I tried searching the forums, but nobody seems to have the same symptoms as my car. I was wondering if anyone could help me find out what could be causing my engine to sputter and bog when I put the car into first... The problem also persists whenever I go into all the other gears, but it's worse in first.

My current setup:

95 Civic CX
00' B20Z
95 LS tranny
95 LS Intake, TB, wiring harness, and OBD I dizzy

I have recently changed the cap and rotor, spark plugs, and fuel filter but it still idles rough and sputters. When I was replacing the cap, I noticed I had oil dripping from the bottom of the dizzy from inside the cap. I also pulled the spark plug wires and noticed that the #1 cylinder wasn't affected, but the other three were. When I checked the spark plugs, the #2 and #3 were a little white while #1 and #4 were tan. There is also a ticking noise when at idle.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.

 

the ticking noise is your valves. Its usually normal but you should get your valve clearance checked. As for the white spark plugs, that means your running lean on that cylinder. The oil leaking out of the dizzy is prolly a seal and i bet your ignitor or coil is bad causing your sputtering and rought idle.

 

How bad is the oil leak into the dist? If it's excessive to the point where oil is getting in between contacts, that could be the culprit. Unfortunately, I have never been able to find a seal that will replace the one in those dist's, so you may have to replace the whole housing!!! Also, what kind of plugs/wires are you running? I've seen many aftermarket wires/plugs cause sputtering, usually at mid rpm range. Also, make sure that the wires are hooked up in the correct firing order, and that the rotor isn't like 180* out or anything (sounds impossible, but I've seen it).

 

I just noticed the oil coming out of the dizzy was about a capful. But there is plenty of oil sprayed all over the tranny and back side of the motor. I also checked the O-ring on the dizzy and it was fine. I'm using stock wires with NGK plugs which are all hooked up properly. This thing is beginning to be a headache! BTW I did have the rotor 180* out myself!! Couldn't figure out why the motor wouldn't turn for a month. Finally took it to the shop and had it fixed in 5 minutes!! Damn distributors...

 

maybe double check firing order?? i dunno .. to me it sounds like the oil in the distributor is affecting the spark.

 

Good choice on the wires and plugs. Do you have a spark tester to see if all the wires are working? Is the oil leaking into the dist, or out from the head? There's a different seal that goes between the dist shaft and dist housing that is down by the bearing of the dist shaft. If oil is leaking into the distributor, its leaking through this seal and not the O-ring that seals the head to the dist. Do you have a buddy's distributor that you can try? I really wanna bet my marbles that the oil under the cap is causing your head ache....

 

Another thing that just happened today was I got a CEL code 43 while cruising at 70 mph after driving it for 30 min. After I turned off the car, the CEL went away. I did a search for the code but all it says is fuel supply or o2. Also the oil is coming from inside the dizzy. As for the spark tester, I don't have one, just using the old fashioned ghetto way!

 

First thing to do is get that distributor sealed and like I said, you may need to get a new housing to do that! Then chase the CEL. It's possible that misfires from the contaminated contact points are causing additional fuel in the exhaust and thus the code 43. If you're inclined, you can pick up a spark tester at the parts store for maybe 20 bucks or so. Just testing to see if the spark plug sparks out of the cylinder is not a reliable test, since it takes less voltage to spark at atmospheric pressure than it does at the pressures present in the combustion chamber.

 

alright...I ordered a new dizzy online, and installed it today. However, it still idles rough (around 500) and I'm still geting a ticking noise from the front driver side. I then used the spark plug tester on all the cylinders and showed that I was getting spark. The symptoms are...rough idle, sluggish performance, ishtty gas mileage, and ticking noises at idle and while driving...

 

any more ideas I can try?