94 civic ex, i recently put a short ram intake on it, and reset the ecu. Also cleaned the IACV and the other valve (forgot the name). Anyways, when in drive and i give it more than 25% throttle, it hesitates for a sec and then takes off perfectly. almost like im flooding the motor with too much gas. kinda scary when im trying to get into 55mph traffic lol

I ran seafoam and the motor is completlely stock besides the SRI

was thinking it could be my fuel filter?

what do you guys think?

 

Every other oil change, I ran a Seafoam cleanse on my 1998 Subaru. I 1/3 of the can into the Engine through the brake booster, 1/3 through the valve covers, and the last 1/3 into the gas tank. Drove around hard for about 15 miles, then did an oil change. Never had a problem with that, and my car felt smoother after completing the oil change.

I also cleaned out my IACV twice in the 3 years I owned that Subaru, both times with getting CEL's and rough idles. I used Carb cleaner, essentially saturating it as much as I could with the spray, waiting for it to dry, then reinstalling. Never had a problem with that either.

Are you getting any CEL's?

 

Sounds like the IACV. Any CEL's?

 

does it feel like regardless of giving it gas the car doesnt accelerate? does it usually happen in 1st gear? that was the case for me a while back and it was moisture on the ignition coil after hitting a big puddle

 

No cel's, just reset the computer today again and it sorta went away. it only happens when i go to take off and between 52-55mph. a friend of mine who has the same motor told me it could be an injector, he was explaining to me its really easy to check them that all you have to do is disconnect them one by one and listen to the sound of the motor etc.

but yea the car feel like it is about to die and then if you give it more throttle it hiccups a few more times then takes off. it doesnt happen every single time either, only certain times. but the sputter between 52-55mph is a every day thing.

 

If it only happens in that small speed range, the injector test as you described it won't tell you anything. Pay attention to what RPM range you're in from 52-55. Does the problem repeat in the same RPM range in other gears?

 

It's really hard to diagnose a car issue over the internet lol.

 

Video?

 

open up the dizzy and take a look at the ignition coil. take off the rotor, then the splash shield, then unhook the 2 terminals from the coil and look for any bends in the coil or spots of moisture (looks like a mold spore) even a dribble of moisture can throw the ignition off. again, that's what happened to me and once I replaced it no more bogging or anything. the part is $75 from autozone and it's good yo replace anyway. hope I helped!

 

Have you pulled and inspected plugs, how is the condition and GAP?

Timing ok?

 

FPR might be bad. Disconnect the vacuum hose and plug it, then check.

 

Not sure about the 94 Civic EX, but I am seeing more posts like this, I had exactly the same issue affect my 93 delsol when I hit about 180k miles ( second owner and I got it when it had 60k miles on it and always took care of my baby) after following everyones advice and checking and going through everything on the fuel delivery side of the engine, then doing the distributor thing, ICM, rotor, new cap, wires and plugs, even got suspicious about a cracked exhaust manifold and maybe throwing my O2 sensor off a bit. It was not until ( of all people a GM guy asked me if I checked my crank position sensor down on front of the engine ) knowing there is not one there on my Honda I wondered where Honda did put this sensor, when I found it was integral to the distributor and not independently serviceable and if one os bad the entire distributor must be replaced, well I figure this would be my luck having to replace far more than I expected, At the time I was not to shell out $700+ to Honda for a new distributor, so I took a chance on a $75 junk yard pull off a wrecked delsol and installed this used distributor on my car, and walaa that must have been it, it has ran like new since no more hesitation, responsive and runs like a sewing machine.

Details on my symptoms were as follows, Never any CEL, hesitation upon initial take off, even slight stumble hesitation during static running and bumping the throttle quickly, problem also became evident and worsened a bit where it was noticed engine would buck or miss under a load at about 2700 rpm or under (ie) climbing a long grade in 5th gear and when rpm dropped down to 2700 rpm and obviously under a load it would start bucking/missing, but problem always present upon starting off from a stop initially ( obviously low rpm and under a bit of a load ) once I got above 2700 rpm everything smoothed right out. As I said the problem started off slight that it didn't concern me I just thought it a fluke but symptoms were consistent and worsened to some degree over time, in fact I learned to drive differently making concessions for this flawed operation, and while everyone was very helpful in their suggestions and I learned much in diagnosing damn near everything under the hood, I ended up tolerating this problem for 52,000 miles until I changed out the entire distributor and that ended the issue right there!

 

Hey guys sorry i couldnt reply sooner with more info.

I reset the ECU the proper way, (fuse and neg battery cable removed for 10 min, then replaced and let idle'd without touching anything for 15 min.) Ran 89 octane (should of tried 93 but was broke lol) checked for vacuum leaks and found none.

Car still sputters but doesnt do it as bad

ALSO as for the rpm range its in, the tachomater is busted and goes immideatly to 2k then just bounces around the range while accel. i can give you a rough estimate of the rpm's its when doing the 50-55 sputter...if im not mistake its around 4k but like i said the needle jitters.

I will make a video tomm. and post it here for all.

oh one more thing, i have not checked the spark plugs but plan on doing that tonight.

 

Running higher octane is pointless - don't waste your money.

http://www.zealautowerks.com/transcalc.php

Use that to figure out what your engine is spinning at that speed, in whatever gear you happen to be using. Figure out what the speeds are for the other 4 gears to match that rev range. Test in those other 4 ranges.

 

just now tested the alternator and battery.

battery volt cold was 12.5

alternator output was 14.40 steady even when revving motor

battery voltage after turning car off was 13.4

I put higher octane cause i thought it might of been a slightly clogged injector and I got $1.50 off ea gallon so I said what the hell lol I know it doesnt do nothing but Ive actually seen a car that only ran smoothly with 93.

what this speed thing ? im going to check it out now. ]

i think il pull teh plugs now, its 2:30am here but its friday and i dont work so i might pull a all nighter. Im also prepping my car for the paint booth while do this as well lol

HELLLP

what should i do next? ? ? ?

 

There are plenty of cars that only run correctly on 93. Yours isn't one of them, unless there's something major you haven't told us. Higher octane doesn't mean better fuel, it only means harder fuel to burn.

Your battery is fine. Your alternator is fine. Like I already said, figure out what RPM range you're having this problem in, then test it across that range in different gears. Also, check your timing.

 

no nothing major, just a stock motor with a short ram intake. the valve cover leaks a little oil due to one of the bolts being stripped. i go through about 1 qt per month, Im working on getting that fixed aswell

 

Recently I had a slight sputtering (sometimes) on takeoff and some shifting. I had recently adjusted timing, so I knew that was good.

I pulled the plugs and they had been left in there too long because the gap was too large. I replaced the plugs (also cap and rotor), and checked the plug wires.

That's all it was in my case, problem solved.

EDIT: Just wanted to say, at least in my case the meaning of sputtering = the engine is mis-firing (aka missing).

 

after i install my fuel filter tommor il be doing exactly what you mentioned. this car is due for sparks, wires, and rotor