:2cents: I have a Honda Civic 1995 with 156K, 1.5L, & manual transmission. The car runs nice at idle, but on accelaration, especially as the engine warms, it wants to hesitate. Injectors are clean, new plugs, any ideas? Once it is in the mid to high range of that gear it purrs along just fine.

Is it a fuel filter? I have put in gas line moister remover. My daughter puts on a lot of miles in desolute land and I sure would like to see this taken care of for peace of mind.

did u do any of those "tune-ups" before it started doin this, or only after? new wires? distributor could be the cause also. i've heard of them, once getting heated up, getting outta whack a bit. could try getting a used one from a yard, or a spankin new one to be safe.

Has the fuel filter ever been changed? If not or not recently then try that. Also does she run the car on empty a lot? If so then I would think it would be the fuel filter. Check it and then let us know.

Nice to see people responding to my request, it sort of restores your belief that we can and would help each other out without concern about making $$ on everything.

One additional question. What effect would a bad exhaust and a blown out resonator have. I am considering eliminating the thing.

Merry Christmas!

I know you probably did this but did you gap the spark plugs correctly?
Another thing you can do is probably advance the timing a bit to get a little better low end power.
Air filter clean?
Does the throttle body stick?
How much slack do you have with the throttle cable?

If by bad exhaust you mean it has a hole, then it won't effect performace in any noticeable way.

The resonators are sorta like a second muffler. But they aren't really needed. My 94cx no longer has one after i got the main pipe replaced. The car sounds the same, and no difference in power. I also had a 90si with no resonator, same thing.

Along with the fuel and air filters, I would also check the distributor cap and rotor, they wear out too.

95 Civic hesitates on accel

You have a d15b7, what do you expect!

I'm just playing, can a slipping clutch cause this, my clutch is slipping a little so mines hesitates as well during acceleration.

Not a clutch issue on this one. The hesitation is all engine. I will try the items that everyone mentioned, but I have to wait for the car to get back home. It is coming home for the holidays and I will have a look at it. She goes in for a new paint job over the holidays and a new speedometer. Thanks!

keep us posted if you figure it out. I have been trying to find the root of the same problem for months. :)

I had the same thing .... wanna know what fixed it?

tune up. I replaced the plugs, wires, D-cap, rotor, and air filter (god that thing was so clogged) and the final trick was time it. the 50 bucks I spent at sears for a good timing light was well worth it. My timing was retard lots .... so I timed it, loosened the D-cap and turned towards the firewall to advance the timing to were it needed to be. the white line in the middle of the 3 lines lined up with the marker (that's for a d16z6). You can do all of this at home in about 1.5 hours.

AEM Civic,
Been there done that. I wish my problem was as easy to fix. I have done all of the things you listed and still have the accleration problem.

are you sure it's not your clutch, if so, how do you confirm this

Im not sure its not my clutch, but i do not think it is. It is not like the engine accelerates and car stays put. What are some other symptoms of a slipping clutch?

Others have had this same problem, but nobody follows up on the fix, so i am reallly having a hard time figureing it out.

I have now replaced the fuel filter and run a couple tanks with injector cleaner. The fuel filter was dripping out a rusting looking gas after it was pulled and putting in a new one did not really change things. The gap that I see for the plugs is 1mm. Correct?

I wish people would bring closure to their problems on this forum. Seems that there are so many good responses and some off the wall. Some responses are very expensive to just try and see if it works. If more people would post the conclusion to their episodes it would sure help.

I will wait for a response on the plug gap. The timing looks okay but I am thinking about swapping the wires from another to see if that helps. I might ever swap the coil, etc.

Bruce i understand and have almost given up on my problem. There are a bunch of threads like this but nobody ever posts what fixed the problem. My next ideas is going to be changing the plugs and dist. cap. Thats all i can figure at this point.

WOW, my car just recently started to have these problems once I hit 140K. Good thing you asked the question, because I was just about to go and ask myself. Thanks Bruce Hunt. Late...

I am to the point that I will now start swapping out parts from another civic that I have that works fine. This will be much like many of the mechanics that I have seen. I will keep you posted when I get the two vehicles together in a week or so.

Can someone tell me what they are gapping the plugs at?

My civic is having the same problem, at least I think, Whos civic is hesitating or not taking off without stumbling all the way up to 3000 rpm. And if you slighly give it allitle gas until you get past the stumbling does the car run fine. Did any-one try replacing the map sensor. Some-one need to find the prob.

yes, we need to find the problem. I dont know what it is, but if i find out i will post the ANSWER! unlike so many before.

