94 honda civic vx issues

[RatherDashing]

last month i was driving a 1997 buick park avenue gas hog with bout 171k miles on it and i missed my civics too much and managed to trade it for an unmolested other than riding on steelies 94 honda civic vx and it just hit 130k miles on it.

its got quite a few issues with it of course some i know of others i dont.but i really wanna get this fixed up and be able to get that beastly mpg with it. while driving and shifting in between gears the rpms most of the time will stay high and i shift at bout 3k rpms.they will most of the time stick and take a while to drop and/or they will drop and reach almost 0, the car shutters a little then they come back up.once in a blue moon the car will stall from it. this is one of the biggest issues im having and am not sure where the cause could be at if its the IACV or the TPS or something else im unaware of.

the plug wires i believe do need replaced they have a little orange powdery residue at the tips but im not positive if this wud fix that issue.also while driving at lower rpms the it has slight hesitation thats why i also suspected the wires.But the previous owner was telling me about a tube underneath the intake manifold thats used during lean burn mode that probably collapsed but i cant find anything about this part online.

While shifting it doesnt grind at all but sometimes in gears when accelerating i will hear a grinding noise and from what iv been told its a throw-out bearing. the battery went out at one point and got that replaced.

i had to have the slave cylinder in the clutch replaced since it leaked all the way dry while driving and i cudnt shift it so got it towed to a shop cuz i had no other choice since i had no idea what was wrong with it. this shop is crazy and definetely never taking it there again. the first time they said they did a diagnostic on it and said it was fine after the clutch was worked on.

i drove it and it still had the same issues.i was questioning whether the tech even test drove it around the parking lot. took it back in they said the radiator had a leak on the bottom and wanted 400 to fix it.forget that im just gunna replace it myself radiator is easily under 100 bucks. then they said that they cleaned out the iacv and put it back on and the car was still having the bad idle problem so they quoted 400 to replace that. again screw that i cud buy a new one for 120 or so and just put it on myself i know about that.

this seems like a lot but to sum it up im curious if these sound like easy fixes and its worth fixing up. if the idling issue cud be something unrelated that i dont know of. also curious if an iacv from an 89 crx dx would work with it one of my buddies has one and i havnt tried that out yet. any advice would be much appreciated im still in the process of learning and fixing up hondas and enjoy it a lot

[Ecky]

Paragraphs please.

[Ryland]

At 3,000 RPM your engine should sound like it's screaming and that something is wrong... a stock VX just doesn't sound right or happy with the engine going that fast, your gas mileage will also suck.

It sounds like the tube under the intake manifold that you are talking about is the PCV tube, that has a grommet that often drys out after 20 years and allows extra air in the engine, most of the time it just causes idle bounce, but if it's in poor enough shape that it's collapsed then it might also have a big hole ripped in it, or be gone all together.

[RatherDashing]

Originally Posted by Ryland

At 3,000 RPM your engine should sound like it's screaming and that something is wrong... a stock VX just doesn't sound right or happy with the engine going that fast, your gas mileage will also suck.

It sounds like the tube under the intake manifold that you are talking about is the PCV tube, that has a grommet that often drys out after 20 years and allows extra air in the engine, most of the time it just causes idle bounce, but if it's in poor enough shape that it's collapsed then it might also have a big hole ripped in it, or be gone all together.

Wud this tube be something i cud easily replace by lifting the car up jacks and getting under there? He did say it was a cheap part at autozone. it does start screamig at about 3k rpms.vtec-e works just fine.i was actually wondering if a cold air intake wud be better to hear the vtec more but from what iv read its best to keep the stock air intake and filter on there. Just when shifting the rpms have actually started to raise just a few lines then start dropping slowly.and i know that when shifting inbetween gears or neutral the rpms r supposed to drop down to normal idle. And yes gas milage is barely hitn 30mpg and that sucks for the vx

[Ryland]

Why are you revving the engine up to 3,000RPM??? even merging in to traffic on the freeway it's rare to need to rev the engine up that high.



#4 is the tube I'm talking about and most part stores do not sell it, a Honda dealer might charge you $15 for it or Honda Automotive Parts sell it for $7 and a few bucks for shipping, if you order that tube get part #3 as well, you can not get to that tube by jacking the car up, you need to find someone with small hands, to get the grommet (#3) out you need needle nose vise grips.

A cold air intake will let you hear the engine more because it will de-tune the air intake and make the engine louder/rougher/rattle, I don't know of any positive effects that it could have.

[RatherDashing]

I should most definitely correct myself on that one. ima watch myself again while driving.when i drove the 89 crx i shifted at about there.in the vx its lower. my next step is definetely to replace that tube and definetely figure out the issue with the rpms sticking or dropping to 0

[RatherDashing]

also is it a pcv valve? im trying to find one on ebay if its cheap enough

[Ryland]

Not everyone has found a PCV valve but some do... if there is a valve is in the lower part, not up top where you can get to it easily.

shifting when the shift light comes on is the best rule, otherwise shift before the engine starts to scream! 3k RPM is crazy! 2k RPM makes me twitchy and you have plenty of power at that speed!

So if you find a PCV valve then clean it out and you can get a replacement at the auto part store for a few bucks, but if you don't find a valve then don't panic, just make sure that the hose is in good shape and that the #3 grommet is soft and sealing well.

[Ecky]

The VX uses the same bearings as any other Honda engine. Due to the restrictive intake manifold it stops building power at 5500rpm which is probably why the redline is only 6000, but it's 99% part compatible with engines that rev up to almost 8k. You're not going to break anything rev'ing it up to 3k, but you will hurt your economy.

I once destroyed a distributor in a B series motor rev'ing it past 9k (in 5th gear) but it sustained no other injuries.

[RatherDashing]

yeahh i totally forgot about the shifting light. when it works. cuz it doesnt work 100% of the time ill shift to it. sometimes i just like to drive a lil zippy nothing too extreme. and i noticed that too. after i got it i noticed it redlined at 6k and wont go past that at all. but not something to experiment with since its a vx. so after i figure out all these issues with it. definetely want to find a cold air intake that will fit it.
also out of curiousity.dont get too hard on me about it because it definetely would not be a permanent mod. down the road after all these issues are fixed, if i wanted to have a lil fun with it and possibly throw on a 4in apexi n1 muffler on it but still keep the stock exhaust to put back on when i want to sell. how much of a difference in mpg wud that affect the car? personally i just really cant stand driving quiet cars.especially manuals.i would leave everything else stock.