idle issues w/ 95 civic si

Ok...Background info...I have this 95 civic si that had been stolen from a shop that was checking out some problems that I was having. When I got it back the engine was trashed and they stole my sterio (no biggie). The insurance payed for everything so cool. Two days after I had a new engine installed everything that had to do w/ the ignition went out. $500 later having that fixed everything was fine for a about a month. Now I am having problems with the engine idleing funny, i.e. it well rev up to around 1200 RPM's and then imediatly drop back down to around 700 RPM's and repeat this cycle only after the car has warmed up. When its cold it idles fine at around 1500 RPM's. I asked a friend mechanic and he mentioned the coolent level being low. I checked that and filled the over flow tank and still the same thing. I have given up on shops due to them sounding dumber than I am when it comes to cars and me being a poor broke college student I can't afford the $75 an hour diagnostic time. The other problem I have is that usually after it warms up and I try to accelerate the car just lags, like its being starved of air or fuel, then all of a sudden it goes back to normal acceleration. I have spent hours reading forums and asking people I know and they havn't been able to help, so I am turning this over to anyone in here. Any ideas are welcome. Thank you very much.

probably a bad Throttle Position Sensor or TPS.

dont know much about civics, but could be a MAF or MAP problem(depending on which the car is based on). probably is the TPS though.

i had this same problem twice once if was the coolant and the second time it was the altornater, i would take it to sears or somewhere and have them check it. i should mention that my teg did this after the batter light was on, but while talking to the guy that worked at sears he said that the rev.'s droping over and over was usually a sign of that...i heard that Kragen has testing machines that they will hook up on your car for free, try that.

It's wierd. I see this on modern honda's that have been modded, ALL THE TIME. I dunno what the deal is.

One guy said his TPS caused his problem.

Another one said his oxygen sensor was doing it. The oxygen sensor makes more sense in your case, as I don't think it's used during the warm up period.

I had the same problem on a Dodge colt, was the valve and ignition timing.

I had this problem in my acura integra, and it was an indirect symptom of a blown head gasket.

A shop can do a cheap check to see if your head gasket is blow by droping a chemicle in your coolant to check for carbon monoxide. If it's positive, your head gasket is blown. > <

Anyhow, your map sensor, and your Idle Air Control valve could all have an effect on your idle like that. I'd check for carbon monoxide first, and then check all the sensors I listed next.

Rock 'n Roll guys, I appriciate all the input. I'll follow all the ideas as soon as I can a report back anything I find out. Again thanks.

Did you put the same SOHC Vtec motor in, or did you swap something else in??

just asking cuz if u swapped in a JDM motor i will definately say TPS because more then 90% of them are broken during shipping.If it's that then just go get a new Throttle body from a local junk yard depending on your type of motor.

The engine that was put in was the same type of engine, not the exact same engine that they pulled out. So a D16z6. The engine was pulled out of a civic that had been wrecked by the shop that did all the work.

Do you know how to test to see if the tps is working correctly??

Also, I looked up how to check the engine codes from the ECU and the codes that came up where 22 and 43. 22 is the vtec oil pressure sensor and 43 is the fuel supply system.

if your getting codes then there ya go. I would take it to a honda mechanic since they would kno exactly how to fix the problems.

to test the tps, i actually would not no.I'll give a few of my honda buddies a call and let ya kno.

sweet!!!!
I appriciate it!!!

let us know the end result, mine is doing this also.


oh yeah, how do you cheak for codes anyway?

Depends on your car. In my 94 Integra LS, there is a connector under that dash right above the ECU, that you short (connect the 2 terminals together) with a paper clip or small piece of wire. Then you turn the ignition on, off, and back on. The check engine light will flash the number of the codes, if there are any. A chart with the codes on it should give you a more detailed description.

EDIT: If you intend on keeping your car for a while, buy a Helms manual for it. The $60 you spend now, will save you a TON of headache in the future. Now that I have one, I don't know how I managed without it.

my connector has 3 wires? what ones get connected together? also Do you know where there is an online chart?

Thanks for the help
Kyle

nevermind i found the right connector, i dont have any codes stored, except in my SRS system. I got a code 92 for my SRS system, anyone know what that is? Now I need to find someone with a scan tool to see why my car wont idle, guess I'll have to moniter the PID's and stuff

Kyle

Get a Helms manual. :) If you can't afford it, get a Haynes manual. They suck, but should have a chart with the codes in it. Don't bother with a Chilton, as they REALLY suck.

http://www.e-toolbox.com/ads/rs.cfm?yr=1995

check this out.