John12341234

1995 Civic VX Hatchback. 198,000 miles. Completely stock. (E-VTEC, Manual transmission.)

If I try to accelerate even a little at anything under 2,000 rpms I get no power and get misfires, backfires, and stumbling. It's got to be at 2,500 rpms to even have "normal car" acceleration. Other than that, it runs totally fine and smooth. It only acts like this after it's been running for 15min+

I've done some research but found nothing concrete. The oil consumption could be fouling the plugs or another possibility is the ignition coil is weak.. Rather than randomly replacing ignition parts and hoping it fixes it, I'd like to just replace the part that is bad. I'm hoping someone here will be expert enough to go, "oh, I know exactly what that is. I've seen that exact problem 100 times. It's your _______"

JKing106

Might be valve stem seals allowing oil into the cylinders, fouling the plugs. You PCV valves/hoses may be plugged, also.


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John12341234

Has anyone fixed this type of problem before?

TIMMY4TOES

Tune up?

TIMMY4TOES

Anyways back story, did you just buy the car? When it start doing it? Etc

ej7attack

this would be ideal to check out.

sounds like same thing happening to my car. except i think my oil consumption is a bit more extreme.lol
and for this problem,that "one part" could be piston rings or something else that would call for an engine overhaul.

monstahtron

my guess is the same as jkings

B_Swapped93

Have you checked timing mech/ign ?

John12341234

How do I check that the PCV hoses and or valves are clogged? Is there a video or image that explains what I'm looking for?

I read that oil consumption can cause black deposit buildup on the plugs and can cause the symptoms I'm having. Is that not likely an issue?

ej7attack

its an issue but you might want to stop the problem at the source. have you pulled the plugs yet? pull em and let us know how they look.

John12341234

A sure way to reproduce the stumbling is to gradually accelerate from 35mph to 40pmh in 3rd gear (the gearing is a lot taller on a VX). In that scenario, the RPMs are below 2000 and the stumbling is very present an annoying just with gradual acceleration..

Unfortunately there is a long list of possible bad parts that would cost a ton to replace. Can you help me fill in the blanks for how to test each one and or correct tests that are incorrect?
It could be:

egr valve - take it off and block it with a sheet of metal
vacuum leak - spray something flammable around all of the vacuum hoses listening for increased rpms
partially blocked catalytic converter - take o2 sensor out so enough exhaust can escape and repeat test
fouled plugs - visually inspect
plug wires - ??
weak ignition coil - ??
clogged fuel filter - ?? pressure guage?
weak fuel pump - ??
failing MAP sensor - test with multimeter somehow?

Ryan96GSR

You may also want to compression check the motor and do a leakdown test to be safe. Compression check at the very least.

John12341234

I've also noticed it only does this after it's been running for more than 15 mins. What does that mean?

John12341234

So with those unique symptoms, stumbling under acceleration when rpms are below 2,000 and only when driving for more than 15 mins, what is the most likely culprit?

John12341234

It was the plugs