Hi guys,

This is my first car, I only owned motorcycles for the past 10 years, so I have limited experience with cars.

One month ago I bough a Civic coupe 94` and it used to sound ok, nice and silent.
I have no history of the car but I know it was not used for the last 4-5 years.


Engine code: D15B7 1.5L non Vtec 101 HP

I started by changing all the fluids:

oil + filter: Motul 6100 10W 40
Coolant G12
Steering liquid
Brake fluid
Gearbox oil.
Cleaned the air filter.
Sparks ok.



The only problem it had was low power on low RPM, till 4k RPM, after 4k it was ok.

I had the distributor check only to find out my timing belt was off 1 tooth...and the mechanics told me they cannot sync the distributor cuz of the timing belt issue, even though they made some adjustments and test using a strobe light pistol.

they told me to return with the parts so they can change the timing belt and the water pump.

By now my engine started to sound like a diesel.

I told myslef...ok, it must be the timing belt sync problem...

Two days later I returned to the service with a new timing belt kit and the mechanics synchronized the belt on all 4 points, or at least this is what they told me...

No CEL light
Oil level is ok.

Anyway, the car runs smoother now, but it still have crap power at low RPM and the engine sounds like a diesel...


I even recorded it here:


what should I check now?

Thank you

 

sounds like the valve lash adjustment needs to be done.

 

Ok, thank you, I will do that next.

I wonder why I did not had this issue till the mechanics made adjustments to the distributor.
And why still low power on low RPM?

 

If you do not have experience adjusting valve lash I recommend taking it to a professional. If you tighten or loosen one too even a fraction of a hair too much it will cause a rough idle.

As for the low power- Keep in mind your engine only makes 100 horsepower at 5900 rpm. So its safe to say you could only be making, let's say, 50 horsepower at 2950 rpm.
(Not exact measurements, just giving you general info to help understand)

 

Hi and thank you for your reply.

It will not be a do it yourself I still have to learn more about cars, I will take it to a good mechanic.

About the low power at low rpm, it is like this: low power till 4k and then BOOM, full power, the throttle response in non linear and it is a pain in the *** to drive it in the traffic.

 

I bring more info.

Cold engine sounds good:



Performance is better if engine is cold.

Max RPM is 5500, I hit the rev limiter.

Exhaust is ticking after turning off the car and is not even cold outside, around 15 degree celsius (60 Fahrenheit ) Is that normal?
Unburnt fuel in the exhaust?
Sounds like a distributor problem?

 

Exhaust ticking is completely normal. There is a metal shield around the exhaust and when it gets hot it expands. When it cools it contracts and that's the pinging/ticking sound you hear.

Max rpm is 5,500??? That's all it will rev to? It's my understanding the redline is 6,500.

Is this partial throttle(regular driving), or is this WOT


VTEC, yo. (Joking)

 

Yes 5500 maximum RPM.

If partial throttle the reaction is better.
If full throttle then is crap till 4000 RPM an then it pulls like a super Vtec is kicking :D

 

Is your CEL on? Does it work? Engine ticking most certainly is not "normal". **** what the shop says. Have you personally verified mechanical or ignition timing?

 

Hi,

Yes, CEL is working, I know this because I had a bad Oxygen sensor (error 41) which I changed. (NGK) No errors anymore.

I did not personally verify the ignition timing, I just trusted them with that, this is why I`m asking for more info here.

They told me is all good synchronized at 15 degree.

I will return to the shop monday.

Until then, is there something else I should check? cuz it doesn`t make sense to me for an engine to run almost normal while cold and like crap when in normal temp.

The shop I was going to have good reputation, also the guys working there are driving gen. 5&6 hondas, this is why I went to them.

 

There could be a few explanations, but let's start with your base and ignition timing first. Start off with mechanical timing. Pictures would be a good idea, if you aren't 100% sure what you're looking at. Once we've done that, we can do ignition timing.

I've seen shops completely **** up diagnoses WAY too many times to trust anything any shop says, especially when the shop tells you, then you tell us. Ever play the whisper game as a kid? The teacher whispers something to kid 1, kid 1 whispers to kid 2, so on and so fourth around a big circle, and you all laugh at how completely different it comes out the other end? That same thing happens all too often in situations like this. They tell you something that you don't 100% understand, you drive home and type up what you remember as you understood it, which might be 98% of it, or it might be 4%, and we have no way of knowing for sure.

Just two more reasons that we are here to help people in DIY efforts, and not here to help people question their mechanic.

 

I guess you are right, this might be the case here as well.

I will make more pictures tomorrow and I will post them here.

Thank you

 

If you need help with what to look for, let us know, and I can post the related FSM pages for you when I get home tonight.

 

Want to ask a clarifying question. When you say low power in the low rpm, is that compared to BEFORE the mechanics touched it or just in general?

If you are talking about a power difference between the before mechanics and after, then that is indeed a problem the mechanics induced.

Almost sounds like the valve lash was down out of sequence.

I did that once and so only 2 of 4 cylinders were in spec and the other two we way off. Super loud tappet sounds and no power what so ever. I didn't like trying to max rev it so I couldn't tell you about not hitting rev limiter which is 6500, not 5500.

