Shudder/Lurching - 94 Civic

My 94 civic has never given me any problems until this past summer. I
gave it a tuneup (changed spark plugs, the works) around May. About a
week after, it started overheating, and it kept overheating and
overheating. We first thought it was the headgasket, but then we
realized the fan was "bent"-ish (?) (it was replaced), replaced the
radiator cap, all sorts of wires/tubing, whatever. (the honda place
said that there was a "tiny bit" of water in the oil, but certain
not enough if the headgasket had blown and been blown for three
months). After that, it hasn’t had any more problems. UNTIL . . .

Last week, I started it up, and it made this shuddering, lurching kind
of motion - really hesitating (still in park). I turned off, then
restarted it, and it was fine and drove fine. But periodically, when I
start it (especially in the mornings when I first get in it), it does
the shuddering/lurching thing. If I leave it running, it can
eventually go away, though I really don’t like to even try it.

My husbands 99 Ford Escord was doing something like this, and then it
threw a rod. Is that what’s about to happen with my car? Is it related
to my radiator problem? Do I actually have a blown headgasket? I have
spent a ton of time trying to fix this problem, and it doesn’t seem
like it’s going away. Help?! Please?!

 

Does it exhibit this behavior after it has rained or is very damp?
It may be misfiring (only two or three cylinders firing) until it gets
warm enough to dry the ignition.
Dan

(This account is not used for email.)

 

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It's not a panic! You've probably got one dribbling injector, and it's
causing the engine to be FLOODED in the AM, especially on Monday
morning, right? Just run a can of Techron injector cleaner through it
twice a year and you'll be fine. Here in Canada, I run a tank of Mohawk
Gasohol through mine a few times a year. Same reason.


Next time it doesn't want to fire up really fast try holding the pedal
to the floor (per the owner's manual) while cranking.

Meantime, since you've had overheating troubles, keep a close eye on
your coolant reservoir. The MAX mark is the easiest place to view it, so
I like to keep it that full and it never moves, hot or cold.

'Curly'

 

It seems to me any competent shop could do a compression/leakdown test and
see if a cylinder has leakage and possibly a blown head gasket.And use a
dye in the coolant to verify.

 

suspect blown head gasket. get a chemical test done on the coolant.
hondas typically don't get oil in the water - open deck design.