...back to ZERO with my Civic..Honda Heads Unite Please!

Hi guys...i am writing back for more advice about my 1990 Honda Civic GL (1500cc). Its been kicking my butt the past few months and i dont know what else to do..

The Initial problem began several months ago..cold start would go smooth but after i would park the car (after going to the store or something)and re-start an hour later..it started to miss, big time . It had no problmes on initial cold start but would not re-start. I thought it might have flooded and let the car sit for about 15 minutes, then it started fine but was running really rough (when i accelerate it would hesitate and miss like crazy so i had to maintain high RPM just to stop idle from dying ) as it was generally running extremley rough....that was about 5 months ago, since then i have posted a few threads on honda forums and was advised to replace the fuel filter and fuel relay...so i replaced the Fuel filter and fuel relay..also checked the spark plugs, and they appear to be clean . The car is driven once or twice a month but i do warm it up twice weekly just to save juice in the battery.

Anyway, just this week i was preparing to hop in my car to do some shopping but was gutted to find that the car is still cutting off while driving...basically when i stop at a red light and engage the car in first gear, it will putter and i have to rev-up RPM just to hold the idle . I dont know if its a spark or fuel problem..I have now discoverd that if my cold idle runs smooth, the car will actually drive smooth...if the cold idle is missing then the drive will be horrible...i dont know if this means something.

The car is generally in mint condition . Its only got 50K original miles and otherwise, the car is like new...when it idles right, you cant even tell if the engine is on or off because its sooo quite.

I have read on some posts that the next stage in the game might be to replace the fuel pump...but could this really be the problem??...I guess i could rule out plugs/wires/rotar by replacing them...jut to rule them out...although they all appear to be clean...i dont know exactly when the three mentioned were replaced, but i have not driven the car more than 100 miles since owening it several months ago.

Sorry for the long story...any pointers immensley appreciated.
Cheers
Zu

Firstly is your car carbed? I dont know if "GL" is like a european model that was carbed or something?
If its carbed, then i say you have choke problems and your choke is malfunctioning. This could be a function of either: one of your thermosensors not sending the proper signal (i.e. saying the engine is cold when hot and vise-versa), or it could be your choke system itself. Either way you could be running too lean upon cold starts and too rich when warm and your throttle plate could get closed off when warm.

If your car is fuel injected, start off with cleaning these two basic senors.

http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1575913

http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=699787

Firstly is your car carbed? I dont know if "GL" is like a european model that was carbed or something?
If its carbed, then i say you have choke problems and your choke is malfunctioning. This could be a function of either: one of your thermosensors not sending the proper signal (i.e. saying the engine is cold when hot and vise-versa), or it could be your choke system itself. Either way you could be running too lean upon cold starts and too rich when warm and your throttle plate could get closed off when warm.

If your car is fuel injected, start off with cleaning these two basic senors.

http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1575913

http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=699787

CRXperiment
Thanks for taking the time to respond...my car is Fuel Injection i will attempt at the two tips you mentioned above...but i have to say...when i do a cold start and if it happens to be the day the car decides to run rough, even the cold start warmup will be rough..IMMEDIATLEY when i start up the car , it will idle rough right away...then its downhill from there...on good days, when the cold start idel is smooth..then the driving is smooth..so in other words, i can determine wether the car will run smooth or rough, in the first ten seconds...with this in mind, do you still believe the ?thermosensors and or choke system may be the problem ? what i dont understand is...why does it run PERFECT one day, and completley un-drivable the next ?... i always thought that if something stops working...it stops working, it does not choose which days it works and which days it doesnt..

thanks again
Zu

EGR. First do you have one?
Second, Sounds like it might be stuck open or your EGR solenoid has stuck open.
Just pull off the vacuum line to the EGR and plug it, then go for a test drive.

if you don't drive it very much does that mean you don't put gas in it often? bad gas? it's a crazy theory but I had to throw it out.

I think it might be the rotor or bad plug wire....replacing the plugs & cap wouldn't hurt either.


next I would look to the MAP sensor and the vacuum hose that goes to it.

if you don't drive it very much does that mean you don't put gas in it often? bad gas? it's a crazy theory but I had to throw it out.

I think it might be the rotor or bad plug wire....replacing the plugs & cap wouldn't hurt either.


next I would look to the MAP sensor and the vacuum hose that goes to it.

Hi LadyNRedSi
Thanks for responding to my thread...i am not sure what you mean by bad gas..i did drive the car from Austria to london and my father in law was using premium unleaded (but i am just using regular unleaded here in London) but i doubt that has anything to do with it.
For example, i drove the car to the petrol station today to put more petrol ( i usually leave quarter tank of gas before i re-fill)...the cold start was no problem, but when i drove it , it immediatley started hesitating, when i accelerate it just starts jerking like crazy..i have to constantly rev-up the RPM quite high so the car will not die on me..the strange thing is after i got gas i parked the car for about 20 minutes, then when i drove it back home again, it drove perfectly..it did not miss or hesitate, it just ran smooth..i have now parked it..and wondering what will happen the next time i drive it..i guess i can change the rotor/plugs and cap. Father in law kept the car metticulousley tuned up..and i am certain that when he gave us the car, he did a complete tune-up, especially because we had to drive it from Austria to UK..and we have not put more than 100miles on the car since we brought it to UK..(that was just over 1 year ago) but i guess i can replace the items you suggested, and see what happens.

I'm just glad i made it back home ok...LOL!

have you ever had similar problems ?

Cheers
Zu