Civic EG

ello everyone! My name is Chris!

I am new to Civic-eg and Honda cars in general.

My car is a 1992 Civic VX hatch with the stock VTEC-E d15z1 motor and a cold air intake...that's it!

My car seems to be missing at idle. You can hear a popping/poofing noise from the exhaust pipe. Anytime other than idle, the car performs good!

The idle also gets extremely low when the headlights are turned off. When I turn the lights back on, the idle smooths out a little, but it still misses.

I did the following in hope of solving the problems: New plugs and wires, new fuel filter, and I cleaned the IACV. I was going to replace my PCV but, the PCV that was already installed was just a hallow L-shaped tube.....could this have anything to do with my problems?

The alternator was recently replaced by the previous owner (supposedly). The distributor on the car looks brand new... Could the person who installed the new distributor possibly messed up the ignition timing? or would timing have nothing to do with idle?

I don't have a CEL. Maybe I need to reset my ecu or something?...to see if one might come on?...

Maybe I should go through and check all of my electrical stuff? I have a multi meter, so I'm sure I could check things if someone went over the procedures me (I'm pretty new to these type of things =p)

Here is a few things that people have suggested I inspect : Catalytic converter (possibly clogged?), Fuel injectors, Vacuum leaks, bad 02 sensor, incorrect ignition timing, exhaust leak, etc..


I'm sorry for writing a book but, I'm desperate to figure this out! This miss/noise is driving me crazy!!


Please help me if you can!
Thank you! - Chris Knakmuhs

I would add Cap & Rotor to that list.
When you say popping, it it just from the exhaust or is the engine missing or stuttering to create this popping? If the engine is running smooth and you have popping, it may be a sound that can happen from a small hole in your exhaust.

teal_dx wrote:I would add Cap & Rotor to that list.
When you say popping, it it just from the exhaust or is the engine missing or stuttering to create this popping? If the engine is running smooth and you have popping, it may be a sound that can happen from a small hole in your exhaust.

Thanks for your reply!

The cap and rotor that i have look almost brand new..like they were replaced recently (I've only had the car for a month or so now...).

The popping noise is only from the exhaust, but the engine shakes a lot when its making the noise. The noise only seems to occur when the car is idling low. When I do a cold start the idle sits at about 1k the slowly gets lower. When the car is fully warmed up the idle gets extremely low (like 200-400). When I turn my head lights on, the idle goes up to about 500-600 and smooths out somewhat..

The popping noise gets faster and higher pitched as I use the throttle. Once the rpm's get to about 2k, the popping and shaking stops completely. The car runs great while driving, this stuff only happens at idle! =/

it sounds like it may just be because of the very low idle then.

here's a paste I got from google:

There is an idle set screw located on the throttle body just above the air inlet. It is usually covered by gray paint and must be cleaned for the flat blade screwdriver to fit in it. The procedure is as this: With the car running, open (turn counter clockwise) the screw a few revolutions but don't completely remove it. Then with the idle air control motor (located on back of intake manifold next to the throttle body with its 2-wire connector on the underside) unplugged turn the screw back in until the motor comes close to dying then plug the motor back in. Good Luck