My friend has a 1995 Honda Civic EX automatic and lately it's having idle problems it drives fine but when we stop at a stop light it idles at about 900-1,000 and then drop down to about 500 rpm. From the 500rpm range it starts to stutter and the rpm drops to about 300 and then goes back to 500rpm and but only does it every 30-45 seconds while sitting still but when we start to drive it again it stutters a little and then is normal until the next time we stop.

 

i have the exact same problem on my 93 lx

i havent figured out what causes it, and i havent gotten much help so far. now we have 2 people with that problem and we can bump it.

if i turn on my ac, wipers, lights, stopped at red light with brake lights on then my car idles at like 200 or less, almost dieing. (it was obviously a hot rainy day when this happened to have all that running)

 

well, the fluctuating idle is normally attributed to vaccuum leaks, but in my car i was having an issue where it idled fine in P or N but anytime i put it into a drive gear the RPMs would dive and the car would want to stall. it was not fluctuating at all, just trying to die when i came to a stop. i tried a ton of stuff, checking plugs, spark, changed my tranny fluid, etc. what fixed it: i adjusted the valve lash correctly, the valves had tightened up a bit since the last adjustment.

it took me a few adjusts to get it just right, i kept adjusting them too tight, finally when i learned how the feeler gauge should feel, and the valves were adjusted correctly, not only did the problem go away, but the car ran way better in the midrange, and i am getting better gas mileage.

there is a flowchart in the helms manual that addresses idle problems, it help rule out alot of stuff, but nothing in there about valve lash, so i am not sure if this is a common fix to this problem. i searched a TON and found one or two people with my issue, but never a resolution to the issue.

 

Well today we changed the spark plugs and the the spark plug wires and it seems to be running ok but we also changed the ECU to see if that could have helped it.

 

check idle air control valve and see if it is cloged.....also have you done a compression check? Any check engine lights?

 

No haven't done a compression check and there is no check engine light on.