This is the first honda I've ever owned, I'm generally a toyota guy, but I picked up this 92 for $500 with a lot of new parts in it. It's got a new distributor, whole egr system, coil, exhaust from the manifold back including o2 sensor, IAC, TPS, ECU, nd some other odds and ends. My buddy bought it from a friend who couldn't get it running, he put the iac and tps in it, it still wouldn't hardly start or run, tps voltage was reading backwards so he put an ECU in it. I bought it from him, and the day after it started running like crap.

It idles smooth most of the time, though high around 1300-1400. Sometimes it will hunt and surge from 1100-1800. When you go to drive it, it does fine under 1/4 throttle, but when you give her any more than that it will just spit and sputter, its backfired a couple times on me, and half the time if you give it any more than half throttle it will just die completely until you let off. I unplugged the o2 sensor to make sure that wasn't doing it, and it stopped completely dying above half throttle, but it still spits and sputters really hard. I finally managed to get it to throw a code, but when I jumped the diag connector it flashes 21, which is vtec solenoid.....car is non vtec. I am at a loss, and would really like to figure this out because its otherwise a really nice driving car.

The tach is also nuts. Usually reads fine at idle, sometimes bounces. Under real light throttle it reads accurate. When it starts sputtering it jumps all over the place, and when it wants to just shut off when you go past half throttle the tach just drops to 0 till I let out of it

I should add that on rare occasion it gives very little problem and will accelerate fine under WOT. Still has some popping in the exhaust though

 

Update for anyone with similar problems, found the ECU grounds under the thermostat were hand tight and dirty, cleaned then up real good with sandpaper and tightened back up, trans ground was tight but crappy lookin, did the same to that for good measure, car runs like a dream. Still having a little bit of an electrical smell coming from behind the dash I think.