Epic245

I ignorantly bought this car, knowing nothing about it, got upside down in it ($3,000 in and $3,500 to go), and now it's giving me every problem under the sun...

First off a little background, the body is a 2000 Civic EX, the guy I bought it from swapped the engine to a D16Z6 from a Del Sol and the computer along with it, they left the 2000 wiring harness in it, from when I bought it, the idle would jump up and down, up and down, and the cover that covers the computer was broken and falling off, at any point if you touched any of the wires, the car would start running poorly, like sputtering and backfiring for a little while... About 6 months after I bought it, it started spitting out raw fuel from the exhaust, covering the rear of my car with black soot, burning coolant, I could smell it in the exhaust, and also burning oil, about 3 quarts every two weeks... I took it to a shop and they charged me $60 to change my plugs, and my thermostat and it was overheating 30 minutes later, burning all my coolant out of the radiator, blew the top radiator hose because it was just putting exhaust into my radiator. So we assumed it was a head problem, I took it to a friend of a friend who told me he would do it correctly for cheap, it took him about a month to even look at it, finally came and replaced the head gasket, said the head was fine, and also said that my VTEC was seized up and he cleaned it so it's working again, he also replaced the water pump, oil filter, thermostat, and blocked off something, he said it would give me more horsepower, but my car would take longer to heat up. He said that he may not have hooked something up correctly because it has the 2000 wiring harness, so as he left with my $250, never to return and make up excuses when I tell him my problems, here is my new slew of problems...

Coolant is fine, top level, not overheating any more.
Gas pedal has to be pressed to start the car, ALWAYS. Dies when you let off the gas pedal, and dies when you push the clutch in, unless you've been driving for around 30 minutes or longer, and will not idle on its own, when it dies, it has a 50% chance of starting right there, or it will not start until you leave it sitting for several hours, my friend and I replaced my plugs, rotor button, and distributor cap, still no change, its only gotten progressively worse, I had to have it towed home yesterday because it shut off at a red light. Checked my oil yesterday, not a drop on the dipstick after it was full of new oil after he got done with everything.

If I think of anything else, I'll edit this post, I'm so tired of spending money on this car, and I just want to give up, but owing so much on it, I just can't.

Here are some images.

The black soot on the back of my car:


The part he blocked off:


Sorry for the book, I have no automobile knowledge. (Or financial knowledge)

tony_2018

Since it has an FITV I suggest you screw it in all the way and go from there, that should get your idle correct.

ej1b18c1

Judging from the picture it looks like the coolant lines have been re-routed and not even connected to the FITV.

P-M-B,93EXsedan

How did you pay 6,500 for a 14 yr old car with a 20 yr old engine in it.

ej1b18c1

Let's try and help the OP rather than ridicule.

OP, is the check engine light on (CEL) ? Problem seems to be from the wiring considering the d16z6 is obd1.

Epic245

Yes, it's always on now, when I first obtained it, it would randomly turn off and on, but now it stays on, I went into Advanced Auto and they said they don't even have the system to check it.

ej1b18c1

OP, check your CEL and go from there.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/engine-swap-info-faqs-how-ck-engine-lights-878010/