Ren: My '92 Civic

[MetroMPG]

Any objection to me adding year/make/model details to the thread title? It be moar useful to eyeballs browsing the forum.

[Sven7]

Sure Darin... something like "Ren: My '92 Civic"?

Okay, cars hate me.

Driving to drop off some sleigh rally posters, Chuck Berry stopped playing and the CD player wouldn't turn back on. Then the speedometer started acting weird, not registering unless I accelerated. Then when I accelerated the engine would stumble and buck. That got worse and worse until a mile or so later I couldn't even start out in first gear after a stop sign.

I shut it off, did a cursory check for vac leaks, disconnected battery, etc. It had plenty of gas. Alternator belt seemed tight enough, and even though the nut on the lower through bolt is missing, the bolt will not budge from the alt so I didn't figure it was a problem for the time being.

I tried starting it again and it went clickclickclick.

Called AAA and while waiting for them talked to a friend on the phone. After at least a half hour I decided to try to start it again. The starter barely budged the engine but it did turn a little.

So I got it towed home. I think either the alternator went out (it has a squeaky bearing) or the belt didn't have enough traction to turn the alt. Going to go charge the battery replace the alt first thing because that needs to be done anyway. The new one has been sitting behind my drivers seat for a couple weeks now.

Does anyone have ideas? Again, it's got a D16Y7 out of a '96, running the stock '92 ECU and stock alternator from the original 1.5L SOHC non-VTEC.

[slownugly]

Most likely the alternator. Did you ever get the number off the ecu? If its the stock one that will tell you what model the car was originally. And if it's affecting the mileage too. P05 is from a cx. P06 will be a dx. P28 is from an si. P07 is from a vx

[Sven7]

K, will look at that. Would it be possible to swap ECU's from a different trim level and improve MPG without messing stuff up?

I'm being told to check grounds as well.

[ps2fixer]

Checking grounds, and the connections on the starter is a good one. But if you charge up the battery and it takes right off, I would suspect the connections would be ok.

[slownugly]

Depends what's in it now. If its a p05 then that ecu is for a 70 hp 8 valve engine and not the correct fuel map. Closest obd1 computer for that would be the p06. It's for a 90 hp non vtec 1.5 liter.

[arcosine]

Check the ground connections. Usually the alternator light goes on when it's not charging. Start it with the new battery and check the voltage , should be around 13.8 volts. If the bearing is squeaking, then yes, change it out.

[Sven7]

P06

The new alt is sitting here waiting to go in so I'll replace that regardless.

[Sven7]

Just a quick update. Since the Probe sold I can put more thought/energy toward this. While working on getting that darn alternator out, I also built an air dam with spare lawn edging from the Probe's dam. One $8 roll was plenty for both cars.

I wanted to make this less destructive so I pulled off the beat up VX/coupe front lip and drilled a few holes in it... probably ten or twelve. I threw some sheet metal screws through the edging and lip, but the screws stopped the lip from fitting back on the car. So I drilled another set of holes next to the originals and popped some zip ties through instead. Perfect!

One helpful tip I figured out was to heat the edging up while you put it on- that way it doesn't fight back so much. We have a woodburning stove in the barn so I used that as a heat source.

Extends a couple inches below the stock lip. And since half of the edging is supported in back by the lip, it's quite stiff and will not bend back as easily as the Probe's (for better or for worse).

I promise I'll take a better photo once the alternator is in.


Compare the air dam to questionable facial hair...

[slownugly]

Looks like its a dx with the p06. That ecu is fine for that engine.

The lip looks nice. What problems are you having getting the alternator out?