Rep Power: 0

I have a 91 civic hatch 1.5 liter base model and I am about to pull my hair out. I have looked far and wide for a solution to my problem.

My car starts right up every time. Sometimes though, I will be at a red light or a stop sign, when I try to push on the gas it just sputters and sometimes dies. If it does die it always starts right back up. If I let off the gas sometimes it comes back up and if i gently push on the gas i can get it to go. When I get past the initial take off it runs great. Sometimes if I am in second gear turning slowly it will do the same thing.

I have replaced the cap and rotor, the fuel filter, the pcv valve. The spark plug wires look new (I just bought the car). I thought maybe it was the throttle position sensor. I unplugged it and started the car. It did the same thing. I then turned the car off and plugged it back in and it seemed to be fine. I haven't had a chance to take it on the road yet but something tells me its not that easy.

The biggest problem that I am noticing is that it isn't a constant issue. It is seeming to do it more and more. After reading on a forum somewhere, I pulled the negative terminal off my battery and left it overnight. I started up my car the next morning and it drove perfectly for about 3 days, then BAM!!! It started with the problems again. I am not sure where to go from here. I have heard everything from a clogged catalytic converter to a bad TPS to a bad coil/distributor. I don't have the money to take it to a mechanic or I would.

Any Help would be greatly appreciated!

 
Rep Power: 313

Clean the throttle body. That's where I'd start. It's possible the butterfly is getting stuck on a tiny piece of carbon buildup preventing it from opening. Also check for vacuum leaks around the TB.

 
Rep Power: 0

That actually makes alot of sense! When I am having the issue the gas pedal appears to be sticky feeling just like the butterfly being stuck! I will try that this weekend and let you know how it goes! Thank you so much!!!!

 
Rep Power: 0

So yesterday I took off the throttle body and cleaned the entire thing. There was some carbon build up in there and I spent about 2 hours scrubbing the crap out of it. I replaced the gasket. I drove it around and after a little while it started to do the same thing. It seemed to be less sticky however. It also wasn't so quick to just die.

One other thing that I am noticing is that when it is going to give me those problems, it starts idling lower than normal. I can sit at a stop sign sometimes and the idle does not change, when it sits normal like that I can take off just fine. But sometimes when I come to a stop I can feel the idle drop and thats when it starts giving me trouble when I try to take off.

 
Rep Power: 0

So upon further research I decided to look further into the electrical side of things. I pulled the carpet back to look at the ecu. It is throwing a code 1 but the check engine light isn't on. Therefore I don't know if it is the o2 sensor or if it is maybe the catalytic converter... I am going to buy a new o2 sensor tonight so hopefully that fixes it.

 
Rep Power: 0

can u give an update on how ur car is doing?