I have a 2000 Civic EX. Basically the problem is...my check engine light is on and blinking. The car feels like it's running on 3 cylinders. Not sure what it can be, but one of my buddys thinks its either the spark plugs or the wires. the car shakes when its in nuetral. any help would be great

 

you will need to tell us what the code it before anybody can do much of anything.

yes, you could go into great detail about what you think is wrong, how u think its running bad, or what your friends think, but thats all a waste of time.

go to autozone and get them to check it for free, or go on google, look up the paper clip trick to get a CEL/MIL code, and tell us what it is.

 

right next to ur ecu there should be a clip there, it might be hidden behind the glove compartment, just search a bit. its green. there is 1 clip w/ 2 open pins. stick a paper clip or some wirring and connect them. turn ur key on / engine still off, check engine light should blink a series of times, called codes. record, and look in manual or h-t for code description. that should tell you y ur check engine light is on.

 

well then i might as well add that all codes are displayed with long and short blinks, long blinks will be tens digit, short blinks are ones digit, and no long blinks before short blinks means tens = zero.

i.e. long-long-long-short-short-short-short = 34

 

awesome, never knew about that. I will have to check that out and get back to you guys, thanks for the help...

ok the codes i got were 71,72,73,74

 

that is misfire's on cylinders 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively.

 

In that order?

 

i believe it starts with 74,71,72,73 so what steps do i need to take to fix this. or what could be wrong, does it just need a tune up?

 

try the tune up first, could be fouled/badgapped plugs... plug wires shorting out... distributor not making good contact.

at least check all this stuff.

as far as im concerned ignition components are like timing belts, if you dont know when they were last done, you need to do em again...

preventative maintenance is key.

 

unfortunently, i dont know how to "check" these on my own, so im sure this is going to cost me. Is it bad to drive my car like this? its obviously not working right, but im not gonna go high RPMs i just have to drive it somewhere to get it fixed.