Hey everyone I've been having a problem with my motor lagging for awhile now. I've searched but nothing really comes up comparable to my problem. I have a 97 civic coupe with a jdm 98 gsr motor. Only upgrades are i/h/e, lsd, and a fuel pressure regulator set to 40psi. No Check Engine Light either.

Basically if you stomp on the gas in any gear it wont start accelerating until 6,000 rpm. For example if your in second gear and smash on the gas it will take a good 10 seconds just to go from 3,000rpm up to 6,000 rpm when it starts to pick up doing this in every gear. My vtec is still engaging in at 4500rpm but is still not moving till 6. I've had a local shop owner drive my car when it was acting up this way. He said it felt like less torque then a b16. I dynoed at 153.2whp he said it was about 5-10 whp away from where it should be but i know its a stock motor so i wasn't looking for much. He said the graph was very choppy through out the rpm band thinking maybe I needed a new distributor?

To fix this problem I have so far changed my distributor cap, ngk plugs and wires, and all new belts, along with doing a compression test and got around 225 to all 4. I still am clueless to why it does this. It does not do it everyday, just every so often. It seems like weather plays a part on its role. I notice on cold days like 30-50 degree weather its fine and runs great but when its around 55-70 degrees it always acts up. The thermostat in the car always stays normal half way. But I'm not really sure how weather would affect the problem. I'm guessing next step is to check for a vacuum leak/changing distributor. Sorry I made it long but I cannot go on with this much longer its driving me crazy. Any responses will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

bump any ideas?

 

how does the car idle?
what ecu is running this motor?
i think you may be getting too much fuel.
plug up one of your friends ecu who has a chip or type r program and see how it responds.

what were your air fuel ratio during this dyno test???

 

that's weird...

could it be possible that his vtec solenoid is engaging before it's supposed to?

 

i just had this problem on my single cam, turned out to b a clogged fuel filter and dirty air filter.

 

I'm running a stock gsr p72 obd2 ecu. I once plugged up a friends p72 obd2 gsr ecu and the check engine light came on, i had no vtec, and my rev limiter was at 6. I just changed my air filter as well. I think fuel can play a role on the motor lagging. It seems like its getting way too much fuel and the motor just cant burn it all. Car idles fine always stays at 700 and never jumps.

 

it could be that your not getting enough fuel at WOT

which fuel pump are you using the stock civic fuel pump won't flow enough for the gsr motor at WOT try upgrading the fuel pump or try the stock gsr fuel pump and tell us how it turns out

 

I would say fuel as well. I'm not sure if there are screens on an ls's injectors, but those are worth a try. you could run some higher octane fuel or throw some injector cleaner in there to clean them out. they could be clogged...also I'd just replace your fuel filter before doing anything too radical. If all else fails, you could take down the fuel tank and check if there is any corrosion/rust inside the tank. If that's the case, it would definitely be detrimental to your performance.

 

I'm assuming I'm running a gsr fuel pump since I had a local shop do my motor. The performance of my motor definitely doesn't feel like a gsr is in my car. My best time at the track was a 15.7@89mph with a 2.3 60ft. I know with a better 60ft my time would be better but I always thought it should at least be low 15's, high 14's considering that 00 si's with i/h/e are running high 14's.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TeenyTymer69er &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm assuming I'm running a gsr fuel pump since I had a local shop do my motor. The performance of my motor definitely doesn't feel like a gsr is in my car. My best time at the track was a 15.7@89mph with a 2.3 60ft. I know with a better 60ft my time would be better but I always thought it should at least be low 15's, high 14's considering that 00 si's with i/h/e are running high 14's.</TD></TR></TABLE>

if you don't know which pump your using you might want to give them a call
most people that do swap tend to over look the fuel pump cause all they're worrying about is getting it to start

but it do sound like your using the stock civic fuel pump

 

what intake maniold do u have, stock gsr manifold? i had a laggy almost bog problem with a car running a skunk manifold and couple other basic mods with stock ecu. because a gsr ecu is programmed to run with the stock butterfly manifold for better low end torque, not an aftermarket single runner type. it causes a lean condition at lower rpm's causing a bad bog, but smooths higher up. we watched it with a wide band to verify fix. threw in a chipped ecu with a corrected map for the different maniold and the problem went away. ya a bigger pump may help if not changed yet. but just some info.

 

try a new fuel filter

 

I still have the stock gsr manifold on there. I plan on changing that once I'm turboed. I pretty much have my complete turbo kit ready to put on but I just wanted to get this problem out of the way first before doing any major upgrades such as turbo.

 

i had about the same issue, i bought a bottle of redline fuel system cleaner and seriously drove my car for the first time since doing the swap and it cleared up all my issues.

I took out my injectors, physically cleaned em up before hand.

I had been throwing an occasional injector code, and couldn't find anything wrong with any of the injectors.... i say give it a whirl.

 

I have the same problem as you I dont have real power until 6 grand but after that hold ontight. Still haveent figured it out yet but I will let you know if I do.

 

LOL I went through this with both of my previous GSRs. First one was because my tach was so messed up it was reading a whole 1000 rpm off. (Which doesnt seem to be your case)Second one was I swapped in another and I go and on the highway the car pulled great at high RPMS 3rd and 4th geards were real nice. Felt like the fastest was in 4th gear at 6500 and up. I decided to race my friends 1987 BMW and got shitted on real bad! Like car lengths. Jumped on the highway from a 3rd gear roll and it was a diffrent story. Turns out I was overlooking my throttle cable. Even though it was snug when fully pressed down it was opening 45%. Adjusted it to a good 98% without affecting the idle and the car started pulling in any gear. Raced my friend again and left him by 4 cars.

 

I say check out the throttle cable linkage
Make sure its sets right and not pinched

 

Tomorrow ill be buying injection cleaner and checking out throttle cable. Any suggestions on which injection cleaner is more effective?

 

BG and you wire it straight to the Injectors

 

LOL at all these responses.

First off IVE never seen injectors "clog" if there was a fuel filter on the car.

Two lots of people run the stock fuel pump with GSR swap and its perfectly fine.

Three check the timing ignition and cam if it pulls good up top and not on bottom and its a stock ECU it isnt fuel related.

Fourth VTEC will only engauge where the ECU sets it to it wont engauge late early whatever, the only thing it will do is not engauge or engauge.

 

If it was my timing then wouldn't it lag every single time I drive it. It only does it id say maybe once or twice a week.

 

Wut up bro, I have the same problem with my 00 Civic Si. One day I was driving the car on the freeway as always at about 80-90mph when all of a sudden something popped, the ecu threw a CEL and my VTEC wouldn't engage due to low oil. I threw 2qts of Mobil1, reseted the ecu and got back on the freeway. Car has never felt this shitty. So far I've checked cam and ignition timing, all brand new Honda intake, exhaust & head gaskets, and fuel filter. I got the head redone along with a port & polish, valve job, chamber work, dual springs, titanium retainers and oversized exhaust valves. Compression checked in @ 220 on all 4 and a new MSD cap & rotor along with an MSD2 coil & NGK Iridium plugs.
If I slam on the gas on any gear, the car seems to bog and gain very little speed, but if I slowly give it gas, the car feels like it wants to just go, but obiously it doesn't due to the rate that I'm applying the gas. Next step is to check fuel pressure & vaccum. Good luck bro and let me know if you fix yours.