I have a 95 1.6L Honda Civic EX coupe with a 5 speed manual transmission. I just bought it from a guy that rebuilt the engine. He said it needed a distributor but when I got it home and tried starting it, it almost fired right up. I tried starting it a couple more times but it would only run for maybe 10 seconds when feathering the gas but it ran terrible and was shaking like crazy. I checked and it has spark in all 4 cylinders, fuel pressure is good and the resistance from all injectors is right at 13 and I'll be checking the timing soon as well. There's no obvious disconnected wires that I can see. I am running it without the front motor mount for now since the previous owner didn't install it and I'm busy troubleshooting the running problem. Also, the exhaust system is missing from just beyond the firewall back too. Not sure if either of those things could be causing the running problem but thought I'd bring it up anyway. Could the distributor still be causing this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

Check that the timing belt is in time. Also test compression, valves may be too tight or other mistake in rebuilding the engine. Any codes in the ECU?

 

If it is shaking like crazy, check to see if you have the spark plug wires in the right order, I had a client whose spark plug wires were not in the right firing order. Even though it was something small, it caused a big problem.

 

I'll be back working on the car tomorrow so I'll give you guys an update after I check the timing and if there's any codes. I did check the order of the plug wires and also the compression and they're both good.

 

Sorry I haven't given an update lately guys. I got a chance to check the timing and it's perfectly fine. Not sure where to go from here... Should I just spend the $70 for a new distributor and see if that fixes it?

 

Have you checked for ECU codes?

Also you should check that he didn't mis-plug the TPS and the MAP, or the IACV vs the purge solenoid. These have the same physical plug and are close enough together so it is not 'idiot proof' to plug the right plug onto the right sensor like most cars.

The 3 wire plug with a white wire goes on the MAP. I don't remember the wire color for the IACV.

 

I checked the ECU for codes and there was one for the IACV. I'll check the connections and hopefully that's the issue. Thanks!

 

the iacv could most definitely be the cause of your problems there are multiple diy videos on youtube and can be fixed with a bottle of carb cleaner. actually i believe on the older model civics there alot more work involved with the iacv.

 

Just checked and all the wire connections are correct. The TPS and MAP connectors are the right colors and are also impossible to mix up because they don't reach. The IACV and purge solenoid do have the same connectors but were correct too. I did switch them around just to see but it did the same thing and still didn't want to stay running. Any other ideas? I'm 100% stumped..

 

Check resistance of the IACV coil. If open circuit its not going to work and the ECU will detect that and throw IACV code. Though even with a bad IACV it should keep running as long as you stay on the gas pedal.

The MAP and TPS can be tested with a voltmeter, this is done with the engine not running.

You could also disconnect fuel injectors one at a time and see if it is a dead cylinder or a more generalized problem. (The usual test is to disconnect the spark plug wires but doing that on a Civic is prone to blow the coil.)