At first my fuel pump was not priming on the first turn of the key, that seemed to have worked itself out but the random o2 sensor cel keeps popping up. This time instead of popping up with no apparent problems it happened when I was accelerating on the highway and lurched several times, had a loss of acceleration then the cel popped on and from that point it drove normally other than the idle would be at 2000 rpm which was obnoxious because when I would put the clutch in to shift it wouldnt drop below 2000. After I restarted the car the cel was gone but it still idles at 2000 rpm which is something it has not done before. To me this seems like a fuel issue, I would think that the o2 code is from it running lean. If it is a fuel problem would that be able to cause the idle being high? Would a bad fuel filter cause all this? Has anyone had this problem before, or any ideas on other causes.

 

I wouldn't really think you'd get an O2 sensor code from running lean. If you're asking about the fuel filter, why not change it? If you're wondering, it probably wouldn't hurt to change it anyway. That would at least rule that out.
I would think though that you may have two separate problems though with what you're describing. Just my opinion.

 

You are correct. I changed the fuel filter (the old one poured out fuel that looked like mud) and that seemed to correct the lurching/idle/losing power issue, and the old random CEL for o2 sensor that comes every few hundred miles and goes away at restart still popped up. That thing is driving me nuts. It is a code 1, at first I thought maybe it is because I used an obd 1 motor and switched it all over to obd0 stuff. There is a plug on the motor that there is no plug on the harness for, everything seems fine with it not plugged in. It is not on the old obd0 motor, but since I am using an obd0 ecu and harness there shouldnt be a light since the ecu wouldnt know to look for it. I dunno that random cel is driving me crazy, I really wish I could pinpoint it before I start changing every sensor that could cause it. I guess my next step would be use a wide band o2 sensor and see if I am running lean or rich and if that is the case find out why.

 

Yeah those fuel filters get forgotten and get nasty as hell. You should get a little better mpg with that changed also.

As for the cel...are you sure your O2 sensor is good? I may have missed it in your post, but have you checked that out with a known good condition one?

 

Yeah I changed it with an oem replacement, I got the car with a blown block (has 163k on it) and I put in a sohc zc. I changed everything that is changeable or that wears out except the fuel filter because the banjo bolts were stuck and I didnt feel like screwing with them, but tonight I went ahead and busted out the impact gun and got them off. So I don't think it is the o2 sensor itself. I dont think the fuel filter has been changed since the car was new. I guess people do not realize its something that needs to be done every 40-60k.

 

Man wish I had some first hand experience to lend, but this has never happened to me. Do you have a repair manual and followed the steps on diagnosing? If not, check out this link for repair diagnosing...
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=468260&page=3

Good luck.