I have a 1990 Civic EX I am using as a daily driver until I bag my Ranger. I was on my way to work Thursday and while sitting at a stop light the rpms dipped low and the whole car started shaking. It had a tremendous loss of power and was violently shaking the last 2miles to work. I went out at lunch and started it and it was vibrating and had a really rough idle. Same story for the 30 minute ride home. Anyone have a suggestion on what to check? I'm thinking i may have dropped a cylinder or toasted some plugs or something. Any help is appreciated.

 

start with the plugs/wires/dizzy... see what they have to say!
good luck!

 

OK, I only managed to get 3 of the 4 plugs out. The one plug (farthest to the drivers side) won't budge at all. the three I pulled look ok. They could stand to be replaced but they don't look that bad to make the car run like it is. The wires look to be in good shape as well.

 

how did you look inside the wire? anytime you get a new car all those items and others should be replaced. you need to do a full tune up and if the problem still persist then you've eliminated some things. as stated replace your plugs and wires. that stuck plug might be your problem. it should'nt be stuck. replace the fuel filter and pcv valve. see if those things clear it up and if not come back and someone here will help you diagnose what else could possibly be wrong. hopefully it's one of these items.

 

that REALLY sounds like spark plugs to me. Replace all four, they're cheap anyways.

Although not recommended, you could pull out each one slightly while the car is running and see if the RPMS dip. When they don't, that means that you have found the bad plug/wire.

 

go with bosch.....they are cheap but last....
if that spark is being a bitch...get out the hammer and your 1/2" torque wrench and give it one quick wack to loosen it up...repeat if needed....good luck bro...

 

i would check compression rate on each cylinder... seems like one of the pistons may go out.... that why it seems like you are losing power....