I bought an 88 civic for $400. It wasn't running because the timing belt broke.
I Have now replaced the head and got it all together. The Car runs but will not exceed 3500 rpm when accelerating.

Now I tried some trouble shooting myself and discovered when i disconnect the ground it revs up fine. But then all the lights flicker.

Can anyone help me?

 

bump bump

 

What ground did you disconnect? Is the LED on the ECU under the front passenger carpet blinking any CEL codes? Are any dash warning lights on?

 

No everything seems to be fine, so I'm wondering if it is an ecu problem.

 

What ground did you disconnect?

 

Valve cover to the body

 

I would recommend that you thoroughly clean and tighten all of the main ground wire connections under the hood. Use sandpaper to expose clean metal and to ensure complete metal-to-metal contact.

 

Thanks man ill be trying that on Saturday.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, It was a timing issue and is has been solved the motor now runs strong.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

Glad that you found the fix. Was the mechanical or ignition timing off?