But I've come to the dark side and am currently in the process of buying a 93 Civc VX. Ever since I drove my first Subaru through a winter here in WA I swore up and down I'd never own another fwd car if I didn't have to. And I've never...ever owned a Honda, hated on them to be honest...lol, owned a few VW's though. Well...I buddy of mine who is a not mechanical in any way had bought himself a 93 Honda Civic VX hatch about 5 years ago. It had high miles when he bought it with a rebuilt motor, and was a theft recovery so the center dash bezel and both door cards were messed up. But, it had some cool aftermarket goodies on it like some rims, intake, and header with wrap. I looked at it 5 years ago and gave him the go ahead to buy it cause all he was looking for was a good commuter and as a good little car it was what he needed. Fast forward to 9 months ago and the car was having issues, wouldn't run right, and wouldn't stay running long enough for him to jump it with a "jump box" and close the hood so he parked it...lol. Fast forward again to last week and I went up to Belingham to help him move the last of his stuff home and look at this car since we was gonna either scrap it...or sell it to me if I could get it running and drive it home. Popped in a new battery, and what do ya know it started right up and idled...well it idled ok for the most part...lol.

So I drove the thing home while he drove the van we had borrowed home, it used a half of it's !!9 gal tank!! for the 3.5 (about 200 miles) hour drive home so that's about 44 MPG!!. It needs some work, some from my buddy letting it sit for so long, and more from not having it's maintenance since he doesn't know the meaning of the word...lol.

So far I've...
I got a hold of a new dash piece for 20 bucks, and installed it the other day!!
Put my stereo, amp, sub, and speakers in
Cleaned the cone air filter with the proper stuff ;-)
Ran a can of cleaner through the tank

For now that's it, I plan on doing a full break job, tune up, oil change within the next few weeks and possibly the timing belt if it hasn't been done recently.

If anyone has any advice on these little cars feel free to chime in since it's my first Honda let alone a VX (I do know they're a bit different than the average Honda...lol). The fact that I have a DD that is fun to drive yet gets 44 mpg running like crap is AMAZING!! And that's my goal with this thing, keep it fun to drive with the parts I replace, keep it reliable, and keep the MPG's as high as they are. I totally see the draw behind these little cars now ;-)

Here it is after I gave it a wash, replaced the dash bezel, and clean it up a bit.

 

Nice! Another VX hatch on the boards. When you say it runs like crap, what exactly do you mean?

 

Well it likes to idle real low sometimes, like barely reading on the tach, I'd say somewhere around 100-200 rpms. But there are other times it seems to idle where it "should" around 800 rpms or so. I have a "dead" spot in the throttle, basically I can get up to cruising speed pretty well but once there I can't keep a constant 60-65 mph because I've got a very small "dead" spot right at the beginning of the throttle. I'll lightly push the throttle to maintain speed and it kinda just stumbles, then I push slightly farther...and it speeds up more than needed. So it's like I can't get the spot in the throttle I need to maintain speed but I've got the spot that's to slow and the spot after that's to fast...lol. Otherwise it accelerates pretty well, it's still very fun to drive...just annoying to drive on the freeway cause I have to speed up, then slow down, than speed up again...all within 60-65 or 70-75 depending on the speed limit posted.

It also has a pretty bad shimmy at 70-75, so I know that's adding more "drag" than it's supposed to have, as well as needing a full break job, alignment, and the steering likes to "wonder" left and right depending on the road and it's conditions (I'm assuming ball joints?). So those are the other things contributing to what I think makes the car not as "efficient" as possible.

 

About the hesitation.... does it feel like the car is falling on it's face until you push the gas in far enough, allowing it to take off? Is it only when the car is warmed up? If so, I have the same problem. Seems to be common in VXs. I believe the o2 is the one at fault although there is no CEL for it. I just picked up a replacement for like $200 (it is a factory OEM 5 wire wideband - explaining the cost). Hopefully that will help. Otherwise, the TPS could be malfuctioning, or the EGR system is clogged.

Once I replace the o2 sensor, I will let you know if anything changes.

BTW - I am jealous of your black interior. I wish I had that, but mine has a that blue interior color hatches came with.

 

That sounds about right, weather or not it happens with it warm or cold I couldn't tell ya cause I haven't paid attention...lol...but I'll pay attention today when I leave. It does have that "falling on it's face" kind of feeling, and will slow down until it "takes off" when it finds it's power again. But it's only a small hesitation...I mean if I stomp on it to get on the freeway or what not it goes (and pretty well I might add), but when I get up to speed and then back off the throttle to maintain that cruising speed it has that "feeling" until I give it a little more gas, and a little more, than it "takes off" not like a rocket but you can feel the car get it's power back once it's past the "dead spot"

And don't be to jealous about the black interior, both door cards are cracked and broken from when it was stolen, the driver seat has a big worn spot on the bolster, all the seat bottoms are some kind of stained...lol. This little car was neglected in EVERY way...it's gonna take some time but I should have a little runner on my hands that will save me a TON on gas ;-).

 

LOL, I dont have OEM seats, I bought the car with ebay BOMZ seats. Trying to get them out of the car ASAP.

From what I have read, the car is attempting to go into lean burn mode, causing this fall on the face nonsense as the wideband o2/tps/egr system is failing. When you punch it, the motor goes into vtec, and runs in what is called "open loop", or otherwise disregarding many sensors such as the o2 sensor. I am also told that these sensors typically go out around 100K

 

Just to make sure we're on the same page, I this "hesitation" isn't through any more than an 1/8th of the throttle right at the beginning of the response. I can accelerate minimally, moderately, or extremely and it will respond just fine. It's only at the cruising speed I mentioned do I feel any kind of real "hesitation" and it's only in that little bit.

 

Sounds about the same. This only happens to me in any gear except 1st and reverse when the car is warmed up.

Whenever the car is under 2.5K rpms, or if I try to keep a constant speed, it breaks up and falls apart. I currently have the o2 sensor unplugged (giving me a CEL), and preventing the car going into lean burn. Runs and drive 100% now.

 

I will try that today ;-)

 

I am sure it will drive fine with the CEL on. The ECU knows not to attempt lean burn mode when a CEL is on. I am not saying that unplugging the o2 will tell you that the o2 sensor is at fault, but it will allow you to drive temporarily without the issue you are having.

EDIT -
For future reference, I replaced the o2 sensor and everything runs 100% like it should. I did NOT have a CEL on for the o2 sensor, but that was the cause of this issue.