My neighbor just bought a 91 Honda Civic HB with a 1.5 engine (Canadian). He was driving it and it just died on the road. They pushed it back. I saw them messing with it and since I have some knowledge, I was a heavy equipment mechanic, I thought I'd lend a hand. Unfortunately, they had a billion "Master mechs" look at it before I got my mitts on it. After forgetting about all the "Master Mecs" advice, I pulled the distributor. The rotor was melted. I have a friend who had a 1.5 distributor laying in his garage, I installed it and the car started but immediately died.

I looked online for OBD/Code info and the car threw a 16 code which was the main relay. I replaced it and the car started great, ran for about 30 seconds then the idle rpm dropped down and the engine heaved, I had to stay on it to keep it running, even then it sounded like it was not getting fuel.

The fuel filter, plugs, distributor, main relay were all replaced. It starts and runs which is more than it did before but is not drivable. I rechecked the code and it threw a different code this time, a 15. Other things to note:

Put Seafoam in the tank
Replaced main relay
Replaced distributor and plugs

Also, when we spray starter fluid in the air cleaner, there is no difference so it shouldn't be a fuel issue. I'm thinking something with the throttle? Help please.

Now what? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated as I don't know much about these tiny imports.

 

I know you said you don't think it's a fuel issue... But would you tell us about how much gas does the tank have? It could be an issue regarding the fuel pickup and knowing how much gas in the tank could help isolate this issue.

 

the distributor is always at fault. check again

 

Hey, first of all, thank you for the replies. I haven't had a chance to work on it in a while. Today is do or die day for it as the neighbor wants the guy to get the car off his property. The car is full of fuel and Seafoam was put in the tank. In the beginning, the distributor rotor button was melted to the distributor. I replaced the distributor which came with a new button and cap. The code as I stated originally, is a 16 which indicates a throttle issue. I do not have a manual on this car and limited knowledge of the different sensors. I am going to go see what I can do, if anything. Any further thoughts? Thanks.

 

Update: I went out and the car started right up, no problem. It had been sitting about a week since I last worked on it. After about a minute, the idle dropped significantly and it started running extremely rough, then after about 15 seconds it would die, just as before. I checked the codes and it threw the same code as before having to do with the throttle.

I deduced the obvious, when it warms up, something is causing the fuel system to a) either shut off some of the fuel to the engine via the injectors? or b) perhaps it's a sensor issue causing this to happen, or c) it's something else.

I removed the Idle Air Control Valve and sprayed a ton of carb cleaner in it. The screen was black and I was hoping that's all it was. After the IACV was cleaned, I installed it back onto the car, crossed my fingers and started it up. This time, the car stayed running but did the same as before with it dropping down and idling very rough.

In the end, I have run out of time and the neighbor wants the car gone so unfortunately, I was unable to find the actual problem. I called the couple who own the car and delivered the bad news. Thanks for the comments fellas.