Honda Civic 2000, 109k miles. check engine light on, shakes, runs rough, loudly when i accelerate

My Honda Civic year 2000 is behaving very strangely. Yesterday i bought full
tank of gas and I parked it. I drove it like 3hrs later and it started run
rough and lose acceleration, shakes when i accelerate and then the "check
engine light" then came on. I took it back home and left it till today, and
then I started it and drive for about 20 miles and it still doing the same
thing. what should I do.

 

Find a code reader and find out WHY the check engine light is on.

 

What's the exhaust smell like? Any eye-searing fumes? Black smoke?

How long did you drive it for?

And get the code read. AutoZone, PartSource and many other places will read
the code for you for free.

Did the gas come from a name-brand station with high traffic volume?

 

Yes,gas stations have had diesel put into their gasoline underground tanks
by mistake,and water in the gas is another problem.
Shell(IIRC) in Orlando sold bad gas that required replacement of fuel
pumps.

 

I had the same problem with a 2001 LX. Pull the spark plug cables one
at a time and inspect for oil both inside the plug and down on the
spark plug. I had a leaking valve cover gasket and the oil was
preventing my #1 cylinder from getting any spark whatsoever. It would
be alright at idle, but would buck like a sonuvabitch when the engine
was under load. If this isn't the problem, then stick with the free
"Autozone Diagnostic" but take whatever they tell you the code means
with a grain of salt. Some of these kids aren't the brightest.

 

I was surprised to find out how serious it is to run diesel in an injected
gasoline engine. In the Yahoo Prius forum somebody who got diesel in the
tank and ran it until it stopped bent a rod! I thought there must be a
mistake until another member related the same tale of woe. Then it dawned on
me that the diesel doesn't burn or vaporize, it just builds up until the
cylinder hydraulic locks :-( :-(

BTW - I agree it sounds like bad gas, and the car should not be driven until
the problem is resolved. But on a related note... has the timing belt been
changed?

Mike