Hello all:

I have a '88 Civic Wagon with 220k on a D15B2 (DPFI) engine. Just recently I have started having the problem above. Mostly once the car is warmed up. The car will choke, sputter, and try to stall even at full throttle below 2500rpm. After 2500 rpm the engine spins to life and runs great until 4000 rpm. At 4000 rpm the car acts like it has no fuel and decelerates...Hard!

A little background, this car does not have an EGR valve as far I can tell and
never seem to have had one. There is a small crack in the radiator which is
currently patched with JB Weld "Water Weld", I pretty much have to refill it
daily. I know I have at least one bad cylinder ring and possibly a mildly
burnt through head gasket. As evident by the small amount of smoke color
and the burnt oil smell. Other than that Mrs Lincoln the play is great.

Aside from the known problems any wisdom on the shuddering stalling problem would be much appreciated, because this one has me stumped.

Thank you,
Drew

txgreasemonkey

I would test/replace the Ignition Control Module (ICM) and coil. AutoZone will do this for free. Personally, if I were going to keep the car, I would replace them because of the age and mileage on the car.

88 Civic Wagon

txgreasemonkey,

Do you happen to know what the Ignition Coils function is? The ICM I imagine regulates the spark based on throttle input. Is the coil some sort of capacitor?

Thanks

P.S. - I do plan on keeping the car as it is nearly rust free and this is first major set of problems its ever had.

txgreasemonkey

The Ignition Control Module is a set of "electronic points," which opens and closes power going to the primary windings in the coil many times each second. When this is done is governed by the ECM (computer). The purpose of all of this is to "step up" voltage in the coil from 12 volts, in the primary circuit, to 25,000+ volts, in the secondary circuit, for firing the spark plugs.

Here's how to do the job yourself:

http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-tr...tml#post265896

88 Civic Wagon

I was looking at my dizzy to start tackling the ICM and noticed this. What is this sensor and I am guessing it should not look like this.

txgreasemonkey

Not sure.

88 Civic Wagon

Oh, well on with the ICM and Coil. I will let you know. For good measure I think I will replace the fuel filter also.

88 Civic Wagon

Alright so before I got to the ignitor the Timing Belt, Radiator, Head Gasket, and Water Pump failed all in one weekend. So after fixing all of that the car runs beautifully. Except Now my clock and radio won't turn on...At all. C'est la vie. Sounds like the issue was probably timing related. Thanks for your help Tex.