Bruce wrote:
> A few more issues from my poor little car for anyone who can shed some
> light...
>
> My '90 5-spd Civic Ex has been bogging down at low RPMs since I bought
> it last fall. When I accelerate from a dead stop I have to goose it to
> about 2500rpm and then pop the clutch a bit to get it to take off as
> quick as I think it should. Especially in an up-hill situation. (no AC)
>
> If I drive it like other small manual 4-bangers I've owned (Corollas,
> etc), it will literally take 5-10 secs to get to the point where I
> think I should shift to 2nd. Gas pedal down half way or floored makes
> no difference. Also, doesn't matter if the car is at temp or just
> started. After 1st gear and I'm moving a bit, there's no problem. I
> seem to remember reading about a potentiometer (maybe in the throttle?
> can't remember the details) that, if the contacts were dirty, would
> cause this type of thing. Maybe I'm just crazy and I dreamed this....
>
> I'm also getting only about 15-18mpg in town and 20-23mpg hwy this
> summer... seems incredibly low. Was getting the same last winter, but
> wrote it off to cold weather. Spark plugs are about a year old, newish
> air filter, and OEM O2 sensor's only 6 months old.
>
> ECU's not throwing any codes.
>
> -Back pressure too low/high? (bad catalytic converter?)
> -Bad plug wires? (I'm sure they're not Honda OEM wires, but I think
> they're only about a year old)
> -Clogged EFI?
> -Timing out of adjustment? I didn't fool with the dist. when I changed
> the timing belt, mostly because I couldn't find a damn marking anywhere
> on the crankshaft pully to save my life. Ran like a top after the belt
> change, so I'm confident it's not a tooth off...

this is confusing - it's run bad since you got it? but it ran great
after you changed the belt, now runs bad again? if that's true, check
your timing belt, it's probably skipped a tooth.

>
> HELP!
>
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated...
>
> Regards,
> -Bruce
>