thanks for heads up, Vinj. Made it a sticky for everyone to see.

[jdab]

May I ask how much would the repair cost? I also experienced this twice on my ES.

[speedyfix]

sensor is around 1500-2500 ata. plus labor.

[jdab]

Thanks, Migs! I'll visit your shop again soon for my PMS.

[speedyfix]

ok seeya!

[vinj]

May I ask how much would the repair cost? I also experienced this twice on my ES.

Honda Marikina changed mine for free.

[jdab]

Honda Marikina changed mine for free.

Did you avail any other service from them when you had your sensor changed?

[vinj]

I wasnt supposed to but i decided to have my throttle body cleaned since it was already in the shop and i was planning to have it done for the longest time already... the TB cleaning is a bit more expensive then in Speedyfix though but due to time constraints i decided to have it done already.

[wrcastro_ph]

Never experienced that problem in '01 VTI-S.

[vinj]

Never experienced that problem in '01 VTI-S.

It seems to be more common to the m/t models from what i heard.

[funky_monkey]

had the same problem 2001 VTI Manual Transmission. Right after they changed it, the car was running perfect again.

[ironhide]

Hi All

I'm currently experiencing a very very similar problem to the one described. However, I'm in Australia and my ES civic is a 1.7L.

My car has been stalling (ie. engine cuts out while driving) quite frequently of late, especially on the hot days. I have taken it to Honda and they are at a loss. They indicated that the engine did throw a code and that it related to a connection fault with the TDC. They checked the connection and said there was no problems. Not sure whether it is the TDC that is faulty. For those who had the problem:

1. Did your car's ECU throw up an error code? What one?
2. How or what did Honda do to identify the problem? How long did it take them to find it? How did they know it was the TDC?
3. Could it be the ignition coil problem that a few people have described? what are the symptoms for the ignition coil problem?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm hesitant to just ask them to change the TDC without knowing for sure that they can identify it.

Are there some bulletin boards that honda has that identifies the problem even though it is not a recall?

[dhuDz]

Hi Vinj,

meron ka pix sa sensor? o kaya kung saan nakainstall?
I'm experiencing the very same problem(s) stated in this thread.
Just bought bale a used 98 Civic Vti.... it was fine before but needs tune up, I had it tuned to my trusted mechanic also oil change & all.... then upon an overnight of no use (cold engine) then about to run... when changing gears or pressing the clutch rpm suddenly drops to full zero then dies.... though restarting is ok... it's also ok when idle....

[finchy18]

for a 6 yr old car ok na maglabasan ang ganun na sakit not bad.

ganun nga din sa friend ko TDC surplus ang pinalit then ok na ulit.

[vinj]

Sorry... i wasnt around to document when the part was changed. Idling problems become common as an EFI car changes and to start, do check with the sensors (cleaning, scan), clean the throttle body and check your ignition wires amongst some. Sometimes it's a compilation of several parts needing replacement/cleaning.

Ironhide, there was no error code that came out.