94 honda civic vx issues

[RatherDashing]

i still dont have a vacuum gauge. and dont really want to spend the money on one just quite yet since i just dished out 40 bucks for new fuel injector seals and got the exhaust system done this week as well. plan is to check the ignition coil tommorrow morning. monday have the cat converter tested for free at shop. which they will probably do vacuum gauge not sure. either way im sure ill figure it out quite soon. if its ignition coil thats goin bad im just going to replace the whole distributor since i have a timing light now and replacement for distributor isnt that much more

[RatherDashing]

driving down the road i started overheating. kinda random to happen during the winter. luckly there was the repair shop right by me. theyv done work on my crx before so i trusted them. i took a look under the hood and i was pretty much outa coolant. they found a tear in the upper radiator hose i didnt even notice. they replaced that and one of the mechanics showed me a few places where im having vacuum leaks in the intake manifold

there was a decent sized leak at the idle adjust screw. he melted some metal on it and now the car definitely has a lot more pick up when the gas pedal is applied pressure. before there was a little lag. none at all now

he also pointed out a vacuum leak not too big by the iacv. none of the shops around had one so i had to order online and still waiting.

he also reached wayyy underneath and sprayed carb cleaner again underneath the intake manifold and said that the intake manifold had a leak. makes sence since the exhaust manifold had a leak and iv already replaced that.

this morning after working at the screws for hours i finally got the map sensor off and replaced. didnt notice a difference after.

right now i fixed my car jack so the car is up since i dont have the right angled wrench to get one of the intake manifold bolts off. the one right in the middle is tricky. my only option at this point with my limited amount of tools is reach under after removing oil filter and taking that bolt off. also noticed im going to need a new oil pan gasket.

the transmission is going to still be on hold since i cant find any used at a reasonable price. unless one pops up. once i get the money after fixing the hesitation and loss of milage issue im going to get a new one from synchrotech for 750. the clutch has already arrived as well.

the shop tested the cat converter and said that that wasnt the issue. just incase since im underneath im going to try and get the rusted nasty bolts off and take a look at the bottom part of the converter see if its bad.

more than likely tho I have a feeling after replacing the intake manifold gasket should get rid of my hesitation. and if the cat converter looks good from underneath i might try replacing the distributor since breaking down of the ignition coil might be causing my sympoms as well.

its been a lot of work that i didnt originally anticipate but a lot of the parts I replaced were going bad if not already bad. so once i get the hesitation issue fixed im excited to see what kind of milage ill be getting in city since atm its below 30mpg.

[RatherDashing]

Ok so intakr manifold gasket was bad replaced that still getting hesitation.went and got a vacuum gauge.been trying to figure it out.exaclty where to i hook the connections up at to check cat converter.and what shud i be looking for on gauge?

[Rusty94cx]

How to Use and Interpret a Vacuum Gauge

I think that's the good site. You'll just t into a vacuum source. Watch the gauge at idle and when giving it steady throttle and by snapping the throttle. Quick floor it an let go. All done under the hood.

[RatherDashing]

i just took a video of it will upload in a few minutes

[RatherDashing]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwrFTihpImM

[Rusty94cx]

It's hard to tell but the twitchy needle at idle usually means a miss ignition bad plug or wire but the drop isn't that noticeable. Have you checked the valve lash? Possibly a bad seat or just an out of speck valve. You do have it hooked up correctly just so you know. Are you playing with the throttle at the end of the video?

[RatherDashing]

yes i was. just messing with it seeing what it did. this is my first time using this and i wish i got one a lottt earlier. so from these readings the cat converter should be ok then?

I just replaced the wires recently with ngk ones and the right ngk plugs are in there as well. i checked the plugs last night as well and they are very clean.

there is a very slight hole in exhaust barely noticable where the cat converter connects to the rest of the exhaust. just a very little bit of exhaust coming out. but i doubt its that.

im not sure what valve lash is. actually never heard of it til now. how would i check that?

my last guess on fixing this whole thing would be to just replace the whole distributor.

also i need to look at the timing belt as well and am wondering what to look for on it to know if its needed changed or not. my dad keeps bugn me about that and checking that out. might as well but iv never done one myself.

[Rusty94cx]

Pull the cover off if you can see the ribs from the back it's time. When In doubt change it. It's cheaper than replacing the head. The valve cover comes off you use feeler gauges and measure the lash it's like an old school v8 there is a nut and a screw. You need to download the FSM from Honda Hookups. It'll tell you how to do any and everything to the car.

[RatherDashing]

when u mean check valve lash u mean check valve clearence? like with the feeler gauges check the intake sides and the exhaust sides right? i think i watched a video on that and was looking on doing that down the road if thats the same thing yur talking about

if thats the case i shall probably go and get the feeler gauges from autozone tmmrow and give it a shot