Ok im new to hondas especially modded hondas. This 1 has a jdm b18c. Its a 99 civic. Also has headers(1 has a hole), adjustable cam gears, Aem fuel rail
weapon R intake, old skool skunk 2 IM. Anyways the car idles rough when cold for a minute or 2. Then after a few minutes it runs smooth and is fine. The owner told me its because its modded and all hondas run rough when cold until they warm up. He said you are supposed to let it warm up for a few minutes or press the throttle a bit till it warms up. Is this normal? Like i said im new to this, but it sounds odd. Ive been around plenty of hondas and none of them idled rough when cold unless there was a problem. I havent bought the car yet but won it on ebay. Im supposed to go see it. The ebay ad said it ran smooth with no problems other than the valves needed adjusting. Can someone shed some light and help me out. I dont want to buy a piece of junk.

 

It takes 30 minutes tops to adjust the valves. If that were the only problem, he would've done it already. So that's a pretty big red flag right there. Any time someone is selling a non-working car claiming that it is because of some minor thing, bet your bottom dollar that the problem is not that.

 

He said the car runs smooth and great after it warms up for a min or 2. Its just that first minute that it idles a little low and rough. If its just the idle control valve, no big deal. But im worried about head gasket, warped head, or overreved engine with bent valves. I guess a bad head gasket would cause it to overheat though which it doesnt. Overreved engine would run rough all the time not just when cold. Am i right or what? Ive already sent him a deposit after the auction ended but havent paid him the full amount till i see it. I hope i can get my deposit back if its junk. Are the JDM B18C dependable or do things easily break on them?

 

take a pic of the intake manifold, its the fitv, they are for cold starts the valve opens to allow the car to idle a little high til it warms up then the valve closes and goes back to normal idle. most people who mod the engine ive seen them, they remove the fitv and block it off, it will be located by the throttle body.

 

thanks for the response, i will check that. he doesnt know much, he traded his other car for this and now lost his license so cant drive. What do you think about the way it idles? sound minor not major? he said the ck engine is off and it doesnt misfire at all even when low idle. Just that the valves will need adjusting maybe but he said they are not very loud

 

i say your ok, if you think you can adj the valves then go ahead, if not let a mech do it,

 

ok here are some videos he sent me of the car cold startup low idle, and then after warm

http://s333.photobucket.com/albums/m...22091449-1.flv


and this is after warm

http://s333.photobucket.com/albums/m...1222091451.flv

and the first video that made me think something was wrong

http://s333.photobucket.com/albums/m...1218091750.flv

Sound ok by the videos