91 vr-4 with some questions

well im new to this site and im new to the vr-4. i bought it about a month ago for 3 grand. i know it has some problems and itll take money to fix, but some of them i dont know how to fix. i dont know a whole lot about cars, but i used to have an integra and i did all the work for that car and never had any problems, and i know that 3k's are harder to work on. so my question is this. where can i get a repair manual for a 1991 vr-4? i have checked autozone and kragen, and they said the dealer would have it, but i dont wanna pay that much. is there anywhere else?

also i had some other questions and if you can help me out it would be appreciated.

1. my car backfires when i let off the gas, going 3000 rpms or higher. is this real bad?

2. my synchros are bad in 2nd gear so i have to double clutch, how much for a new tranny? and can i just get a rebuild?

3. only get 10-12 mpg, is this normal?

4. my car idols really low and sometimes dies, it doesnt do this all the time. is this easily fixable?


thank you guys, any information on any of this would be very helpful!

Welcome to the site and grats on your VR4. A good place to start looking for answers to your questions is the FAQ portion of this forum. I think there's a link to a service manual there too.

My car backfires sometimes too. Not a lot, but occasionally. It's nothing really serious.

Our trannies are prolly the weakest parts of our car and most people complain about 2nd and 3rd. Replacing the whole tranny is pricey. 3k and up most likely. You can find individual synchros tho for cheap and have them installed at a local shop. I think Kormex carries stuff for our cars.

Our cars have bad mileage overall. If you keep it in negative boost and dont push the hell out of it, you can get decent mileage though.

First gen VR4's have a problem with leaking capacitors in the ECU which can cause the car to die at idle. I had the same thing happen to my car and that was the problem. If thats the case, then its really cheap and easy to fix.

thanks for the info. i checked the faq's a little bit, ill try to look into it more. ok so the back firing isnt a big problem, thats good to know.

as far as the transmission i think i can last a little longer without getting that replaced.

and the gas mileage, i really havent pushed the throtle that much, and i still can only get about 200 miles on a tank, and i believe it is a 19 gallon tank. maybe something is wrong that im getting this bad gas mileage. i switched from chevron gas to mobil 1, i doubt that will make a difference but im gonna try it and see.

and leaking capacitors in the ecu? ok ill check into that a little more and see if i can find anything else out. it doesnt die all the time though, every once in a while, and usually when im driving on the freeway for a while and i stop at an exit or something, it wont idle low anymore, only when i am in stop and go traffic.

but thanks for all the help, and i really appreciate it.

oh one last thing, does anyone know of a good 3000gt mechanic in so cal? orange county? thanks

backfiring at 3k rpms could be spark blowout. if you just got the car and don't know what maintenance has been done in the past, that's where you need to start, after you fix the current problems.

how many miles are on your car?

for spark blowout, pull your spark plugs and check the gap. also, if they are old its a good idea to change them, and the plug wires too.

i have about 133,000 miles on my car. i was gonna have a mechanic replace my spark plugs, but they mentioned something about oil might be leaking into them, and they said it would be costly, so i decided not to have my spark plugs changed. also i didnt want to change just the front three spark plugs.

thanks

Backfiring isn't normal, it means you are running rich. The plugs are probably fouled. If you did all the work on your integra, you can handle doing your plugs. Then do your fuel filter, then pressure test. Links for all 3 should be in the FAQ. Hit up Kormex for the synchros, aka 'blocking rings' they are about $80 a piece...then you just gotta find some place to install them.

Also if the 120k tuneup wasn't done, which I kinda get the feeling is the case, do it now. It's covered in the FAQ. You don't want a timing belt or oil pump failing on you.

thanks for telling me that stuff. i guess i do need to change my spark plugs. and i do wanna get the 120k tune up, cause i dont know for sure if it has been done. the water pump has to be changed with the timing belt right? i think i heard this somewhere. never replaced a timing belt, but i will try to find a place that knows what they are doing, especially working with 3k's. thanks again