Civic-EG.com Forum 3.3.1

- Wed Mar 24, 2010 3:08 pm #183389 cars idle seems really low to me (i could be wrong)..... i marked the dizzy mounts so when i adjusted it .. i could put it back....still it idles low



ppl told me the screw on the throttle body would help and also ive heard flush the coolant ...........


jw your opinions!!!
thank you

#1 Member of CHANCE is HOMO club:thumb:

1994 civic dx hatch-sold
1992 civic dx sedan-sold
2001 ap1 s2000 -daily

[suspendedHatch]

- Wed Mar 24, 2010 3:53 pm #183407 The stock tach is not accurate, especially not at idle. You need a diagnostic tach that you plug in at the diagnostic plug on the driver's side strut tower. Don't mess with it unless you KNOW it's wrong. You can have it checked by a mechanic or just wait until your next smog check.

Is it a VX? Does it feel like it's going to stall? Does the idle fluctuate and catch itself often? Does it stall when the radiator fan comes on?

The distributor is a very fine adjustment and can be off even from the time you check the timing to when you torque down the bolts. And each of the ears moves independently. I've never understood how you can get it anywhere near accurate by marking it.

- Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:18 pm #183431

The stock tach is not accurate, especially not at idle. You need a diagnostic tach that you plug in at the diagnostic plug on the driver's side strut tower. Don't mess with it unless you KNOW it's wrong. You can have it checked by a mechanic or just wait until your next smog check.

Is it a VX? Does it feel like it's going to stall? Does the idle fluctuate and catch itself often? Does it stall when the radiator fan comes on?

The distributor is a very fine adjustment and can be off even from the time you check the timing to when you torque down the bolts. And each of the ears moves independently. I've never understood how you can get it anywhere near accurate by marking it.

it's a dx. I had an aftermarket tach on the car before and the stock cluster was dead on with the aftermarket. and no more smog checks... live in florida now!

and it kinda seems like it wants to stall but not really... idle stays put doesnt fluctuate except for when the fan turns on and off but thats normal. so idk what the prob is?

everything is working properly it just seems like it at low idle

and i get worried cuz i dont want the oil pressure to drop and produce build up!
and i marked every bolt to make sure it was all properly adjusted back to the factory position.

#1 Member of CHANCE is HOMO club:thumb:

1994 civic dx hatch-sold
1992 civic dx sedan-sold
2001 ap1 s2000 -daily

- Wed Mar 24, 2010 6:27 pm #183450 hey mine does that too!! i have a b16a on a sir sedan..and the same rev position thats on your photo is the same low rev as mines it recently started happning but before it used to rev at 1000 rpm tought it was the filters that jus needed changing...and oil

- Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:32 pm #183734 my old honda (pre-ef) had the low idle problem, no tach in it but u can hear and feel it. i just tightened the screw u talked about a little till it sounded good. problem solved

also a buddy had his screw kinda de-thread...it would come lose over time

"We del sol owners are a proud people."
Do it right, not twice!

[suspendedHatch]

- Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:12 pm #183867 Tightening the screw reduces the idle speed.

I don't know it sounds normal to me. I don't see a problem. Honda idles their engines at a minimum. If you drop it more than 100 RPM from spec idle speed it starts to stumble badly and will stall. If it's not doing that, I wouldn't mess with the idle adjustment screw unless you actually check the RPM. Also check your ignition timing as it has a strong effect on idle speed.

There's no way to discern whether your OEM tach matches an aftermarket tach. You can't even judge what the RPM's are on the factory tach. It is well documented that when driving, Honda tachs lag several hundred RPM behind the true RPM. This is common to all OEM tachs. And the sweep of the needle isn't even with RPM's. The accuracy is best when the needle is halfway to max, and decreases in each direction from there.

I had an AEM EMS on my Civic and I was able to view the actual RPM on the laptop. Even viewing the actual number I could not guess that based on the tach. Also, I was also able to control the IACV RPM with the keyboard. Changing the RPM's by 50-100 increments wouldn't even affect the needle. And sometimes the needle would be higher at the same RPM depending on whether I just started it up or if I blipped the throttle and let it come back down.

- Sun Mar 28, 2010 2:52 am #184144 ok thats good to know see idk where it should be idling from original to start with but when i got the car 2 yrs ago it seemed like it idled higher by just a little bit so idk everything seems fine i just worry

#1 Member of CHANCE is HOMO club:thumb:

1994 civic dx hatch-sold
1992 civic dx sedan-sold
2001 ap1 s2000 -daily

- Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:00 pm #186123 My hatch just started doing this 2-3 days ago (not sure if the recent boost in warm weather or plant pollen has anything to do with it).

At idle, the needle (however inaccurate) normally hovered around 850-900. As of a few days ago, when I come to a stop it will sit at 850rpm for a second or two, then drop to ~400 and the engine gets VERY quiet, and actually lopes a bit, shakes the car/gearshift. It hasn't stalled yet, and it doesn't shake violently or anything, I just have to adjust the gas/clutch ratio at take off. Still, it's an oddity that just started so of course I noticed it.

I plan to do plugs/wires/air filter/oil on my next day off, will see if that has a bearing on anything.

- Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:50 pm #186132 I could be wrong but when doing my d15b swap, the Chiltons manual said that the idle should be around 370 to 470 for a 92 civic, 93-95 should have a higher idle at 620 to 720. Mine idles around that and it feels normal.

If it is really abnormal then I would change the fluids and clean the filters.