Hello,
I just recently bought a 99 Honda Civic Si and to tell you the truth..I'm very new to all this. All I know is this is the car I've always wanted and I just turned 16 and BAM! I got one!..It looked great to me- newly painted red, 17" black falken rims, full skunk2 exhaust, DC Sports headers with a B18C1 engine swap. It also has a short ram intake with a Spectre filter and a new MSD ignition. It sounds great and all but after driving it for about a week the check engine light would come on..I'd turn the car off and it wouldn't come back on for about 5-10 minutes the next time i started it. It's started to really annoy me and something else is bothering me too. Whenever I come to a stop sign and I push in the clutch it starts making this God awful squeaking to it..at first I thought it was the brakes but it only happens with the clutch. When I turn it off i can hear the engine make that same squeaking noise too as it shakes a little bit and turns off.
Like I said the check engine light is on too. I'm really not sure what to do and if i should be driving it or not..but being only 16 I don't really have a lot of money so hopefully it's minor. If it helps to know the transmission was rebuilt 300 miles ago. Only problem with the trans. is that the synchronization is a little jacked from 2nd to 3rd-- i have to double clutch to keep it from grinding.
I'd really appreciate it if anybody could find an answer for me- like i said I'm really new to all this.
Thanks a lot,
Derek

 

if it was rebuilt it shouldn't have any synchro problems whatsoever. Sounds like the guy lied about that, or whomever rebuilt it sucks. Take your car to a shop and have them pull the codes. It will tell you why the light is on, my guess is an O2 sensor.

where are you located? There mite be a member around your area that can pull the codes for you, or maybe give you a hand sorting out your new purchase. Congrats by the way!

 

I am located in Cape Girardeau, MO, it's 2 hours south of St. Louis. Thanks for the advice! I'm not really sure if there's anyone around here who can do that or not. What exactly are these codes?

 

DTC or Diagnostic Trouble Codes. They are stored in your ECM (the computer that runs your car) when something happens inside the engine that isn't supposed to happen. IE an oxygen sensor is giving readings it shouldnt, or if there is a misfire it is noted. The check engine light or MIL turns on when a DTC is stored. Any dealership or backyard shop can pull the codes using a handheld code reader via your DLC or data link connector which is basically a port under your dash where you can plug in a code reader or more advanced unit. These codes when pulled with be a series of numbers. These numbers corrospond to a specific problem such as oxygen sensor bad signal, misfire on cylinder 1, etc. Using these codes pulled from your ECM a shop can give you an idea of what needs to be replaced/cleaned/etc.

 

That explains a lot! Thanks so much for your help..I'm a complete novice at this still..hopefully I'll learn! My guess is a backyard shop would be cheaper then a dealership? Would any of this explain the strange squeaking noise?

 

ah yes, the squeaking noise. does it sound like it is squeaking from the pedal, or when you push the pedal in to disengage the clutch it begins to squeak?

backyard shop would be much cheaper, but make sure its a trusted shop etc. There are alot of people out there looking to take advantage of less knowledgable.

 

Let's say my car is parked and I just push in the clutch, I can hear the squeak then so yes it's just when I engage the clutch when changing gears. It also happens when I slow down.

 

if you sit there not moving and just hold the clutch pedal to the floor, does the squeak continue, or does it only squeak in the process of pushing the pedal down?

 

only in the process of pushing it down..and it does it when I engage the clutch to switch gears..so basically whenever the clutch is engaged

 

you can spray some lubricant where the slave cylinder meets the transmission, behind its boot. Follow the clutch line to the transmission, there should be a little rubber boot, pull that off and spray away. It might come back, so you'll do that periodically.

Can't you read OBDII codes by shorting out the pin connector???