Did any-one try advancing or retarding the timing, Being civic have a so-called (interferance engine) just a slight change of timing can cuase the pistons to hit the valves and cuase the valves to bend. SO if you havent tried to check your timing both when the Civic is first started and then warmed up do so. I believe that the timing is fine until the car warms up then is off just a bit there after, so try setting the timing advanced allitle if its off after the car warms-up this might solve the prob with the hesitation I will try and post the results. I also have some other ideas that may work so I will keep every-one updated on the results. I will get this prob solved for every-one and let every-one know how to do it.

Check your timing when just started and after warming up, when its warm It should be off allitle, IF so try advancing the timing a bit. Also I recommend cheacking the 02 sensor, map sensor, timing-belt/tensioner. I do beleave that the problem Isnt in fact coming from the distibutor thats just the first conclusion every-one make. Check and replace any and all if found necc. if this doesnt help replace the entire distr. I beleave that Its the incorrect timing being Civic have the so called (interferance engine) which means just a slight change in timing can cuase the pistons to hot the valves resulting in bent valves (which may be the hesitation). So try advancing the timing just a bit towards the firewall. I will do the same and post the results.

I hope what I noticed today will help some-one help us fix the prob.
1st things first, When I say hesitate on acell. I mean that it basically stumbles until I get to around 3000 rpm (thats If I slightly give it gas) Also when at idle and you hit the trottle it will stumble up to 3000 or so rpm. When I hucked up the timing light I noticed the timing was retard a bit so I adjusted it and I got it almost on the money. It still does it so I had an assitant hit the trottle as I whached the timing and when it stumbles the timing fluctuates with the stumbling. Has any-one noticed this or if not who nows how this can be corrected or what the prob is. Im really getting annoyed with this and need it ti be corrected. Some-one has got to know.

Id seriously check teh cat converter. If youahve other exhaust problems, that might be it.

Nothing to do with cat converter or exhuast at all. Its the timing. MAYBE DISTRIBUTOR.

OK, the problem for me is solved. Man I wouldn't have put the answer in electrical but rather fuel related. But the hesitation even up to 3000 rpm was the plug wires. There was a small variance in the resistance of one wire. Replaced them temporarily with wires from another Honda I have and bang the problem was gone. New wires for about $50 and a new car.

Bruce hunt,
way to go pal! i have been considering the plub wires for a long time but dont have the fifty bucks to blow on the wires. (student)

Is there any way to get the wires tested so that i know for sure before i get them changed??

ok in light of the final result, who in their right mind doesn't change the wires w/ the plugs?? sounds like common sense to me. would u get new rims and put old tires on them? or how about fresh food and a dirty plate. seriously people.

i supposedly got "new" plug wires the last time i tuned up my car. I took it to my dads mechanic. Not i do it all myself and will change the plug wires with the plugs.

Is there any way to get the wires tested so that i know for sure before i get them changed??

ok in light of the final result, who in their right mind doesn't change the wires w/ the plugs?? sounds like common sense to me. would u get new rims and put old tires on them? or how about fresh food and a dirty plate. seriously people.
On my old civic I never changed the wires. Why change them when they work just fine.

ok, i actually noticed the same in mine bruce. its a 94 civic 4 dr and i had the clutch replaced and regularly replace the plugs, wires, and rotor etc. my timing is perfect....i thought about replacing things just to keep my car going for a long long time....so i replaced the ignition coil, its 75 bux here. i have not recently felt that lagging or hesitation since....try it man it cant hurt...any new parts for your car make it run better anyway....oh and get the valves adjusted too, that helped me out...c ya

try checking the pcv valve... i had the same problem and it took care of it. pull it out and shake it, if you can;t hear the valve move back and forth, you probably need a new one.

been there done that.

I have now replaced the fuel filter and run a couple tanks with injector cleaner. The fuel filter was dripping out a rusting looking gas after it was pulled and putting in a new one did not really change things. The gap that I see for the plugs is 1mm. Correct?

I wish people would bring closure to their problems on this forum. Seems that there are so many good responses and some off the wall. Some responses are very expensive to just try and see if it works. If more people would post the conclusion to their episodes it would sure help.

I will wait for a response on the plug gap. The timing looks okay but I am thinking about swapping the wires from another to see if that helps. I might ever swap the coil, etc.

I had the same prob with my GSR and when i changed the rotor in my dis.. it fixed it. Also had to get a fuel pressure regulator but you should not have low fuel. And a good way to see if it is your rotor is to see if it is burned, like it has a straight metal on the rotor not that wight papery looking stuff. If is not that you got me

could you explain more about the rotor, im not getting it. thanks

could you explain more about the rotor, im not getting it. thanks

if your engine runs hot for a while you will burn the tip of the rotor (the little peace of metal sticking out of one side) and you will get a half ass spark. Mine ran hot but not enough to raise my tep gauge and slowly burnt mine. Inoticed when i got a new rotor and the tip had a white film over the metal tab and it worked great once i put it in.

gotcha

gotcha


hope its the prob if not got me and good luck