Well after having an idle issue for half a year or so, it has finally been resolved.

First the stealership tried to say it was "lack of maintenance" but I fought with them and told them it was BS! I have an 88 CRX with almost 200k miles that has no idle issues and no "lack of maintenance" and a 98 civic with over 200k that runs smoother than my CRV did, I told them.

Second, I took it to another stealership and they told me it was the throttle body, they replaced it for free (thank God for Honda Care) and it got a little better but it did not fix the problem. I took it back a few weeks later and they supposedly could not find a problem and said I was crazy.

Third, I have a friend that works at a local dealer, told him my situation and told me to bring the car in. They inspected it, told me the vavles were screwed and that they would replace the entire head. They also found a leaky oil pan gasket, leaky right axle seal, and a faulty power window motor. They replaced all that and now the car drives like it was brand new!

The symptoms you ask are as follows:

1. Shakes when stopped at a light, or anywhere else that it is not in park.

2. Shakes worse when letting go of the brake but not accelerating.

3. Shakes worse on reverse especially in the morning.

4. Idle drops and jumps when stopped.

 

Valve adjustments on 1st gen CRVs are a must! The valves get tight, and eventually, the valve seats burn up. The maintenance schedule only says to adjust if noisy. A tight valve makes no noise!

 

Yeah I heard there was a recall on the 99 for the head/valve issue.

 

WOW! a recall? I know that if customers yell loud enough and go through the proper channels, Honda has been picking up some of the bill.

 

valve adjustment is required on all first gens every 30k

 

There is no recall and there never will be.

 

That is what Honda told me, the El Monte Honda.

 

They are wrong. Honda has never issued a recall for this condition and they never will.
They HAVE issued a service bulletin which only gives the technician working on the car a quick guide to fix the problem.