I have a 1990 civic hatch with a 4 speed. If it sits for a few hours, it's REALLY hard to get it started. I have to pump on the gas a lot and once it finally starts, the rpms at idle are really low. I don't have a tach, but i'd say its easily less than 500rpm. If I let my foot off the gas, they drop, and I'm assuming the car would just die, but I mash on the gas before it does because I don't want to have to start it again. Light grey smoke comes out of the tailpipe at this point. The car is driveable with some minor revving to make sure it doesn't die. After it goes around the block one or two times, everything smooths out and the car runs fine, save for some episodes where the idle fluctuates up and down for a bit. I'd like to figure this out myself, because I'm quite the broke college kid. My car knowledge is limited, too. Any ideas?

 

You may have a bad or dirty EACV (IACV) and/or the idle needs to be adjusted.

Is the Check Engine Light ON? If so, read the blinking LED code from the ECU under the carpet below the front passenger dash.

 

When you say it sounds like a lawnmower are you saying that its loud as well as running like crap? Like hole in the exhaust loud? When is the last time you did a tuneup, plugs, wires, distributor? How many miles are on the car? I agree with RonJ too, helpfull info man!

 

The check engine light isn't on, and it's not throwing any codes. I've read stuff other places, and cleaning the IACV has come up, so I'll probably try that. It's loud and runs like crap when it sounds like a lawnmower. Not hole in the exhaust loud, I don't think. Just pop, pop, pop like a lawnmower and louder than normal. But when everything smooths out, it's not abnormally loud anymore. I bought it on Tuesday, and the guy didn't know much about the car because it was his granddaughter's. and I doubt she had it tuned up regularly. It probably just needs some sort of regular maintenance or something. There's only 130,000 miles on it.

 

when you say pop, pop, pop are you saying its backfiring? Does it feel like its struggeling, your having to force the rpm's up, and its popping as your doing this? If so then I would look at your spark. Three things, fuel, air, spark. You need all three, and it sounds like you have plenty of fuel. Plugs, wires, distributor, how do they look, when where they replaced last? The IACV deals with your air, along with any exhaust leaks, but usually if you have an exhaust leak the circumstance would be the opposite, the car would run fine with the car cold, but go to crap when the exhaust gets hotter. So I would look at the IACV, and spark. Goodluck!

 

Hey RonJ just curious but does the 90-94 or any other civic year have a PCV or EGR valve? I had both go bad in my GSX Eclipse go bad and caused similar probs.

 

oh, no it's not backfiring, i was just describing the low rpm, slow, pop, pop, pop sound a lawnmower makes. it does struggle, and i do have to force the rpms up. i'll look at the plugs, wires, and distrubutor tomorrow and let you know how new they look, but i don't know when they were replaced last. i don't think the idle needs adjusting because once the car warms up, it idles fine, except for the weird fluctuations sometimes, which i think would be fixed by the IACV being cleaned. thanks a lot for taking the time to help me with this, guys. oh, and is there a link to some good instructions on cleaning the IACV preferably with pictures? thanks a lot.

 

Yeah, I agree with 1slowcivic, it sounds like a basic tune-up (plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor) may help. You may also want to check the ignition timing.

Here are links for DIY IACV cleaning:

http://www.superhonda.com/forum/f94/...r-iacv-144463/

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_56.../tm.htm#566911

 

Yes, most Civics have both, so checking for a bad or dirty PCV would also be a good idea.

 

By the way Superjeff when we said replace the distributor we didn't mean the whole thing, just the rotor and cap, wires, spark plugs with the right gap, PCV valve is under $5, and a fuel filter. Thats a reasonable easy tune-up that one if it doesn't solve your problem it is strongly recommended not knowing when it was done last. You can do all those pretty easy. I know there is a sticky on there somewhere on how to download the service manual for your year, you should download that for the distributor part if your uncomfortable. Don't feel that you are just throwing parts at it with that listed above, those are very very good thigns to do if your not sure when they where done last. Try the IACV and the PCV checks first as they are the cheapest!