hey guys, i have an 89 honda civic hatchback, with a dohc zc swap and its boosted. Just recently it started idling poorly, and not just when its warming up. Ill be driving it when its warmed up to normal temps and when i come to a stop sign and push in the clutch it will barelly idle or it will die, plus its had a problem starting....ANY GUESSES?

 

iat,iacv

 

tell us more about the engine set up

 

If i was to take a wild stab, it would be either poor timing, or a vacuum leak.

 

the block is bored 40 over, eagle rods, vitara pistons and rings, acl rod bearing.... the whole lower half of the motor is fully built. we had the motor pressure tested, decked....ect.. it only has like 1000 miles on it after it was rebuilt. I finally got it to idle today after it warmed up and it was literally idleing at 100, not 1000 or 500 rpms but 100, then it will die, then when i try to crank it it will turn over but it seems like its not getting spark. When we first put it together we had a problem with the high performace fuel pump pumping to much fuel into the motor, so it ran like crap and ran very lean... HELP GUYS, i don't have any ideas! oh and i'm pushing 4 pounds of boost, and sometimes it revs up and down..

 

idle control system.. re-time the car, and set the idle according to the service manual..

4 lbs isnt that much, unless you kept the stock compression ration of the ZC.. you should be able to run MUCH more than that, when tuned..

 

Have you checked for spark then? Checked your ignition timing? Does it belch out black smoke?

 

well before it started doing this i was going to up the boost to 8 since it was a weekend/track car and now its my everyday driver since i moved to another state, and my friend said save up the money to have it professionally tuned on a dyno before i go above 10, and it only blows out black smoke when i get on it and shift... sorry guys i've worked on alot of honda's but this is my first turbo ride.. well the pistons, rods, blah blah are all low compression...

 

also guys i bought the motor and the turbo kit together, i have a list of motors the dohc zc is suppose to be similar to but i haven't found out what year and sub make they are.... what if i need an alternator and a starter, what do i tell the guys at the auto parts stores to order my parts from????? like how do i find out where the intake air temp sensor and the idle air control valve are?, i have loads of honda chilton books, so i figured one of the vehicles has to have them in the same spot on the motor...

 

well i also figured the car has a problem running to lean or running to much fuel into the motor, and trying to start it i could of flooded the motor...!!

 

No big deal, just remove the spark plugs and let the fuel evaporate overnight. It'll be fine by the morning.

 

make sure to check out all of your vaccum lines

 

thats some crazy sh-it right there..lol..my DOHC ZC was a big headache so i sold it for x2 what i paid for it is you're coil still good? what about checking ur injectors? idk just throwing suggestions out there. to get you thinking.

 

hey guys thanks for your suggestions. its christmas day right now so ill be working on the car this weekend or next week. A mechanic buddy of mine also suggested the egr valve, cause when the egr sticks open its the same thing, or the same effects as a vacuum leak...... what do you think??? i'm going to check the vacuum lines and everything else. Also the battery was run to the trunk and the terminals are bad, plus whoever did the grounds had grounded everything thing on the car to one spot, and did a horrible job, thats not including the speaker wire......lol, ill keep everyone updated.....thanks guys, merry christmas

 

sounds like your IAC valve - most zc don't have a egr valve and it's most simalar to an 1989 integra motor - stock d series alt and starter will work . the bottom end is basical the same as regular d series with a dohc head - hybrid honda has a list of part's to use good luck

 

Your symptoms are the same as any honda with a bad IAC valve, thats where i would start

 

ok, thanks guys. i havent beem able to work on it yet, but in a couple of days i will and ill keep everyone informed..

 

thanks for the suggestions and help, I finally was able to find time outside work and and get pasted the weather to work on my hatch. It's finally fixed, all it was is the screens in the IAC valve needed cleaning and a real horrible job of engine grounds. Redid the cables to the battery in the trunk, and all the grounds and now the car runs perfect