bigerk

Hi new guy here. I recently bought my 17 yr old son a 2001 CL with 177k on the engine. He's not a car guy by no means and is pretty green when it comes to such things but I gave him a rundown on the bells and whistles involved in this car. He doesnt drive a lot and what driving he does is to school which is a couple miles away and all under 40mph.
A couple days ago I get a call at work that his car has stalled on the interstate. I asked him what happened and he explained that he was driving and the check engine light came on. About a minute later the car stalled and rolled to a stop and would not refire. My wife went to pick him up and called a tow truck. While they are waiting, my wife calls me to tell me that my son said the cars rpm was in the red when this happened.
Now the picture is starting to appear. I asked him what gear he was in and he said D5. I asked him if the shifter was all the way left. He said yes. So, my son ran his car at 70mph in 2nd gear and didn't realize it until it was too late. I explained to him about the manual shifting but he said he wouldn't use it. I think he's been driving it this way since I got it so its partly my fault for not giving him clear instructions. Anyway, the car won't fire and has the P1399 code. I'm wondering if the engine is hurt? I've read about plugs fouling and hope that's the issue but I'm thinking its more severe. I'll check the plugs and compression tomorrow or Sunday. Anything else I should look for or check to diagnose the problem? I appreciate any help in advance, thanks.

aznboi2424

iTrader: (10)

Your son needs some serious car operation 101, from either you or your wife. He should probably take a driver's education course too, even if it's only the driving portion.

bigerk

Thanks for the advice about my son, I'll get right on that. Now, any advice about "THE CAR?"

aznboi2424

iTrader: (10)

Gotta read what the P1399 code means.

edit: it's random misfire. Probably from all the high revving. I say clear the CEL and see if it comes back again.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

I think that it isnt your son fault. Transmission downshifted out of nowhere to 2nd and probably destroyed engine. If you lucky its just a timing that jumped but i think valves are damaged. Tranny is done too. and im not joking.

There is no way he could overrev automatic engine.

clpassenubye

iTrader: (20)

I think your missing the point his son was in Sport Shift mode (not auto) driving in 2nd without shifting if he's not shifting the and going 70mph in 2nd for an extended period of time that will cause a problem.

OP the tranny isn't necessarily done do what aznboi2424 said clear the CEL by resetting the ecu and see where that gets you hopefully it didn't do any permanent damage.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

You wont go 70mph in 2nd gear...

bigerk

Ok not sure of the cylinder order but I checked compression and here are the numbers from left to right, front cylinder head first.
205-192- 80
rear cylinder left to right ,
210 - 0 - 120

Either the valves are bent or the timing has jumped, or both. I'll check timing this morning. Plugs showed no signs of internal damage. If timing is right I'll be calling some salvage yards to see if they have another engine. It will be cheaper to change the engine than repair this one. Thanks for all your comments and help. I made need more help later with the engine swap. Lol. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

That doesnt look good. Next thing i would check is timing.

bigerk

What's the cylinder order?

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

From the back

1-2-3
4-5-6

bigerk

Got it, thanks.

bigerk

Ok, I dont have a manual so I'm not sure of the proper setting but I have the front cam shaft line up on the #1 cylinder and the rear shaft is lined up as well. The crank pulley looks to have two marks one white and one red. The white mark is lined up perfectly. If this is correct timing, I'll assume the valves have suffered some damage.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

Thats most likely what it is.

bigerk

Yep, its toast. First thing I noticed was oil running out the throttle body. Then, oil in the radiator, and overflow. Prolly broke a valve blew the head gasket. Gonna pick up another motor this weekend. It's amazing how cheap they are. I can get one with almost half the mileage for $200.

Dspr_02

Beating dead horses here...

It happened to me to forget my 01 CL type S in manual mode once or twice and it up and downshifts automatically on my car, it will lock me out of 1st after ~15km/h and then it shifts up when it gets between 7k and 7.5k rpm. Your sons car should have, by my understanding, shifted up since it is a safety feature to prevent people from blowing their engines.

My CL-S is Canadian so I don't know if anything is different... still an Automatic with ~ 233k km (~144k miles). I will test this out today as I go to school in the next hour or so and post the results, just to confirm...

Dspr_02

I did some driving today, it does auto shift from 1-2, and downshift from any gear to 1 when you come to a complete stop.

I tried making it shift from 3rd to 4th by itself but I couldnt get up to a high enough speed (got to 120KM/H (~80MPH) and it was still rising, didnt want a ticket )

aznboi2424

iTrader: (10)

The transmission will only self shift for 1-2 while in sport shift mode.

SimonCL-S6

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

I dont quite get that. When I first read the post, what Street thought was exactly what I thought. These glass auto trannies will drop down, usually to second, when they fail. Its happened to people on the highway. Its a fun experience

SimonCL-S6

, should have read the OP clearly

ThomWV

I don't think you are being told the truth about how that engine blew. You see that one cylinder that has zero compression, its either got valves that are bent so badly that they will not close and seal or its got a hole in the top of its piston because a valve hit it and broke it, or it may even have a hole or gouge so deep in the cylinder wall that it lets all the air blow past. The cylinder that reads 80 and the one that reads 120 are in just about as bad a shape. The cost of just ripping into it to see how bad it is would cost you more than a new engine for the car. Just as a hint go to E-Bay and you should be able to find a used engine in your neighborhood for not much money at all - these engines are surprisingly cheap on the used market.