Hello everyone,
this is my first post.

I bought a 92 DX with 5speed last year, it had 195K on the odometer and is now at about 205K.

The problem I am having is real laggy acceleration,
it occurs early on, once engine RPM's are up it does fine, but I have to really keep on the gas to keep it from bogging down when first letting out the clutch in any gear, especially when climbing hills.
It has been like this since I got it.

I have done a few things to try to address what might be causing it:

-replaced fuel filter - did not help

-found a small crack on the top of the distributor cap where the coil spring is, so I replaced the cap and rotor - did not help

-yesterday I replaced the spark plugs; the plugs that were in it were Bosch single platinums FR8LPX, not sure if these are proper replacements or not. I don't really like platinums to begin with, I think some of these blahblah quadruple woohoo platinum whatever plugs are just BS excuses to sell you a $9 plug when a $2 plug will probably work better, last longer, and be more reliable. I have heard so many stories of difficulties and problems that could be traced to simply putting in some too fancy plugs that the original engine designers never intended.

And when I hear a guy swear that some trick plugs dramatically improved the performance, I am just very doubtful that plugs can do that, I think at best a well designed platinum can give you longer plug life in a properly functioning engine. I especially don't like the look of these Bosches; they have insulator all the way up, and a tiny little speck of center electrode that could easily be rendered inoperable by a little bit of carbonization or something. But anyway the old plugs looked to be in fine condition and not that old.

I put in NGK ZFR5FGP's, I know they are platinums, but the store was out of the standard plugs, and after looking at the plugs I thought they looked all right because they have a more normal looking full center electrode. Unfortunately, I only drove the car cold a couple miles after changing the plugs, so I don't know yet if they have improved the lag problem, but that doesn't change my main question:

I tried to check the idle speed so that I could then check the timing, but I have a basic little cheap handheld tachometer- it has 2 leads, one that goes to ground, and one that is supposed to go to the coil positive terminal. Sometimes, with a car that has a coil in the distributor like my Civic, I know you can stick the lead on or near the distributor and get the signal, but this did not work, So, is there a lead or connector anywhere that I can hook onto, or am I going to have to put out $ for a better tach with a good inductive lead?
thanks for any help.

 

I think you are on the right track in checking the ignition timing. If the idle speed seems fine, then just jump the service connector and hook up an inductive timing gun. The timing mark should line up with the red mark (middle in group of three) on the crankshaft pulley. Adjust timing as necessary. If you have difficulty setting the timing, then the timing belt may have skipped a tooth. In this case, replace the timing belt, as well as the water pump and tensioner at the same time.

 

yeah I have a feeling that the the main cause may be that the timing may be off, thats what it feels like;
I would just like to be able to verify the idle speed, I don't have an ear for the idle speed on this vehicle yet;
you know, "sounds right" could be 750 RPM, or it could be 950 RPM.

thanks for the reply, I will check the timing today or tomorrow
and post where its at.

 

As long as the idle speed doesn't sound ridiculously high or low, just test the ignition timing with a timing gun. The outcome of the test will tell you whether the timing is way off or not.

 

I checked the timing the other day and it was at about 10 or 11 degrees BTDC,
as opposed to 16 degrees BTDC where its supposed to be,
it is running better after I reset the timing.

 

good thing you got the ngk platnums. the car is supposed to have platnums or better. my d15b7 idled at like 750 and after i cam'd it it idles at about 900-1000. also check compression, do you burn oil at all. common for our cars after so long to begin burning oil. my car drove like how your saying but i rebuilt it and it has a lot more get up and go now. dont forget wires often overlooked they can look brand new and still not perform well and will cause the car to run slugeshly.

having 205k i suggest you monitor your oil level for the first month or so you own the vehicle. the first civic i bought i had no idea that i was burning oil i took it for its first oil change abouta month later the guy said it only had about 2 quarts in it. i didnt notice it smokingthat muchand the oil was at the full levelwhen i bought it

 

yeah I have put about 10K on the car since I bought it and have kept an eye on the oil, and luckily it does not appear to burn oil at all, even though I go about 5K on oil changes I have seen no drop in oil level.

I think the previous owner took good care on the mechanics of the car.

And I want to check the wires in the near future, I tried to recently but was not able to get my multimeter leads into the spark plug ends of the wires because they are so recessed. I will have to find something to stick in them to use as a conducting extension; I guess I could use a spark plug, but would that throw off the resistance reading? I maybe should just replace the wires anyway, but they are one of the more expensive tune-up items for this car.

Also, I have noticed a decent improvement in performance since I set the timing right.
Although as you say, the engine has 205K on it, and it was not a performance motor to begin with.

I will check the compression, too, thats a good idea. Not even sure my Hanes manual tells me what the proper range is for this engine, its not real thorough.

I hope to get quite a bit more life out of this engine.
I think that these Honda four-bangers should be good for 300K; its just a su****ion of mine, but I think most of the time when you see a guy who destroys his engine in his Honda before 200K, its probably because of one of two basic reasons:
1. he put in some modification and didnt really know what he was doing, or
2. more likely: the first one or two timing belts were changed on time for the car, then it was forgotten about until it snapped. I seem to see this a lot, its the Achilles heel of Hondas.