I bought a 97 Civic just almost a month ago. It drove about 40 miles and broke down when I got into my home town. It died when I would let off the gas pedal. Then would hesitate to shift into higher gears making it impossible to going up even a slight incline. I initially took it to the shop because I thought it was the spark plugs. After finding that it had jumped time, they replaced the timing with a whole new kit and water pump. Then went on to replacing the distributor, spark plugs and wires, valve cover gasket, and thermostat. Nothing worked. I got a call and was told by the shop it was a VTEC engine inside of a non VTEC car. I've researched everywhere trying to find places to help and no luck. I contacted the original owner of the vehicle and was told the housing of the engine was from a VTEC but the engine itself is not a VTEC. The code on it says it is, it has a VTEC selenoid. I don't know about cars other than simple things to fix. The original owner is also a mechanic and he will be replacing the transmission selenoid or a shifter selenoid, I don't remember which one, but I'm hoping it fixes it. I would hate to have just spent 1,500 on a car plug 1,000 to "fix" it. Any tips?