Expert: Sean Halliday - 1/18/2009

Question
I have a 97 Honda Civic Ex. My engine light has come on 4 times in the past year and a half. Each time I'm given a different reason. My problem is that my engine has a rough idle, acting as if it is about to die, then recovers, and it does this randomly. Sometimes, I have no problem at all, and others it becomes very annoying. It also has a slight jerk while I'm driving sometimes. When it idles like that, it acts like something is holding it back, then all of a sudden it lets loose when I go to drive. It is hard for the shop to diagnose it if its not doing it when its there, but it is extremely annoying.

Answer
Possibly the distributor is bad causing the misfire.I know its hard to find these intermittent problems and they never do it when you want.A basic elimination is best such as plug change,wires,cap ,rotor.Change the fuel filter also.if this doesnt cure it, try another distributor as i have seen this before and the distributor was the cause.What were the codes you found?Another possiblity is the fuel pump pressure,did you test this?