I have a 1989 Civic DX Hatchback with the D15B2 motor. Yesterday I changed my head gasket, valve cover gasket, timing belt, water pump, plugs wire, rotor distributor cap, oil, intake/exhaust manifold gaskets. The car starts up fine and idles beautifully. Revs fine in neutral. When I drive though the car hesitates. If i floor it in first the car goes nowhere until the RPM's get to about 4,000. I'm estimating cause I dont have a tach. When I drive the car I have to be 1 gear lower than I normally would be in to get any power. It's like 1st gear is 2nd gear, 2nd gear is 3rd gear, and so on. No backfiring. When I took off the timing belt I din't move the cam gear or the crank pulley at all. Any movement was made while the timing belt was on and they moved together. The car doesn't stall at all. What could the issue be? Where do I start troubleshooting? Thanks in advance.

 

You need to go back & check all your timing marks both belt & distributor to be sure they are OK. Sounds like something is out of time.

 

I used the Bentley's Manual. The way they explined it was a lil confusing. I figured if I didn't move anything i wouldn't have to bother with the marks. Could you explain or lead me to a link that explains how to check all the timing markings?

 

Am I damaging the car by driving it?

 

I see the last post was a few months back so i hope i dont get flamed on for reviving an old post. I am a new member and i have been looking for some answer to this for a loooonnnngggg time.

I recently was "trying" to change my timing belt, using the special hex tool and a breaker bar i was unable to do it, after an hour of wrenching with it i said screw it until i could get the car to my friends shop with an air comp. and impact gun, but when i put it back together it has no power at all. Idle once its warmed up is around 500rpm, and if i give it any more then like 1% throttle it bogs and sputters to the point of stalling, i can drive it normally at that 1% throttle but takes a wwhhhhiiilllleeeeee to get up to speed. However once my rpms are at 3k the car takes off like it popped vtec and the turbo hit boost at the same time. (its an lx...d16y7, no turbo)
So i asked someone and they said in wrenching on it i probably slipped one tooth and something to do with the ecu and 3k rpm. I have not made it to my friends shop to do the timing belt yet but am i damaging my car driving it like this? Also can someone please explain what it is that is causing it to change at 3k? thank you in advance

New Member
Jason

 

I fixed my problem by advancing the timing. I turned the distributor clockwise. The car drives beautifully.

 

so i can rotate my dist. for now to fix the idle and acceleration problem? at least as a quick fix until i get in there and do the timing belt? Which way would i rotate it? i dont know if i slipped a tooth one way or the other so idk if its advanced or im retarded, lol. Any suggestions?

 

Try one way. If that doesn't work, try the other way. I don't know which way is which.

 

Cool thanks bro! I am going to try this later today because i dont think i will make it to my friends house to change the timing belt any time soon. Hopefully this will make the car easier to drive at low speed.

 

Take the top plastic cover off and check the timing marks. You do not need to remove the crank pulley to do that. If the belt has skipped you should replace it before driving any more because you risk a blown engine if it strips completely while running.