I have a '98 Honda Civic EX Sedan. I've had it for about 2 years now and the performance seems to be going down. Before, I was able to give it gas and it would take off just fine, but now when I accelerate it doesn't do it like it used to. Acceleration has become more poor, as has climbing hills even while down shifting to a lower gear (ie: 4 to 3). I have recently gave it a decent sized tune-up including oil and oil filter change, fuel filter change, spark plugs and wires, and washing off my air filter (after market, non stock).

I do have a CEL on which reads code P1457 which I pretty much know most about and I'll be checking that system here shortly with a vacuum pump. I'm not sure if that could be it, as I thought P1457 is only EVAP canister leak and not affect performance much. I may be wrong though.

Any input is much appreciated. If you need any further information to give your opinion, please let me know.

-CT

 

Have you inspected the inside of the distributor, including the cap and rotor?

Have you recently pulled CEL codes to see if there are new ones?

Have you checked the ignition timing with a timing gun?

What are the cylinder compressions?

What's the gas mileage?

 

Other people prolly know better than me, but some simple things to try would be checking for an exhaust leak, put in some Gummout all in one(cleans 4 parts), make sure all the cylinders are firing, If you have a stock air filter change it or if its a cone wash it, try resetting the ecu maybe......all this might help with sluggish acceleration

Also, check to see how much useless **** is in your trunk and back seat, I noticed I was getting sluggish and then I found the problem in my trunk o' junk

 

I'll be in the process of pulling the distributor in a couple minutes here. That one just hit me as could be corroded. CEL code was just taken this afternoon with only P1457. I have no idea how to check timing, nor do I have a gun lol. Also, how do I check compressions? I'm not sure my exact mileage, but I do know I can drive aprox. 230 miles using just over half a tank. Sorry for my lack of knowing how to do things. I've just gotten into trying to do most of my own work to save some money.

Only thing in my trunk really is a couple jack stands, and a jack as I've been doing a lot of maintenance lately.

 

Post what you see inside of the distributor.

The diagram shows how to check the ignition timing. An inductive timing gun costs about $30, but you may be able to borrow one from an auto parts store.

Click the Compression link in my signature.

 

Shall I pull the whole distributor or just the cap and look at what's inside? I undid the mount bolts and a little oil came out. I can take a photo and upload that section if needed.

 

The cap would be the one you want to look at first. If you don't see a problem there, then look elsewhere.

 

Removing just the distributor cap should be adequate for inspection. A little oil leaking past the distributor O-ring is not abnormal when the mounting bolts are loosened, but there should be no oil inside the distributor.

 

I removed just the cap itself and it looked perfectly clean. The piece that spins looked like it may have been a little dirty but I'm not sure if that's just how it looks. I can take it off again and photograph it if needed.

There wasn't oil in the cap anywhere. Where I found the small amount of oil was when I undid the main bolts that connect the distributor to the engine directly. There wasn't a lot because the car had been sitting a few hours.

 

Post a photo clearly showing the contact points inside the distributor cap and the corresponding contact area on the rotor. Any corrosion or wear could cause an ignition problem.