Civic carb issues

So my friend has this '86 Civic that is stalling and sputtering at random bouts. She takes it in to get looked at and the diagnosis (her reading it to me) is that a gasket is leaking (I assume the carb to the manifold), there are vacuum lines that may be leaking, and some carb parts are needing to be replaced.

It doesn't seem like anything catastrophic, however, the mechanic couldn't locate any of the carb replacement parts...ANYWHERE. From my limited research it looks like this is an EW1 engine...which I believe was later changed to the first "D" series. But I still can't figure out what type of carb is on it. Anybody have any knowledge or sites that I could peruse?

Oh and while we're on the topic, I wouldn't mind telling her the car is garbage and to give it to me for proper disposal. Her dad was the original owner, it's a hatch, and the body and interior are in amazing condition.

Single ITB w/MegaSquirt...?

Getting a PGM-FI motor in there would be a great idea.

Hell, he could get decent money for just the shell from someone looking to build an EP car.

A lot of cars, Japanese and Domestic, had REALLY crappy/complicated carbs before the conversion to "real" fuel injection (versus that "fake" single point, fuel injection). Fixing them can be next to impossible and/or very expensive. Depending on the model of Civic this is, I'm going to assume it's NOT an Si, it has a 3 barrel carb and 3 valves per cylinder...adding up to a whopping 76 horsepower engine. If this was an Si, then it would have an EW engine, good for 92 horsepower. The EW series, in this year of Civic does NOT have a "conventional" carb.

An engine swap, if it comes to that (it might make more sense if the body is that good) that would be very easy is a ZC or a D16A8/9. After that, I'd go pretty much with a B16 or B18 NON-Vtec engine.

integraguy wrote: A lot of cars, Japanese and Domestic, had REALLY crappy/complicated carbs before the conversion to "real" fuel injection (versus that "fake" single point, fuel injection). Fixing them can be next to impossible and/or very expensive. Depending on the model of Civic this is, I'm going to assume it's NOT an Si, it has a 3 barrel carb and 3 valves per cylinder...adding up to a whopping 76 horsepower engine. If this was an Si, then it would have an EW engine, good for 92 horsepower. The EW series, in this year of Civic does NOT have a "conventional" carb. An engine swap, if it comes to that (it might make more sense if the body is that good) that would be very easy is a ZC or a D16A8/9. After that, I'd go pretty much with a B16 or B18 NON-Vtec engine.

Yeah, this is not the Si version. And this girl could care less about adding any performance to this thing. It has more sentimental value than anything (after being in the family for 22yrs and all).

So is the consensus that this isn't an easy fix?

If it were my car I'd definitely go the swap route. I was also reading that a webber carb + SI head makes for some decent pep. Who knows maybe, if I'm nice, she'll give it to me.

Easy fix (assuming it's not the swirl combustion CVCC 3 barrel engine): get or make an adapter plate and plop a Weber on there, ditch all the wacky vacuum lines and stuff. It won't add any real power without other mods but it'll be a damn sight easier to work on.

I would definitely resist fixing and go with a swap. As has been mentioned, that is a crazy light chassis and makes for an exceptional platform to build a killer track or Honda Challenge car.

Unless you can get a killer deal on the Weber and the associated adapter, I would NOT try to fix this car by changing just the carb. A "stock", rebuilt carb for this kind of car (a near vintage Japanese sedan) is not cheap and that is why I would....if it were mine, why I would go ahead and put as much money as I could into an engine swap. Depending on where you get the engine, the ZC is cheapest...or slightly cheaper than the D16 with the B series costing as much or more than the car as it sits right now. Depending on where the car is located, the market for an '80s Civic is fairly good...even for non-riunners or cars needing a rebuild/re-motor.

BTW, when you put a newer engine like a D16 or B16/B18 into a light car like this, you get power AND economy...probably BETTER fuel economy than it originally had.

K-T:

I've done a little searching on your problem to see what can be done on the carb. At Honda-Acura.net there is a forum for pre 92 Civics (pretty much all Honda websites seem to lump 1st through 3rd gen. Civics into this "pre" category) and after an little searching I came across a 2 and 1/2 year old post about carb problems. Unfortunately, the Civic in question was sold in Australia and different markets have different engine specs. Anyway, he did some digging and found the cause of a problem SIMILAR to what you describe as being cracked vacuum hoses and, unfortunately, a warped carb adapter plate and the mounting surface on the carb itself was warped....also the carb needed a rebuild. An old time carb rebuilder he found who said he could fix it gave him an estimate of $600 (of course, that's Australian dollars, and U.S. dollars would make that estimate value lower). I still haven't found any source for a carb rebuild kit.

redpepperracing.com is a forum dedicated to 1g CRX's and 3G Civics. You can probably find the info you're looking for there.

Take apart, clean well, put back. Floats would sink tho not as bad as 82-4 Accorns. See if you can find a smoke machine, don't remember the trade name anymore but it would fill the vacuum system with smoke allowing you to find vacuum leaks relatively easily. Insulator blocks were an issue on 84 Accords .

Take apart, clean well, put back. Floats would sink tho not as bad as 82-4 Accorns. See if you can find a smoke machine, don't remember the trade name anymore but it would fill the vacuum system with smoke allowing you to find vacuum leaks relatively easily. Insulator blocks were an issue on 84 Accords .

I vote for the D16Y8 motor swap. That's what I have in my '99 Civic EX vTec and there are crazy cheap bolt-ons available (with the exception of the Hondata ecu) and with 150k on the odometer it still gets 34mpg even with me beating on it all the time and you can get an upgraded tranny at the same time.

Hey thanks for the tips. I don't think they're going to fix this thing. If I don't end up buying it I'll make sure that they post it on here....it really is clean.