Hi, I'm a new forum member and hope you guys can help me troubleshoot this problem. First off the car is a 1996 Civic LX with 109K miles and I have noticed a significant power loss. I have to downshift going up hills when I didn't used to have to. Half throttle acceleration seems to be the same as full throttle. It's like the motor is choking.

I replaced the fuel filter yesterday and there was a smallimprovement. I also replaced the stock air filter and gave the motor a seafoam treatment through vac line and tank.

The car had the exhaust manifold and catalytic converter replaced under warranty 10k miles ago. They also replaced the plugs, wires and distributer then.

Can the catalytic converter get clogged so soon? How about the fuel pump not giving me adequate pressure?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

Has the CEL been ON?

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread/1901557


As you mentioned, measure the fuel pressure. If it's out of spec, you might have a bad fuel pump or fuel pressure regulator.

Also clean the throttle body and check whether the throttle cable is too loose.

 

Thanks for the fast reply Ron.

The CEL is not on.

I will check the throttle cable.

How much PSI should the fuel pressure be?

 

 

You can burn up a new converter in a rather short time if the engine is misfiring or running too rich.

 

I absolutely agree. That's why I asked about the CEL, which theoretically should detect major misfiring or a bad O2 sensor, though a leak in the exhaust manifold might be missed by the sensor system.

 

After the seafoam treatment and sitting overnight, the problem seems to have been fixed. It is much more responsve now. Maybe the injectors needed to be cleaned. The new fuel filter also seemed to help as well.

Ron those graphics you posted are very helpful. The throttle cable had almost 3/4" of play in it. It is now within specs.

Thanks for you help.