Hi!

I am new to this forum. I am not a mechanic, nor have I ever worked on a Japanese engine prior, Someone gave me this car a while ago and i have been working out the problems on another website as well as going online for information.

I have so far done the following;'

Repaired the MAP sensor (broken wire and redirected hose-line. Result: ECU blinking ceased...possible better mileage ...was getting 7mpg.

Readjusted idle adjustment screw; result; engine light on dashboard finally went off (after being on the entire time I had car) ...was worked on by two guys who "work on Hondas" prior and they never got the light to go off). No, I cannot afford a mechanic so 'guys who work on Hondas' was best I could do.


Replaced the spark plugs (which were not gapped correctly) and gapped them accordingly; result better power in vehicle however, idle problem started happening upon replacement of new spark plugs.


Idle problem; when car is first started the idle goes up anywhere between 1250 and 1700 rpms , then as engine warms up idle creeps up higher and higher ...can go as high as 2000 rpms. I readjusted the Idle screw (behind throttle) and it got a little better, but not all the way fine.

My next step was to remove the Fast Idle Thermovalve ...however, the two bolts came off fine and I was able to pull device away from port position ...however there is an electrical cable that runs down behind engine that I was only able to reach with one hand ...it sits ...or sat ...on a metal strut at which point there appeared to be a cable hitch which then ran off into another set of wires. Try as I might (all day long) i could not detach it from it's position. I even got a mirror and and extendible laser light so as to look at it. I could not tell if the piece was broken or it just was undetachable; although I cannot figure out how one would remove this device to replace if that was the case! I examined the other end of the wore that sits into the Fast Idle Thermovalve device and it seems embedded into the housing which I did not see any way to remove without potentially damaging unit. Unfortunately, the cable connection broke off the metal strut and now hangs down ....the upside is that I can now see it better; downside is I have no idea how I can get this uncoupled (with one hand as only one hand can fit down there at a time). I thought maybe I could just take device apart to examine and clean or check to see if valve is old and worn, but the screws are on rock solid even with WD-40 and the position it is in in my vehicle is not conducive to getting a good grip on it to remove screws and examine ....I have to lay across engine just to try and get at it....I have a 1991 Honda Civic Wagon (sorry of this is wrong thread but I could not find one for this year Honda on Index).

I feel according to what I have read that this may be the problem with idle ....however I also know that there could be a problem with IACV, but I wanted to tackle one thing at a time and not needlessly take things apart unless I have to ...as I said I am a complete novice so I would appreciate any advice or suggestions on getting this thing out to examine it and possibly replace it if need be. Not eveyone's FITV seems to be connected to this kind of electrical set-up as I have seen and read online it is easily detached, but on my car, apparently not.

If I cannot get it out, I wonder how an auto mechanic would do it?

Thanks!

California_Gurl

 

There was a Civic wagon in 92-00?
It was the next forum down.
https://honda-tech.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

 

Moved to CR-X/EF ('88 - '91) Civic section.

Also some good pics of this cable you can't get unplugged would probably be very helpful.

 

There is no electrical connector on the FITV. That's the EACV or IACV. FITV will only have coolant lines attached.

 

Well, unfortunately for me, the car i have; a 1991 Honda Civic Wagon RTAWD has a set of two wires that run out of the housing and down into a plastic cable attachment that hooks into another set of wires that runs somewhere down below.

Unless the factory people who designed this car and put the hose-line diagram under the hood of my car were mistaken, this device is labled 'FAST IDLE SOLENOID VALVE.'

I can read and I can identify what it looks like ....i do not have the means to take a photo or scan in it even if I did.

The device sits vertically just below the and behind (to the right facing the engine) the long silver metallic portion that has "Programmed Fuel Injection" written on top of it. It has a round top and two screws on top and two bolts on ether side on back which I did remove and observed a three hole port attached to same on other side it was bolted to before I removed it briefly. There was one black rubber "o" ring in center-piece of device. There's a lower part of it with two more screws; all of which are extremely tight and I have not been able to unscrew by the way. The wires run out of the housing at the bottom where there is a black cylindrical piece covered by a rubber 'boot' and those wires run down into a white plastic cable housing that connects to another set of wires that run underneath somewhere I cannot see.


Sorry, but my car has this piece with wires unless there is another device with the same or similar name that i am mistaking this device for ...it looked just like the device the guy in the U-Tube video took apart and he called it a Fast Idle Valve as well ...but I saw no wires on his ....?


Does anybody have any ideas about why my car idles the way it does and how to fix it; maybe I don't even need to mess with this piece...?


Thanks!

Cal_Gurl





The IACV sits next to this on the other side and lays horizontally and has a white plastic 'spoked' piece on the end I believe.

 

you have a D16A6 engine, correct? - the part you are looking at is the Fast Idle Control Solenoid Valve - the wires run down to a white 2-pin connector that plugs into the engine harness - it comes apart like any of the other connectors, like Intake Air Temp sensor, etc. - not much use in trying to take it apart - it is not your problem - the FICV only works when ambient air temp is down to around 15*F, at which point it just boosts the idle slightly - a little easier to get to from underneath

i believe this is the part you are referring to:

 

fluctuating idle can be caused by several things:

low coolant level

air pocket in the cooling system

bad or dirty EACV

leaking gasket at EACV

malfunctioning PCV valve

vacuum leak

to check FICV:

 

Thanks but I think I solved the problem. The guy who replaced the rotor and cap hit the Temp gauge sending unit underneath and the thing has not worked right since ...the temp gauge will either work or not work ....I tried adjusting it but once again I have ahard time getting to it underneath the disributor ...when it does work, the idle comes back down to below 1000 rpms after the engine warms up but when it doesn't work, the idle creeps up.

I think he knocked the wire or the device loose ...it is jammed underneath the distributor casing so I may have to take it off to get to it ...I am not convinced I need a new one yet, but I may if I cannot get it working properly.

I know these are popular cars, but the way they are designed I find it so much more difficult to work on them ....maybe that was the point, I dunno ...but I will take an old American built carbuerator engine in the seventies any day!



Cal_Gurl

 

california gurl welcome to the metric system and the japanese designs of simplicity+reduncancy+micro machinery= honda ....they're a b*tch to work on until you get used to them and then youll look at that old carbuerated stuff like its a dinosaur....idle problems are the worst part of owning a honda but they are usually all simple overlooked fixes ....dont give up on it just try and stand back and look at it for a while before you attempt your repair....just because you cant stand on the engine while youre working on it doesnt mean its inferior in any way ....i started on muscle cars myself and various motorcycles and such and i now equate working on my ef to working on a motorcycle with an interior ....you seem to be pretty intelligent from your posts so im sure youll figure it out ....and when you do youll be a slave to it like the rest of us ....and since nobody else has mentioned it welcome to honda-tech