I just replaced the head gasket on my 90 civic with 302000 miles on it and i plan on driving it into the ground. but after i started it up for the first time since i replaced the head gasket, i realized that there is a slight problem. i started it up for the first time and it runs just fine but as soon as i press on the gas pedal a little, it starts to die down and almost stall. ALMOST stall. probably less than 600 rpms. but when i let off the pedal, it does fine and kicks back up to normal idle. since it was running fine and not overheating, i decided to take it for a ride up the street. i got through first, second, third, and fourth fine, but when i decided to downshift into third from fourth to gain speed, it didnt do hardly anything as far as acceleration was concerned until i got past about 3000 rpm, then it started to pick up. ive heard from a few people that it could be the distributor needs to be "rotated", but i have no idea how to do that. i just need a few ideas on how to fix it. i dont need the car now as i have another accord going fine for me, but i love the 50+ mpg i get from this little toy. all help will be greatly appriciated. thanks.

 

Timing belt may be off by a tooth. You should check timing with a timing light (follow the procedure with jumping the test jumper). If you can't get spark timing to come in right near the center of the adjustment range, that confirms the cam is out of time. Do not just tinker with it because if you get too far off, the valves will crash.

 

well i got it to stop idling weird, but now it backfires a little when i shift. timing still i guess.