Hey everyone. I just bought a Civic recently. It's an 86 5 speed Si model, proudly sporting fuel injection(!) and it only aspires to be a grocery getter. I didn't pay much for it, and it runs fairly well, but it has a couple issues I'd like to take care of if I can do it myself cheaply.

Recently my "PGM-FI" light (fuel injector) came on. The idle sometimes will bounce, but other than that it's running well. Since I've had the vehicle it has only once started on the first try, usually the second, occasionally the third. I suspect it's a compression issue and I'm not going to invest that much into it, but if anyone has any other ideas I'm open to suggestion!

Those are the extent of my troubles, so if anyone here can help out it'd be greatly appreciated. I've been very happy with the little thing so far! My main transport is a Suzuki motorcycle, but I occasionally take the Civic just for fun.

One other problem, though, is that I'm having difficulty finding the right spark plug wires. The wires from the distributor to the plugs are no problem, but another wire that goes from the distributor way over to some other component I can't recall the name of is proving difficult to find. The Honda dealer wants about 60 bucks for the wires, which is more than I was hoping to spend. Anyone know where I can find the wires at Autozone prices?

It'd probably be fine if I didn't do any maintenance, but I figure I might as well do what I can to keep it running as long as possible. It's in really good shape for an 86. Nice forum, by the way!

 

WELCOME! damn an 86..

 

welcome, good luck on findin the info you need on here and parts for your car at autozone.

 

welcome to the forum. Old school baby!!!

 

the wire off the distributor to something else would most likely be to the ignition coil wire (it looks like another spark plug wire).

for the not starting issue, turn the key to the run postion, let it sit for a few seconds, then start the engine.
on older hondas it can take a few seconds for the fuel pump to build up pressure so the car won't start right away, try it if not we will go from there

 

welcome! wow that baby IS old

 

Cool, I'll give the fuel pump priming a shot next time I take it out. BTW - It's only got 130k miles And I'm impressed with how quick the little sucker is off the line for a 1.5... If the newer Civics are any improvement, I can see why so many people turn them into little racers.

 

130 k still has a lot of life left. Yeah all the civics are very easy to customize and they make many aftermarket parts for them.