cars are quite simple actually. Tranny fluid...sorry, never had an automatic civic...no help here. But go to a car store and puck up a 92-95 civic manual. Really tells you EVERYTHING you need to know.

 

Go to autozone or advance the part store they will check you charging system for free and if its the battery the will replace it for free if you purchase the battery from them.Normally for me when an alternator goes out the lights slowly dim then stuff start shuting down then the car cuts off and you can't make it to far till it does it again with a battery it just goes and if you jump it it will work till you cut the car off.Make sure the cables are tight and clean first though.

 

The battery is used to start the car...The alternator keeps it running...

If the car isn't starting, you need a battery. If it dies out after running, the alternator is bad. As for the Idle problem, start with a basic tune-up. ((I.E. Plugs, Wires, seafoam (Do an oil change after seafoaming..and change the oil and filter about 1000 miles after.), etc.))

If that doesn't cure your idle problem, go looking for vacuum leaks. Beyond that, not quite sure.