Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation...
 

Hi,

I just recently bought a 1990 Honda Civic LX Sedan, 1.5liter, Automatic, 190K Miles...My question is in regards to its acceleration problem...The car runs overall wonderful...But what is happening is that it will sort of stumble or hesitate on acceleration when I depress the accelerator lightly...After a while it seems to sort of catch up with itself and it will be smooth...It does not stutter or hesitate however when at a cruising speed...Its VERY smooth then...I really notice it when say I am turning a corner at a good speed and have let off the gas to do so, then after the turn I put back my foot on the gas...That's when I really feel the hesitation or stuttering...Here is a list of the things I have changed since I bought it:

New plugs/gapped properly
New plug wires/rotor/distributor cap
New Fuel Filter
Adjusted Valve Lash to Honda Specs
Adjusted Ignition timing to Honda Specs
New Air Filter
Fresh Mobil 1 Synthetic 5w/30 Oil and Filter
New Stock Size Tires
Cleaned Out the The Throttle Body with Carb Cleaner

For the life of me, I just cant figure it out...I figured with all this stuff I did, one of them would help! lol...Oh btw it also passed smog well too...If anyone has ANY ideas I would LOVE to hear about them...Thanks alot!

DJ

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (djtech)
 

is it 'lurching'? Could possibly be a bad motor mount...

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (Kato7997)
 

What is lurching?

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (djtech)
 

I am having the same problem.

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (egCivicDon)
 

lurching is when the motor moves and nothing else does, and then causes the car to rock back and forth and possibly wheel hop

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (EE4)
 

It could also be caused by your tranny going out.

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (SlowCivicDX)
 

I have the same problem in my 90 DX sedan. Espescially in second gear coming out of a slow turn, it lags and then all of a sudden get's peppy. I have already replaced plugs, cap, rotor, wires, igniter and coil..... somebody's gotta have a suggestion.

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (CrxSi707)
 

Yeah, I have just replaced the O2 sensor and that did nothing either...BTW the transmission is brand new, just installed so I know its not that...Im clueless as to what this might be...It feels more gas than electrical imo..argh

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (djtech)
 

if it isn't an 92 problem it could be that your timing belt is going to snap soon becuse it is slipping

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (MugenHonda)
 

If my timing belt were slipping my timing would be way off, which it isnt...Its exactly right on and has been for a while

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (MugenHonda)
 

check your motor mounts. one may be cracked. also, how low are the RPM's when it happens? if they are under 1000, or close to it, it could just be too low so the motor doesn't have enough power.

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (Rexman)
 

Motor mounts are fine and the RPMs vary from 1500-2500 when it occurs...Again it doesnt feel transmission related or electrical...It really feels gas/mixture related imo

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (djtech)
 

i have a similar problem, but the current a6 will be retired soon, so I just giver her some more gas & it usually helps it keep from hesitating

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (dj_sandoz)
 

it's normal..

i think it's a 4dr thing

my tranny some times slips but that's rare
during turning the car tranny slips and then catches is normal..
i've noticed it ever since i got it

i have an 89 LX

the engine has no power...
92hp at 6000 rpm and
89 ft/lbs torque at 5800 rpm

it's the little engine trying to drag our fat asses

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (djtech)
 

happened to a friends VX... try swapping map sensors.

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (JDM B-Series)
 

Sounds exactyl like my 91 automatic CRX. Well the start of it atleast. Mine died as of last Friday and havent gotten it running since https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/mad.gif . It started out just like yours but got progressively worse and worse until the one day where it started idling like total crap and then hard time accelerating and having a hard time climbing up hills I wasnt able to find out what the problem was??!! And well now it sits. I pretty much gave up on it now I got a truck and I am not worring about it too much since I am going to be doing a D16A6 swap. But if you do find out what the problem is post it so I can see if I can still fix mine it would be nice to know the cure in case it ever happened again........The one thing I didnt try though was the map sensor https://honda-tech.com/forums/images...es/emdgust.gif Might be my fuel pump have to see what kind of pressure I am getting.....

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (Vinceg99)
 

Vince,
Have you tried your coil or igniter. I had the same problem when I went to the snow last weekend, going up hill the car started stuttering and then finally died and thew CEL code 15 replaced the igniter and coil and it was back on the road, but as others said it still hessitates occasionally, especially coming out of turns.

I was thinking it may be signs of a failing Main Relay?

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (CrxSi707)
 

Where is the Map Sensor and what does it do....When you say swap it, do you mean with a new one or another vehicle type?

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (CrxSi707)
 

Yep changed my igintor changed my coil along with the plugs,wires,cap,rotor(made sure screw was tight),fuel filter,O2 sensor,air filter,pcv, checked all grounds. I think that I pretty much changed everything except for the EACV and the map sensor or the main relay
EDIT: Oh and I also have no codes.....



[Modified by Vinceg99, 11:54 AM 2/14/2003]

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (Vinceg99)
 

it is a 90 1.5L Automatic Sedan... nuff said...

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (djtech)
 

new one... it sits right on top of the throttle body.

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (JDM B-Series)
 

What does it do, what is its function? and could it cause hesitation?

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (djtech)
 

I'm having the same prob with my CRX allthough on my car it's the idle and accelerator cable that need to be adjusted. But the way you discribe it sounds as you were talking about my car, you might wanna look into that.

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (UNDER PRESSURE)
 

My idle has just been set perfectly but what do you mean by the accelerator cable? What would need adjusting on it that could cause hesitation etc?

Re: Honda Civic Acceleration Hesitation... (djtech)
 

If it's loose it might. There has to be at least some tension on the cable.