I have a 94 civic LX as a DD.

i bought this car for $200...the thing that was wrong with this was no dizzy or alternator. i replaced those cheap!

after getting it up and running, it runs so dang shitty...bogs like crazy between 1-3500 rpms...i borrowed my bro inlaws timing gun to check timing...it is off...

i turned the car off...turned the crank to check for TDC...it is right on...crank and cam...lined up perfectly...

rechecked the timing...still off...the timing gun is digitally controlled...when i set the gun to 16 degrees...it isn't hitting the marking...so if i decrease the degrees to 14 it hits the mark perfectly...so i just left it there...can even advance the dizzy to get it up to 16...so left it at 14

now there is a problem...

when i'm driving the car on small roads, and stopping at lights and stop signs, the needle on the temp gauge moves to HOT, but when i get going it slowly drops. When this happens before entering on the freeways, it drops to normal operation temps while cruising...

what could be the problem...timing off? how do i make it sit at 16 for the stock timing? help please!!

TIA

 

Is the fan coming on behind the radiator ?

 

yes everything works fine...radiator turns on regularly...just don't get why the temp gauge is showing hot at stops...it drops if i'm cruising and won't go back to hot...bugs me...

when the temp gauge goes up to hot...at the stop lights...picking up speed on 1st is slower than it usually is...could it be cause the timing is off? bad sensor?

 

wiggle the wire, clean the connection.

If it runs well the timing should be ok.

Is the dizzy about in the center of it's slots ?

I don't think you have a timing issue.

 

an old celica of mine did the same..

turned out that after i changed the thermostat it went away...

then it came back... then the rod knock...

 

yea dizzy is in mid section...runs better, but still shows that it is heating up at the stop lights and signs...

no leaks or anything...fan works regularly like stated before...

hope it doesn't end up like CUDA's...rod knock later...

sigh....

what wires are you (1992Si) talking about wiggling? for the temp sensor? i'll have to give that a try on lunch...but still...

sigh...all i can do...is it still safe to drive even if it does this? coolant level is perfect and all...no puddles anywhere i park at...

could the 14 degree timing cause the temp gauge to act weird like this?

if so...is there a way to get my timing back to 16 degrees and running better...!? 1st gear doesn't pick up as good as it should be...

it feels like it's laggin...i know it is a stock D, but my old dx picked up better...

 

The overheating problem sounds like it could be the water temp switch or a clogged radiator if you say the fan is working.

As for the timing, I don't know, I've never used a timing gun on a Honda but I've heard too many stories about pple using a test light and then lining it up via the timing markings and getting two completely different results. I don't know why that is.

 

i will swap the temp sensor with a new one to see if that is the case...car still drives normal sometimes with the temp gauge all the way up there...but the other weird thing

when it gets up to HOT...i turn the car off but leave the ignition to ON with the car off ofcourse, the temp gauge is at normal sometimes...sometimes it isn't....and most of the time the fan is on too...sigh...what to do what to do...

i'll switch the sensors out once i get home and hopefully that is it...clogging of the radiator? i'll have to look into that too...

thanks for the replies...still open to more....

 

i emptied out the coolant last night when i got home from work...ran the garden hose over to quickly flush out the system...nothing in there that was stuck...that i saw....

filled it up with new coolant...changed the thermostat...also the coolant temp sensor...voila...not sure which one fixed it, but that got the gauge to stay at normal operating temps...ehheheh...

thanks guys!

 

it was your thermostat...i had the same issue with my old 91 accord...kept heating up whenever i would stop but once i got going it would cool...i first changed the water pump cause the water pump was dripping coolant but when it still happened after that i changed the thermostat and it never happened again...so yea i was going to say if you hadnt found the problem to try both of those but you got it