The valve lash HAS to be done bone cold. And really, if they don't know the TDC #1 TDC #4 routine, they need to do each cylinder individually so they don't screw up the other two cylinders. TDC#1, TDC#3, TDC #4, TDC #2, You do them in that order.

Also not sure if NAR said it, pretty sure he has, but double check your mechanical timing yourself, that is really simple and straight forward to do. If your mechanical timing is correct, and your distributor is close to centered on the top flange, then you are quite lickely very close if not perfectly timed, which would only leave a real bad valve lash job.

 

Hi, I`m back.

To be honest, power was low even before they changed and calibrated the timing belt, the car ran even worst back then, but with the same simptom, no torque til 3500-4000 RMP and then Bang, full power.
I remember they fixed the distributor using a wire rod, only for testing, because they couldn`t fix using the bolts since the old timing belt was off 1 tooth...and the car was running great! So I know how is supposed to run.

The odd thing is, the engine was quiet with the old, maybe 5 years old engine oil.
And now with the new 10W 40 Motul oil is all going crazy but only when the engine is in normal temp.
Maybe should I bleed the coolant circuit? I will try this too.

Thank you about the info on the valve lash, I will study more about this.


@NotARaCist

I made some pictures:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bya...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bya...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bya...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bya...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bya...ew?usp=sharing


Is my distributor upside down like in this thread?:

https://honda-tech.com/honda-civic-d...-work-3263202/


P.S I will make a video so I can show you the car acceleration.

 

I would also like to add: The car Idles well, cold or hot.
And I have no problems starting the car.

 

As for lack of power, the power band on the D15B7 is from 4K to 5.2K RPM. Below that it's a little weak and it suddenly pops to full torque when you hit 4K. It still should be totally powerless but there is an obvious jump at 4K.

Your wires are different locations than mine. My #4 is on the bottom front peg. #3 is top front peg, #2 is on the bottom back peg and #1 is the top back peg.

That doesn't match what I see in your picture. My car is the D15B7 too. And your distributor looks to be orientated correctly.

You can see it the correct spots in this post:

https://honda-tech.com/honda-civic-d.../#post36192054

Just turn the image to match your distributor and you will see how your wires are off.

This one might be a bit easier but exactly the same positions:

https://honda-tech.com/honda-civic-d.../#post49635631

And now for the overkill.

 

When I said "pictures are useful", I meant pictures of the timing components. You'll need to remove that tan plastic cover for the timing marks on the cam gear. The other timing mark is on the crank pulley, which you'll see straight down from that tan cover. Rotate the engine until the crank pulley's timing mark lines up with the small plastic mark on the timing cover itself, take a picture of that, then remove the valve cover, pull that tan plastic cover back, and make sure the timing marks on the cam gear line up.

 

A little tip, being you have to pull the valve cover to get the upper timing cover off.

I'm assuming your valve cover isn't currently leaking.

When you go to put the valve cover back on after you are done verifying the mechanical timing and taking pics do the following to prevent leaks.

Make sure to have some non-chlorinated brake cleaner on hand and a small tube of ultimate grey, or the right stuff.

With some paper towel, spray brake clean onto the towel and clean both the mating surface on the head and the groove on the valve cover that holds the gasket. Do not spray brake cleaner on the head itself or the valve cover. Spray the paper towels and then wipe the surfaces needing cleaning.

Then also wet another paper towel with brake cleaner and clean the valve cover gasket. I usually wrap the wet paper towel around the gasket and pull the rubber gasket through the paper towel.

Once the cleaner evaporates, you can put a little dollop of the RTV on the corners of the gasket that change elevation (go up and over the cam shaft/cam shaft gear and distributor). The corners of the humps as it were.

Then you can place the cover back in place and be sure not to torque the valve cover bolts more than 7 ft-lbs. It's very easy to over do these and cause yourself more headaches.

If you do a good clean up, you can typically reuse the gasket and it won't slowly seep oil all over your valve cover and engine head.

Failure to clean up everything well just lets the oil slowly creep all over the place.

 

Yes you are correct, my wires position do not match...however I did try to connect them as u told me, but no chance to start the car, it backfires.

How can it run if not a single cable is plugged in the right position?

My car is an EJ2 D15B7 SOHC, Non Vtec, 101 HP

Ty for the tips on the valve cover.

@NotARaCist I will do as u told me, I will post the pictures here as soon as I get them.


Also the fuel consumption is bad.

 

Your pictures of the mechanical timing may give the answer.

 

I would use 5W30 oil for better cold engine oil circulation.

 

Hi again, I`m back.

I finally manged to check mechanical timing and then ignition.

Long story short: I have an Accord distributor on my d15b7 engine...code: TD 58U and I know I should have a TD 41U, I wonder why the last owner was using an Accord distributor?

This is why my wires in the distributor are off.

As far as I know, the two distributors are not switchable. Is this correct?

The problem is I had to set the mechanical timing off 1 tooth in order to set the ignition timing at 16 degree. (back then I did not know I was using an Accord distributor)
With mechanical timing ok, I could have set the ignition on maximum 6 degree.

I`m thinking to order a TD 41U distributor and then set the timing again.

Till then I should be ok with 1 tooth off on the belt?
BTW, car runs much better now, all though not great.
ECU is ok, code 06.

Anything else I could try?

Thank you!