cokevanilla

Hello,
HISTORY: I have just bought an 1992 Civic Hatchback, European model. It had the same owner for the last 24 years. I have to mention that the different bolts found on the engine compartment are all rusted.
MAINTENANCE so far:
1. oil change and filter
2. spark plugs (after changing the spark plugs the acceleration improved). May you have a look at the picture and tell me something about them? from left to right, 1,2,3 and 4. You can see the type of spark plugs that i have got. I was late from work and it was all i could find.
3. air filter (the old one was sticky, like 1/2 of it. I don't know if it was oil....maybe).

My problems so far:
1. the engine/car is vibrating. If I turn on the lights and the heater the vibration is even, how should I put it, deeper. Is not shaking worse but it gives the impression that it's going to stop. I run a few miles with it, but its still there. Any help? I have read the forums and I am aware that I have to check PCV valve, try and re-learn the idle, check for vacuum problems by spraying soapy water.
2. yesterday I had to top off the coolant (like 250ml) and I took a 20 miles ride. Today when i have popped the hood, surprise, the coolant was on the low again. And by low I mean I could barely see anything on the reservoir. I have to mention that no colored smoke goes out of the muffler whatsoever (no black, blue or any other color).

Are those problems (idling and coolant) related?
What should i ask my mechanic 1st? Get the codes and work from there? What are the first steps that I have to take in order to solve those 2 problems?

thanks in advance.

B20VtecVillain

Need to see the top of the plug to really judge it, but they do look like the engine is running fairly healthy albeit a bit on the "moist" side. There may be oil or coolant getting in the cyl from a bad gasket. You don't always have smoke when coolant gets past a head gasket, sometimes it will just get blown out with exhaust as vapor and liquid drops and you don't even notice. It doesn't always burn and smoke with that sweet smell. As far as the vibrations, you will be hard pressed to find a Honda of that vintage that doesn't have a few rattles or vibrations. Things just become lose over time and make noise. Now the noise can be magnified or reduced by different things. New motor mounts can go a long way to help with felt vibrations inside the car. Go with softer OEM mounts if you want quiet, aftermarket mounts are usually harder and better for spirited driving performance but tend to have a harsher ride. As far as the idle goes, have you tried adjusting the idle yourself? It may just not have been messed with in a while. You should be around 750-850 RPM warm idle. As far as tune up stuff, drive around on the new plugs for a day or two then pull them out and inspect. If they look wet/moist you are most likely leaking your coolant through the head gasket. Another easy way to test this is to start with a cold engine, remove the radiator cap, fill with coolant or water, start the car and let it run a couple minutes then give it some throttle. If you see the coolant rise over whenever you give it throttle then you have a leaking head gasket. You don't always get the oil/coolant milkshake, sometimes just coolant will leak into one or more cylinders. I would also check the coolant and vaccum lines that go to your intake manifold and throttle body. If one of the coolant lines is leaking it could cause air to enter and coolant to leak which could explain the coolant loss and idle issue.

cokevanilla

Thank you very much for the answer. I will try your advice this weekend, maybe I will find the culprit. Anyway I have to go and see the mechanic about this.
About vibrations, I am not talking about rattles or any other noises coming from the inside, outside or underneath the car. I am talking about the movement of the engine: its turning round and then it goes like its going to stop. It's even worse when I turn the lights on or the heater, becomes more pronounced. This happens when the car engine is running but the car it's not moving. When I go for a ride it's ok, there are no more noises but I have to step a little bit on the gas pedal when going into the first gear (from a stop) because it gives me the impression that the engine will stop.
I will keep you guys posted about those problems. Hope to solve them.

DumpdEJ6

My first thought was a possible coolant leaking into the cylinders, but if that were the case (IME anyway) one or more of the plugs would be clean/white where the coolant basically steam cleaned it. That being said, the lost coolant has to be going SOMEWHERE. If it's not leaking from a hose or the water pump weep hole, you may be looking at a head gasket leak regardless of the spark plug appearance.

However, there are many reasons for a low, misfiring idle. I didn't see whether you had changed the distributor cap and rotor with the spark plugs or not, if not, I recommend doing that. Timing could be off as well, check the ignition timing with a timing light.

Are there any codes?

cokevanilla

On Monday I have to pass the safety inspection and if everything goes well I will register the car. Next stop is the mechanic for a check up. He said he is going to do a pressure test of the coolant system. No codes yet. I will retrieve those with the mechanic.
Back on topic, I did another 20 miles trip today and the coolant stayed on the line. Saturday and Sunday i will drive more in order to see if the coolant stays on the line or not. I was wondering how come it got sucked all and now everything is normal? I mean the coolant cannot evaporate, right? My neighbor says maybe I had air on the system, and that's why I had the impression I lost it? Does that happens to cars that weren't on the road for a long time?
I have only changed the spark plugs. I do need to buy a set of wires (by the way is around 90 USD for a NGK set). The distributor cap seems fairly new. Should I change that too?
Concerning the idle I need to pass the safety test and then I have to register the car. Next, I can try and clean the PCV valve. If I am not mistaken there is a mixture of dirt and oil I guess, where the hose connects to the valve. I will post some pics tomorrow. If I brake anything I will wait for the order (the new PCV one) to come. Did I tell you that I live on a small town and I have to do my shopping online. Even if I go to the car stores it will take 1-2 days to get the parts for the car. I think there are only 2 Hondas like mine in the whole city.

DumpdEJ6

The PCV valve you can usually just take it off and spray some brake cleaner in there, put your fingers over the inlet and outlet and shake it to clean it. Repeat until the fluid comes out clear. That's what I always do. Unless it's damaged, there is usually no need to buy a new one, IMO.

Take the cap off and look on the inside, you'll see 4 metal points, probably with corrosion on them. You can clean them by flaking the corrosion off with a flat head screwdriver and if that helps the idle then look into getting a new cap and rotor.

Spark plug wires are good insurance but probably not necessary unless they are damaged. You can check by taking them off one by one so you don't mess up your firing order and put an ohm meter on both ends, I forget what the specs are but it's going to be extremely low, probably around .1 ohm or less. If you have damage on one of them, it will be a much higher reading.