1989 Honda CRX Shaking problems

MATTFEATHA

MEMBER
1989 HONDA CRX
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
70,000 MILES

I just bought the car from a private dealer. He said the car was fine but a week after I bought it. There was ALOT of shaking and stuttering before I go to shift. I dont even get to the right rpm's or speed to shift to the next gear and it shakes tremendously! The only way it semi cures the problem(but not really at all) is if I shift up to the next gear or just go to neutral. I dont understand if it may be the spark plugs or spark plug wires. Or if it's a n O2 sensor or what but I am scared to drive the car in this condition.

Saturday, January 16th, 2010 AT 10:54 PM

6 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi mattfeatha,

What sort of vibrations are you getting?
Is the vehicle hesitating when accelerating?

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Sunday, January 17th, 2010 AT 5:31 AM

MATTFEATHA

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4 POSTS

Yes the car is extremely shaky when accelerating. I can only go maybe 10 miles an hour more in each gear before it shakes and I am forced to shift or go to neutral.

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Sunday, January 17th, 2010 AT 10:14 AM

KHLOW2008

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Check if any of the spark plug wires are detached or loose. Check for oil at the spark plugs. Seem at least one of the cylinders is misfiring.

Does the Check Engine Lamp indicates when engine is running?

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Sunday, January 17th, 2010 AT 10:39 AM

MATTFEATHA

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4 POSTS

Thank you for the info. Yes there is oil on the spark plugs. The wires seem fine. And it feels like its atleast 2 of em are misfiring.

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Sunday, January 17th, 2010 AT 2:42 PM

MATTFEATHA

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Yes the spark plugs are real oily at the bottom half. Does that necessarily mean I have a cracked block? Im not totally sure. Could that also mean not the right spark plugs? Should I try putting new plugs in it? Thanks again for the info.

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Sunday, January 17th, 2010 AT 2:51 PM

KHLOW2008

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No, it is not the head tat is causing the problem. The valve cover plug seals and/or the cam carrier O rings are bad causing the oil to leak into the plug tubes.

You would need to clean up the oil and to prevent it from recurring, the plug seals and/or O rings have to be replaced.

If it is more at cylinder # 3, then it definitely is caused by the O rings.

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Sunday, January 17th, 2010 AT 3:17 PM