Honda Car Forum

I just bought a 96 honda civic, and when I'm in park the rpms jump around
from 0-2000. If I'm at a complete stop and take my foot off the brake,
the car will accelerate to 20 mph, then drop to 10, and continue jumping
up and down. The rpms jump between 2000-4000 by it's self. last night I
drove 3 blocks home without ever putting my foot on the gas!!! Is this
normal??? What is causing this?

wastesgerl wrote:
>
> I just bought a 96 honda civic, and when I'm in park the rpms jump around
> from 0-2000. If I'm at a complete stop and take my foot off the brake,
> the car will accelerate to 20 mph, then drop to 10, and continue jumping
> up and down. The rpms jump between 2000-4000 by it's self. last night I
> drove 3 blocks home without ever putting my foot on the gas!!! Is this
> normal??? What is causing this?

There are a couple of common problems that can cause those symptoms.

1. Low coolant or air pockets in the cooling system. Most Honda engines
require a fairly elaborate bleeding process when filling coolant. If you
have air pockets, you can get situations where sensors and valves are
not immersed in coolant and thus thinks the engine is at a different
temperature than it really is.

2. Vacuum leaks, allowing excess air into the intake manifold.

What engine do you have? Manual or automatic?

it's automatic....about the coolant issue...I had to have the radiator
replaced when I bought it...they put in the new radiator and put in the
coolant, and that was it!!
Could this be the problem??

wastesgerl wrote:
>
> it's automatic

Yes, I see now that this was clear from your original post.

>....about the coolant issue...I had to have the radiator
> replaced when I bought it...they put in the new radiator and put in the
> coolant, and that was it!!
> Could this be the problem??

That certainly could be the problem. When the engine is cool, remove the
radiator cap and check that the coolant is all the way up to the base of
the filler neck.

Go to
http://www.hondahookup.com/manuals/S...6-98_civic.pdf to
download the service manual for the car. Check page 10-6 onwards
(shortcut: type in 184 in the page field at the bottom of the Acrobat
reader window) for the filling and bleeding process. If you need to add
coolant, you probably want to start at step 8 after making sure the
reservoir is filled up to the max. mark. Heed warnings about not mixing
different types of coolant etc.

Likely a DX Civic, clean the IAC and FITV with carb cleaner.
"wastesgerl" <wastesgerl@aol.com> wrote in message
news:a4e164e17999d86b6e0601fc92c89c02@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
> I just bought a 96 honda civic, and when I'm in park the rpms jump around
> from 0-2000. If I'm at a complete stop and take my foot off the brake,
> the car will accelerate to 20 mph, then drop to 10, and continue jumping
> up and down. The rpms jump between 2000-4000 by it's self. last night I
> drove 3 blocks home without ever putting my foot on the gas!!! Is this
> normal??? What is causing this?
>

Mista Bone wrote:
>
> Likely a DX Civic, clean the IAC and FITV with carb cleaner.

I thought about the FITV before replying, but the service manual for the
'96 does not show one.