Major bogging and cold start problems

[jondaphenom114]

I have a 93 civic LX 1.5L A/T. When I purchased the car it was known that it had a bad distributor because it was very hard to start and had very litle power at times. It was changed as well as having a major tune up. That seemed to fix things for a while until recently when I've noticed similar symptoms. The car never fails to start but when starting the engine cold, it takes an unusually long time to crank the engine and then it sputters for about 5-10 seconds and then begins to idle. Then, as the engine begins to come to normal opperating temperature as I am driving I experience a continual lack of power. Just to keep up with the flow of traffic I find myself flooring the engine. With the AC on the car is almost inoperatible.(The gear selector seems to get really hot too) I've taken the car to mechanics who swear its a transmission problem and I have taken it to 3 seperate reputible transmission shops who have ran complete tests on it and come up with nothing. I don't know where else to turn other than the wise advice I've seen here on AF. I was investigating a few different areas that I have seen in other posts here and would like some opinions if possible. I have replaced the oxygen sensor and cleaned the TB.
-Are there any other sensors that may be a likely cause of these symptoms?
-I have gone to 2 different muffler shops and they both inform me that my cat isn't clogged however one mechanic seemed to diagnose this as the problem. I tested the vaccum pressure and it seemed to be ok.
-The person I bought the car from told me that the timing belt was recently changed. Could they have possibly done something wrong?
-I've seen alot of people mention doing a compression test. Are my symptoms representitive of someone with poor engine compression and shouldn't the mechanics that I brought the car to have ruled that one out?
I don't wanna get too long with this post but I am really looking for some direction here or perhaps someone that had the same problem.

[Greenblurr93]

hows your spark plugs look??? it may be running lean..or rich...

[jondaphenom114]

plugs are good. Actually in perfect condition. I am getting a spark. Could a bad MAP sensor cause this problem? Although a bad fuel mix would probably show in the condition of the spark plugs right? Any more suggestions. I think that the cold start and the lack of power are related. If so, maybe that would point to a fuel delivery problem or injectors. I don't know, it's still a mystery to me and like I said the tranny shops say everything checks out in that deptartment. Fluid is healthy too.

[CivicSpoon]

Are you getting any check engine light codes? Maybe check the timing

[superbluecivicsi]

check voltage tps, voltage map, throttle cable, and compression.

[jondaphenom114]

No CEL's but when attempting to start the engine cold and it sputters a bit, the Oil pressure light is on until the idle is correct. Does this point to any conclusions? I will be checking voltage & compression today.

[jondaphenom114]

Did compression test today, that checked out. The retired mechanic who was helping me with it told me that he would have a shop look to see if the timing belt was either installed incorrectly (it is new) or it has jumped a tooth or two. Could this be my problem maybe? I'll be taking it to a shop soon but wanted to see if anyone had some more feedback for me. I'm glad I ruled out a blown engine or head gasket today cuz those are expensive jobs. Any suggestions would be appreciated.