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1991 Honda Civic My engine is vibrating

Tiny
RAVEN_012355
  • MEMBER
  • 1991 HONDA CIVIC
Engine Performance problem
1991 Honda Civic 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic

Hi a few days ago when I was driving I had pulled to a stop. The engine had seemed to be running fine but when I started to accelerate the engine began to shake violently. The car would barely accelerate but once it did the shaking stopped until I went into the next gear. When I got home I tried to reving up the engine and when I did at the start it would shake but then smooth out. It also is running really rich and at the tailpipe I can smell unburned fuel and sometimes see gray smoke. What could be wrong?
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 AT 12:32 PM

11 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Hi Raven_012355,

Thank you for the donation.

Looks like you have a bad misfiring resulting iin the hesitation during sudden acceleration. Check the spark plugs conditions and get the plug wires ohmed out. They should have continuity and less than 25 k ohms resistance.
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 AT 1:14 PM
Tiny
RAVEN_012355
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  • 7 POSTS
Me and my dad checked the spark plugs and wires and both look fine my dad took the ohm reading and it never went above 12 k resis.
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 AT 1:39 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
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Next to check would be the distributor cap and rotor. Check the ignition coil primary and secondary resistance. Look out for signs of arcing.
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 AT 2:10 PM
Tiny
RAVEN_012355
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  • 7 POSTS
We did they seem fine.
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 AT 3:44 PM
Tiny
RAVEN_012355
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
Any other ideas of what could be wrong
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 AT 5:43 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
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Did the Check Engine light come on when the problem occurred?
Is the problem still occurring?
Was any repairs carried out prior to this happening?
Do you have any overheating or coolant losses issues?
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 AT 9:36 AM
Tiny
RAVEN_012355
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
The check engine light never came on. The problerm is still occuring. The only repair that I had done to it was getting the ac swapped out to a r-134a. And the car has never over heated
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 AT 12:37 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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What are the conditions of all four spark plugs?
Are they all sooty or only some of them?
Is idling stable and what is the idling speed?
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 AT 12:45 PM
Tiny
RAVEN_012355
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
The spark plugs are a little bit sooty but no bad. The idle is stable before giving gas and we really dont have a way to check idle speed
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 AT 1:22 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
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Slightly sooty spark plugs could indicate shorted/bad plugs. If possible, replace them and retest. From the symptoms, I would believe the cause to be from the spark plugs and related parts.
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 AT 1:34 PM
Tiny
RAVEN_012355
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Ok I will try this today.
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 AT 1:37 PM

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