I have a 98 honda civic with greater than 200,000 miles on it. ive only had it for a couple of months now and for the whole time it has driven great. I do need to change the oil and was getting ready to do that this coming weekend but today when i was driving it, it kind of bogged down then was fine. Then it did it again and just died. I then restarted it and it was fine for a few seconds and i was going in reverse, then it did it again and died again. Now it wont start at all. It turns over but just doesnt start. Also there is like a clicking noise that sounds like its coming from the dashboard on the passenger side. someone please help!!
How much gas do you have in it?
The clicking sound you are hearing is the starter relay…Sounds to me like a dead battery…caused by a failed alternator. Your issues prior were the car running on battery power alone without the alternators assist. If you hook the car to another for a jump start I am guessing that your batt will charge up and allow you to start it and run…until the batt dies again. You have a dead alternator…OR very dirty contacts at the battery…clean your batt posts and terminals.
Do you have headlights? DOes it seem to have normal 12V power…if so…then I’m wrong and it will be a different solution… LIke the main relay…do you have all of your dash lights when you turn the key on…I need more info I think. Cant help further till I get more info about your power situation…Does your engine still turn over at normal speed? I am thinking not…
Also the civic battery is WAY SMALL…they die often and dont tolerate discharges very well. SO…Prove me out by getting a jump start…you will need to let it stay hooked up for a while longer than normal…start your car and disconnect from the other car… DONT DRIVE ANYWHERE…I am guessing that you will only run for a short peroid of time till the batt discharges again. This is ALL due to a failed alternator…OR dirty contacts at the battery…they must be nice and clean for the alternator to charge your batt. Tell us what you get after doing the above…Hondas are a bit of a speciality for me…so
it has a half tank of gas in it
i am going now to check out everything you said and i will reply back when i check it out. thank you so much for the help
ok so i checked it out a little bit. with the key on all the lights and the interior lights and the radio and everything works… it turns over fine. doesnt sound like its dead or anything… the only lights that are on are the battery light and the oil light when the key is on. the check engine light was on the whole time i had it but its not on now.
This model is under a Recall for faulty ignition switches so you might consider having that done. The clicking could be a relay kicking in and out due to a power loss from an erratic ignition switch.
If this Recall has never been performed then you can have it done totally free at any Honda dealer. There are several Recalls out on this model so have them all done at once if they have not been done in the past. It’s all free so take advantage of it.
The engine check has been on the whole time you’ve had it…hmmm…
Get the codes read. Ask your buddies if they have a code reader if you don’t, otherwise your option is to buy one (maybe someone will rent you one for a day), or tow it someplace that can read it. Post them back here so we can have a gander. post all of them it will report, including any pending codes.
Where’s the fuel pump at on this thing? Isn’t there a reset for it? Blackbird should know. 
Check that, for grins and giggles.
but would this have anything to do with it cutting out before it did die on me. it like sputtered then the rpms went to 0 then went back to normal… then did it again… then died… and then it started back up fine… then did the same thing… and now doesnt start at all
That’s why I pointed at the fuel pump, and/or pump reset. Sounds like a classic “ran out of gas” situation.
Very much as it would if you were rapidly cycling the key from on to off and back to on. If there’s a bad ignition switch that keeps telling the car to turn off and back on within a couple of milliseconds, what you describe could happen.
However, it should not cause the car to fail to start if the engine is turning over when you try.
Back to my original question, do you KNOW that you have half a tank, or are you relying on the gauge to tell you that? I ask because if the gauge is bad, you might actually be out of gas.