i have a 95 ls. engine wont idle at all. i have to hold down the gas to make it run. when it is runing it sounds real choppy almost like a harley. once it goes below 1,000 rpm it dies no matter how much i step on the gas. while its runing, i step on the gas and it backfires once or twice before reving up. i have brand new dizzy, plugs, and wires. please someone help. i got to get this runing by winter

 

ok so i got the timing right. it is runing smooth now. but my engine still wont idle. maybe a vaccum leak? what is a good way to check for vaccum leaks?

 

usually only vacuum lines on the intake manifold and charcoal canister. Look at the ends of all of the hoses connecting to the intake manifold and spray them with some sort of cleaner to look for leaking air bubbles. Also is this a swap? what ecu are you running and how did this problem start?

 

yeah it is a swap. i have a 95 b18b1 in a 93 civic hatch. stock internals and stock ecu. i just have a couple bolt ons. i replaced my headgasket and once i put the head and intake manifold back on and went to start it, thats when it started acting up like this

 

welllll then. Did you adjust the crank to top dead center before pulling the head off?

 

yeah i did that. and i put white out marks on the timing belt so when i put it bac on it would be in the same spot... i just went to start my car a little bit ago and it would idle when the engine is cold. but once it warms up and the fast idle goes away it would die. and it sounds like it is runing a little rough until i reach 2,000 rpm. but once i reach 2,000 it sounds great. when it dies i have to step on the gas to get it started again but it starts right up everytime

 

It starts right up? i was gonna say fuel delivery but if it starts up easy then i really dont know man =// keep looking for vacuum leaks!

 

The way i check for vacuum leak is i take out the intake and clog up the throttle body with my hand.
If the engine dies that means there is no vacuum leaks
If the engine doesnt die, that mean it is sucking in air from somewhere else (vacuum leak)

Try that and see what happens.

 

yeah i think my next step is to start taking out the hoses one by one and check them for cracks or holes. i tried spraying starting fluid on all the hoses while the engine was runing but i still couldnt find anything. im just going to keep looking hopefully i get it fixed soon

 

damn thats a good idea . never thought of that. im going to try it when i get home. if it does die anyone got any idea what it might be after that? or should i just keep searching?

 

Look at the dizzy if its all the way back try loosening a lil bit and turn it like maybe 1/3 off length forward. maybe when you put the head back on you might have missed a tooth. I just did my timing and the same thing when im running if I push the gas pedal hard it will react sluggish until it hits like 3k revs. When I adjusted mi dizzy problem went away. hope it works.

 

yeah it made it sound better but it still won't idle

 

ok so i was a tooth off or so on the cam gears and i got the timing belt where it is supposed and now my car will idle. while its idling it sounds like its supposed to. but it has a lot of hesitation when i step on the gas. its really laggy. once it does finally start to kick in i cant take it past 5k. once it hits about 5k it bac fires and wont rev any higher. what would cause this? i tried to adjust the dizzy and it still no change. also as the engine warms up the hesitation gets worste.

 

just wanted to add that the problem could be related to your main relay? not sure about it but it's a very easy fix and a common problem

 

how would i know if thats the problem? if so how would i fix it?

 

The Main Fuel Relay is under your dash. The only way I know to check it is just by replacing it with a new one (~$60) or pulling one from another Honda. I also know there are people who open them up and re-solder the broken points, but that's a different project. Most of the time you know that it's going bad is when your car randomly shuts off and won't start up for another 10 minutes. But it's known to cause all sorts of fuel problems. Hope this helps