88 Civic Lx Idle Trouble

1988 CIVIC LX IDLE/STALL TROUBLE.
I'm having idle trouble. What happens is when I start the car, the RPM jumps to 3000 which is supposed to when the car is cold, actually should be bout 2000. Anyway, when the car has warmed up considerably, the RPM does not drop until I shut the engine off and restart. Only then the Idle drops to where it is supposed to be around 1000. This problem comes and goes. Also, when I'm cruising at hwy speeds, lets say 70mph with the rpm let's say at 4 or 5000. What happens is the RPM drops to 3000 then jumps to 5000, etc....back and forth till I slow down which only then the RPM stays at one place. This problem also has been happening alot, and lately when the RPM jumps around the car hesitates going on inclines as if stalls and then regains power, etc.....

Anyone with the same problems or any answers to what's causing this?

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Vrooooooooooooooooooom


1988 HONDA CIVIC LX

spray around the intake manifold their might be a leak thats what i did and it was a bad intake gasket when you spray if there is a leak the idle should go up.

could be a bad coil

the rpm's jumping at a cruise sounds like a coil starting to go bad. id test it and replace before it leaves your stranded.

the high idle sounds like its staying in closed loop for the cold enrichment warmup when its adding more fuel to the mixture. and then when you restart it the ecu realizes the car is warm.

spray around the intake manifold their might be a leak thats what i did and it was a bad intake gasket when you spray if there is a leak the idle should go up.

I've sprayed around the area so many times, and still no luck, when I take the sensor plug out for the EACV, the idle goes to normal. Infact it always idle low even if the car is cold. The thing works with coolant temp, like sort of a thermo-resistor...

could be a bad coil
I did a resistance test on the coil, checked the rotors..All seem good, I'm not sure bout the igniter though, that might be bad. I have heard problems and recalls with the civic igniter.

the rpm's jumping at a cruise sounds like a coil starting to go bad. id test it and replace before it leaves your stranded.

the high idle sounds like its staying in closed loop for the cold enrichment warmup when its adding more fuel to the mixture. and then when you restart it the ecu realizes the car is warm.

Yea seems like something is stuck, and when you restart the engine, it goes back to normal. Well it used to, not anymore. Now it's just always high as soon as you start the engine. o2 sensor maybe????

FICV (Fast Idle Control Valve) may be shot keeping the car in closed loop like Hybrid said.

ohhhhh lol you should have said that before. take off the eavc from the intake mani, and clean the screen on it, if that doesnt help, get a new one.

ohhhhh lol you should have said that before. take off the eavc from the intake mani, and clean the screen on it, if that doesnt help, get a new one.


Did all that, can't seem to figure it out!
When I unpluged the EACV connector, the idle goes to normal even when the car is cold.

try the TPS sensor, or the MAP sensor.... are you getting an engine light on

try the TPS sensor, or the MAP sensor.... are you getting an engine light on

The only time the engine light comes on is when I take out the EACV sensor plug, and as soon as I take the plug out, the idle goes back to normal. I checked the ECU, it only flashes the codes for the EACV when it's removed. When it's on, the idle speed races and there is no error codes. Yea strange!

try unplugging the tps when its running, see if it changes anything

try unplugging the tps when its running, see if it changes anything


When I unplug the TSP, it idle's rough. Goes up and down, and the gas pedal has no affect. Cant' accelerate.