Honda Civic Throttle Body- Need Advice

lia1980

Hey all!!!

Well basically I have 00 Honda Civic 1.4i and for some reason a few months ago the car started reving itself all the time!!! I brought it to a garage and they put it up on a diagnostic machine and told me it was the throttle body then the guy informed me that this part is 800 euro and I should contact scrap yards to see if they had a second hand one! He told me that he cleaned some parts belonging to the throttle body and that stopped the reving for a while but it started again he called me then and told me he got a throttle body from another civic (same as mine) he put the it in and it made no difference at all so he said that must be damaged too!! now my engine light is on and I havent a clue what to do! Am i being fooled into thinkin this is the problem or could it be somthing else??? I have no clue about cars so if someone out there could help at all I would be so grateful!!!

Thanks
Lia

cantdecide

Was this an expensive part to buy second hand? They are generally very reliable and 2 of these important parts being gone- I don't think so.

Revving up and down by itself is called hunting (hunting for idle) and I'd bet it's caused by an exhaust sensor (lambda sensor) or oxygen sensor or airflow meter, which all tell the cars ecu how much fuel the engine should use to run optimally.

I had a mechanic tell me an airflow meter (€400 for that car) was gone awry when in fact, the lambda was in bad shape and switching the AFM off. Diagnostic gear only provides the information for a mechanic to interprit and is still open to misdiagnosis.

I think you should bring it somewhere else.

lia1980

Thanks a mill for replying!!

The mechanic didn't charge me at all for the part or putting it in, which I thought was really suss. I'v looked up throttle bodies on the net and I know now there is no way he could have even put that part in, in the space of time I was there!! he said he got the part from a scrap car!!

I'm defo going to take it elsewhere and get a second opinion and mention what you have told me too. Where would I buy a lambda sensor?

Are lambda sensors, oxygen sensor and airflow meter the same thing??

preilly79

I had a very similar problem on my almera and it turns out it was a problem with the air mass mete which my mechanic was able to repair. he too said the unit for my car would cost about the €800 mark so a scrap dealer might be the best option.

GristlyEnd

You can check the code that the engine management light is showing by shorting a plug under the dash. Although it says below its on the passenger side, it's not as it covers left hand drive cars.

From what I can remember it's on the drivers side and there will be a couple of blue connectors but only one with two wires. See what code is throws and post it here.

http://www.c-speedracing.com/faq/06.php

Captain Slow IRL

It's most probably your idle control valve on the back of the throttle body (common problem) - it's held on with 2 phillips screws. Unscrew it with a stubby screwdriver, clean all the black crap inside it with some carb cleaner and spray wd40 liberally into it. Then take it for a good hard drive.
It might also be no harm to change the spark plugs (NGK zfr6j-11)

There's no air-mass meter on that civic, so that wouldn't be the culprit.

cantdecide

land9 wrote: »

It's most probably your idle control valve on the back of the throttle body (common problem)

OP made referrence to something already being cleaned so maybe it's already done. Would this make the engine management light come on?? I must get my ICV done in the A6.

OP, I'mopen to correction on this but I O2 sensors and lambdas are the same thing but i think it's down to the different manufacturers. If it proves to be something like this, I paid €175 for one for my old beemer about a year ago and they're not usually very expensive but you're almost certainly better off getting a NEW one rather than a scrapper.

Has the car gotten heavy on fuel lately?

Captain Slow IRL

Sorry, misread post! - if the engine management light is on, it's most likely a lambda probe but you will need to scan the fault codes confirm (or google "flash codes" for honda civic if you wanna do it yourself)

Cleaning the throttle body shouldn't make the management light come on unless you brought the car to a butcher!

shomershabbas

I have the same problem with my civic 1.4i. Can you tell me how you solved the problem in the end? Many thanks.

Tenzor07

Its a common issue on the Honda Civic, its the Idle Air Control Valve(IACV), ring up any Honda dealer with your chassis number, the part is around the €350, any mechanic will install it for you in around 15mins, should charge you no more than €30 to fit.

Tenzor07

land9 wrote: »

It's most probably your idle control valve on the back of the throttle body (common problem) - it's held on with 2 phillips screws. Unscrew it with a stubby screwdriver, clean all the black crap inside it with some carb cleaner and spray wd40 liberally into it. Then take it for a good hard drive.

Worth a try, but once its gone its gone, and could also have the effect of making it worse

It might also be no harm to change the spark plugs (NGK zfr6j-11)

Won't make any difference to the idle issue