95civ928

hey guys, I just bought a 95 civic lx 5 speed. When I first looked at the car to go buy it, the idle would rapidly go up and down from 800-1200 rpms. It would also go into limp mode at random times, however there was no CEL. I believe the radiator has a leak because whenever I drive it long enough to get to operating temperature it throws off alot of steam from the engine bay. I looked at it while running and it looks like its coming from the middle of the radiator (it looks like a mouse got in there or something). I will be replacing the radiator. I would be able to turn off the car and restart it and it would go out of limp mode for a little bit. I cleaned the throttle body with some carb cleaner because the throttle backing plate was stuck partially open due to carbon deposit buildup. It idled good after the clean up but still didn't run right. Today I drove it home after buying it today and it didn't go into limp mode, but it felt like it was losing power. The idle was also fluctuating (although not as bad as first time) I had to rev it up to like 3k just to start off in first (it usually started off fine). I could feel that it was losing power while shifting through 2nd 3rd and 4th through 2-3k's. It seemed to have normal power at 4-6k when I floored it (I only did this for a second because of radiator). Also my speedometer doesn't work. Does this mean that I need a new VSS?

Do you guys think that the coolant leak and VSS would be causing these types of problems? There is also an old distributor in the trunk and a new looking one installed right now, he says it was replaced but I'm not eliminating that from being my problem just yet. Also, if you guys think you may know what could be causing my problem, please chime in. I would love to get this car on the road soon. Thank you

93delsold16z6

vss on my obd2 jetta made these issues . idk on these hondas

93delsold16z6

O ya, make sure the cat isnt clogged. What you can do is take out the o2 sensor. I know it will throw a code, but if car runs well, this means you have too much backpressure. Take off sensor before cat btw. Do this and report back

jbpnoman

If the whole distributor was replaced, it might not have been timed correctly. Check your mechanical timing. Get a multimeter if you don't have one already, and check to see if the VSS is sending a pulse. Replace the radiator before it causes another problem.

95civ928

Drove it again today, same problems. I opened the hood and found the MAP sensor disconnected. I reconnected it and it idles at a steady 700 rpms. There is no limp mode and it feels a lot better, however theres still a little hesitation. I'm satisfied with the way it's running for now, however I will continue diagnosing it when I have it on the road and have time.

95civ928

*1 month bump*

I finally got the car on the road yesterday and did some driving during St. Patty's yesterday. I drove give or take 100 miles. I took notes while driving the car yesterday and will try to add as much information as possible that is dealing with my situation:

No CEL

My radiator is not leaking like it was and still holds all fluid. I don't have any fluid in my coolant reservoir because it's filthy in there and I would like to take that out and clean it before I add fluid. New radiator is on order now regardless. Engine temperature stays right around 3/8, radiator fan and thermoswitch work. I can see maybe a tablespoon's worth of coolant thats fresh on the rad, the only place I can see it coming out of is the rad cap.

Limp mode went off three times with a rev-limit effect at 3500 rpm. Car was warm everytime.

When you start it up cold, the car runs almost or near perfect with plenty of power. It will usually run perfect until your turn it off and start it back up warm. I have not experienced limp mode on a cold start up yet. After you start it up while warm, the car "bucks" intermittently, usually when going uphill or when torque is required. The idle dropped to a low 500 rpm once or twice. The car was warm both times.

When the car is warm the throttle hesitates a little bit in the low RPM's. This makes you want to give it move gas, so you give it a little more throttle and the car rev's up to around 2200-2500 RPM's. Kind of annoying when starting off in first.

The car stalled on me twice. No CEL and the battery and oil light came on. I guess (hope) that's routine when it stalled. My oil level is clean and acceptable. The first time it stalled was when I was starting off in first gear. I started off routine, and feel that it stalled because of power loss, not driver-input. The second time it stalled I was doing roughly 60 mph and experienced a total loss of power. It stayed running as I downshifted but died right as I hit 2nd. I waited 10 seconds and tried cranking it for 5 seconds. It cranked but did not start so I waited 30 seconds. It fired right up, and preceeded to drive home (5-7mi) trouble free with no limp mode with the exception of the slight miss/hesitation that it has intermittently.

I have not removed the pre-cat o2 sensor yet, but I will get to that today. I will also at least be checking the mechanical timing sometime soon, sense it sounds like it could use a valve adjustment (my 2 cents).

Also, kind of unrelated but when I rolled my rear passenger driver side window down it stayed stuck. Now it doesn't move either up or down. With the domelight on, the light dims when switching the window down, but not up. When I take the doorpanel apart, what contacts on the harness to I have to apply 12V to see if the switch is bad?

So what do you think I'm looking at here, guys? This is the first honda I've ever even worked on and I don't really know where to start with all of this. Thanks

95civ928

bump

also, aren't all the light supposed to come on when you turn the ignition to 3 (engine not running)? I can't remember which ones come on, I think just the oil and battery and maybe one or two more. Can't remember off the top of my head.

lobby350

Damn kid you most of been ripped to write all that so good. haha. Thats cool that its on the road, are you driving to school tomorrow?

Check your timing. Im not sure if you have a light or not but theres a plug you have to jump when you change your timing, ill show you later.

JDMstormtrooper

my girlfriend's car does the same thing. she has a 93 del sol with a jdm d15b swap in it. we did not do it personally; we bought it like that. it is progressively getting worse. I would be interested to know if you have found a solution