JDM_SOHC

looks like a few of us are having the same exact issue almost "mine doesnt smoke but everything else is to the point"

but i have a question for all of u guys... while the car is sputtering through the powerband, does it seem to pull right through it if u floor the gas pedal..?? Mine well sputter if im like half throttle, but if i slam it it just scoots right through like no problems at all...

im tryna see if we can actually figure out what the issue is, i was leaning towards intake manifold gasket where the coolant line is at... matter a fact, im goin to go work on it right now an see if we cant resolve this damn 92 civic dx issue lol..

meadams314

Nevermind- thrust bearing, problem solved.

meadams314

That'd be a negative in my case. It would pull better with it floored, which I had to do several times just to get the car moving again, but it still didn't want to go- The engine fired so slowly it almost felt like it was running on 2 cylinders instead of 4.

Interesting you mentioned the intake manifold gasket- when I removed the head, the intake manifold gasket was fried. Stuck to the intake manifold like old stickers stick to wood.. had to scrap and chisel with a putty knife just to get it off. I didn't think anything of it at the time.

jgc731

yeah, exactly, if i floor the gas pedal it runs fine. but i dont drive full throttle when i daily drive. i forgot to mention i swapped in a 99-00 b16 motor in it. people have told me it might be a vacuum leak. i have an open port on my short ram, can that be it? i've also been told that i might be running rich.

i have no clue...

boostatic

remember just because the car burns oil it doesnt mean its the bottom end..valve seals in the head can also cause oil burning..and if you've been overheating it its possible that you've caused some damage to the seals..

meadams314

It's been burning oil since before I bought the car- when i first purchased it, and went to change the oil- the filter hadn't been changed in so long the paint had rusted off of it. When i pulled it off- oily tarlike goop came out after holding it upside down for 10+ minutes. It also burns oil only in the higher end of the powerband, and stops as soon as it shifts or you let off the gas. This makes me think (and hope) it was the piston rings. Either way, i'm only doing the rings as an afterthought, while i had the head off, figured i might as well do them too.

The bore was worn slightly, enough to catch your fingernail on- mostly on the thrust side of the bore. We didn't bother doing a re-bore, so most likely it'll start burning oil again at some point. Guess i'll have to sell the car before then. Anybody wanna buy a '92 Civic DX? haha

It's a real shame old dude didn't change the oil/filter a few more times, it only had 93k miles on it and one owner when i purchased the car- a 70 year old man.

ANYWAY. New rings are in, pistons are re-installed. Gave up for the day, should have the car back together on my next day off. Inspected the block and the head, couldn't find any cracks- crossing my fingers that the overheated headgasket/re-used headbolts were the problem. Damn sure hope the $150 i had to spend for 10 more headbolts was worth it. I'll keep everybody informed- should have the car back together within the week- hopefully the sputtering is gone.

PS: I don't think it was on this site, but someone told me a full piston ring job could be done in one day.. Granted I had to buy some tools, and wait for parts to arrive but still, i'd have to see it to believe it :p

meadams314

Well, the car's all back together and running again. Looks like the headgasket was causing the sputtering- car runs nice and smooth for the most part, still stalls when idling under load, but the sputtering and misfiring is gone. I think the distributor timing is off, and that combined with tighter piston rings + 30 weight base oil (till rings are seated) is the culprit... either way, the sputtering is gone :D :D :D

meadams314

Nope.. adjusted distributor timing, still stalling. No more sputtering, no more misfiring, just loses rpm and stalls when stopping. One problem out of the way...

meadams314

Day off work tomorrow, looks like we're back to square 1- the IACV. Sputtering is gone, misfiring is gone, burning oil is gone, oil mixing with antifrize and vice versa is gone... everything's back to normal except the damn stalling.

So far I've fixed the bad O2 sensor, blown headgasket, and worn piston rings- now on to problem number 4.

There's an important lesson to be learned here.. CHANGE YOUR DAMN OIL! Too bad the guy I bought my car from hadn't learned it yet.