No throttle response. Help!

Casey'1990DA

New Member
I have a 1990 integra. I've replaced the AICV, TPS, coolant hoses, and put a cold air intake on it. I've had lots of low idle problems, sometimes killing my car. After putting in the new TPS and driving for a day i was in 3rd gear when all of the sudden my car just started to drop in speed and idle. I had my foot on the gas about half way and decided to downshift. As soon as I did that it felt like I had just dropped it into 2nd from 3rd with no gas. Then all of the sudden caught gear again like it was fine to drive. When it did it again, I put it in neutral and tried the gas with no response. Even when I had it floored, the idle dropped and I had no power. When I did have my foot down, it backfired through the exhaust.

Any suggestions are worth looking into for me so please help. Let me know if you fixed a similar problem. Thank you in advance.
 

Casey'1990DA

New Member
Unfortunately the engine didn't start today. My neighbor is coming over in the morning tomorrow to check it out. When they ran it before, my first cylinder was weak. But they found no leaks.
 

Casey'1990DA

New Member
And when my check engine light was on, it was reading something with the TPS so I just replaced it.
 


Muckman

Not a M0derator
It has nothing to do with the TPS or throttle response if the engine wont even start.
When was the last time you did any routine maint on the ignition cap/rotor, plugs and wires?
Let me know how the compression test goes.
 

Casey'1990DA

New Member
It's mostly original parts. I'm trying to replace them one at a time but it seems like things just keep breaking. If you had a 23 year old car, all stock, what would you start to replace first. 230xxx miles on the engine.
 

Rattlecan Hero

Frame Banger
Sounds like an ignition problem to me. Replace the cap rotors and wires.
 


white4d96

Burning oil like a boss
Yeah sounds electrical. Check your connections for your dizzy, but if you're at 230k and all original you need a tuneup like yesterday. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor.
 

djzachtyler

Looking for my next Teg..
ignition problem sounds about right, but I'd suspect the ignition coil... when the coil goes it can produce these symptoms.
 

Casey'1990DA

New Member
The car started from a cold start somehow. After checking the compression, the only cylinder that had problems was number 4. It seemed to lag a little. My spark plugs all spark. And we just did a valve adjustment on the whole thing since some were too loose and others were too tight. Started it up again with easy and just the sound of the car makes a difference. Still have an idle problem but nothing like how it was dipping so low or would stall out.
 

Novice

New Member
Did you do anything with the timing belt recently? Changed it or took it off and put it back on?

When I swapped a timing belt once I was a tooth off and the car ran a lot like your describing. Luckily I didn't bend and valves and I was able to redo the belt and everything was good to go.
 

Casey'1990DA

New Member
No. But when we took the valve cover off we noticed that it was pretty old(probably stock). So next in my list is to replace that and the water pump that's down there too. Any other suggestions on what else I should replace if I'm in that area?
 

Casey'1990DA

New Member
So I'm driving today, just a few miles, when the throttle goes out again. This time I pulled into a gas station where the idle just dropped so low, it killed itself. It would almost start, but then die right away. Eventually leading to a point when it would turn over and crank but not start. I let it sit for a while and when I tried it again, it started but died after about 20 seconds. Then back to the crank but no start. Towed it home, tried one more time and it stayed alive for a few seconds and died again. Help!!!
 
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