motor seems a tad sluggish, starts flat when accelerating. Something else i noticed recently, that seems has occured over time. My block has really got a coating of grime (looks like oil/dust). My accord and civic are same year 1991, and it's dusty in my accord engine bay but not the black coated real grime on my civic's D15 block. I cant see an actual seal or gasket that leaks but that doesnt seem normal to me.

 

The valve cover gasket always seems to go in these motors from my experience. Try cleaning the block and bay with some Gunk Foam and a brush, then see if you can find the leak.

As far as the sluggishness of the motor, has it had a thorough tuneup lately? Any CEL codes? Does it miss or skip at all? Timing belt in good condition?

 

honestly i've only had it a few months, bought w/ 62k, now at 65k, i got a super deal as it needed new CV joints and a some dizzy work done, i think prev. owner thought they were in for something more serious. I couldnt speak of belt condition, looks good visually. i'll give it a good once over this afternoon maybe, for all i know could be a nasty air filter. I hadnt peaked at it. Looked at the oil, nice and amber so i figured routine stuff was up to snuff. I cant say there's any "miss's" just when i start from a stop, kinda gotta get a little extra on the throttle, to get through the flat spot. Once it gets past this early stage on accel. it rev's nicely. I also notice it's a little sluggish on hills, i seem to have to floor it and tranny drops a gear and rev's high to pull itself up hill's, not even serious graded hils. I kinda thought this might just be cause it's a "DX" w/ a lesser engine than the finer civic's come stock with.