I just got a 97 Civic coupe hx with the CVT transmission. The around about idle speed for it is around 700 RPM. Is this kind of low or is it just me? Also, when I put it in drive, the RPM drops down to about 200 RPM and I can hear choking sounds from under the hood and it sounds like the car wants to die on me. I recently found out that that is because the engine doesn't have enough power when idleing to turn the ac compressor belt. When I turn the ac on the RPM lowers a bit and when I turn the av off it raises a bit. Does anybody else have this problem? How can I fix this?

 

Check the manual for Idle specs, but that sounds good to me. I believe 650rpms is recommended for my car (99 Ex)

 

When I bought this car used it didn't come with a manual. So, I will just have to suck it up and buy one......I think ebay has a 97 civic coupe owners manual for about $20.

 

I've got a '98 HX w/ CVT and it idles pretty low too. I don't, however, have any of the "choking & dying" noises you described. Does the tach fluctuate while idling, or does it remain fairly constant?

 

The clicking you hear is probably the ECU cycling the A/C compressor off as a last ditch effort to prevent stalling. It should not do that. It seems the the idle air valve won't open enough to admit additional air necessary to run the A/C. Try cleaning your throttle body and IAC valve.

 

also, make sure your ac compressor belt isn't binding...

idle in park should be around 700-800, in drive it should be around 500-600 i believe with the automatic & cvt transmissions