First time 4g civic owner needs help

[wiz87]

Hi guys,

I just bought a 1991 civic LX sedan 5-speed and it is having a problem when it is idleing.
The previous owner bought the car with 112,000 miles on it and it did not run, the car now has 128000 miles. He replaced the head, the timing belt, and the water pump and started driving it with no problems.
He told me it used about a half a quart of oil every 400-500 miles.
When he was driving it to my house today it started to smoke real bad and run rough at idle.

He drove the car 60 miles everyday for a year with no problems like this. He said that it didn't even smoke.
I confirmed this when i test drove it. When I finally got the car to the house i pulled the plugs thinking that one
of them my have been fouled. I found that the plug on cylinder 2 had oil on it and the plug on cylinder 3
was fouled out but the other two were fine. So i replaced those 2 plugs and started it up. It smoked a
little bit but not as much when the guy drove it over. Now when i let the car idle it sounds and feels like it is
still missing. I believe that the piston rings may be going bad but i am not sure.

Any ideas or advice you can give would be great appreciated.

thanks for your time.

 

[Civic11]

Hi guys,

I just bought a 1991 civic LX sedan 5-speed and it is having a problem when it is idleing.
The previous owner bought the car with 112,000 miles on it and it did not run, the car now has 128000 miles. He replaced the head, the timing belt, and the water pump and started driving it with no problems.
He told me it used about a half a quart of oil every 400-500 miles.
When he was driving it to my house today it started to smoke real bad and run rough at idle.

He drove the car 60 miles everyday for a year with no problems like this. He said that it didn't even smoke.
I confirmed this when i test drove it. When I finally got the car to the house i pulled the plugs thinking that one
of them my have been fouled. I found that the plug on cylinder 2 had oil on it and the plug on cylinder 3
was fouled out but the other two were fine. So i replaced those 2 plugs and started it up. It smoked a
little bit but not as much when the guy drove it over. Now when i let the car idle it sounds and feels like it is
still missing. I believe that the piston rings may be going bad but i am not sure.

Any ideas or advice you can give would be great appreciated.

thanks for your time.

I might be wrong on this, but I'm a fan of doing a tune-up on these generations once you buy them used. I fixed a good chunk of my problems just by....

Seafoaming the Brake Booster/Gas Tank for a few fillups...

Replacing Air Filter
Replacing Fuel Filter
Change PCV Valve
Replace Spark Plugs & Wires
changing oil

Sounds obvious, but to be honest I was amazed on how good my car drove after this. Also, try a slightly thicker viscosity for oil, it might help with the burning.

Hope this helps...

 

[wiz87]

KK thanks for the suggestions, i will try some of that stuff.
If it does turn out to be the piston rings does anyone have a suggestion of a website or book that has a good write up on how to remove the engine? Also could this problem be caused by a faulty egr valve?

Thanks again

 

[andre4444]

no, egr is strictly to lower your nox levels

if its burning oil its either the rings or valves

 

[wiz87]

Yep it is the rings. I did a compression check tonight #1 - 205psi, #2 - 205 psi, #3 - 0 psi , and #4 - 205 psi.
I am pulling the head off tomorrow night to check out the #3 cyclinder wall to see if it is scarred. If it isn't i can hopefully just replace the ring and be okay. If not then i need to look for a new engine. Are the 1.5s pretty easy to come by?

Thanks,
Travis