# My 89 Honda Civic 1.5l 4 speed dont have the power it should have?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-89-honda-civic-1-5l-4-speed-dont-have-the-power-it-should-have/66754>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [July 31, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-89-honda-civic-1-5l-4-speed-dont-have-the-power-it-should-have/66754 "2011-07-31T19:00:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![JulieB2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4af34b/32.png) [@JulieB2](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JulieB2)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-89-honda-civic-1-5l-4-speed-dont-have-the-power-it-should-have/66754/1 "2011-07-31T19:00:59Z")

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It drags ass and bogs in first and second gear. No jump to it at all. Ive replaced fuel pump,fuel filter,brakes,brakelines,valve cover gasket,spark plugs,spark plug hoses,exhaust manifold,timings good. What else can it be?

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**Author:** ![JulieB2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4af34b/32.png) [@JulieB2](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JulieB2)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-89-honda-civic-1-5l-4-speed-dont-have-the-power-it-should-have/66754/2 "2011-07-31T19:02:49Z")

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Dont have the power it shouldve

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**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-89-honda-civic-1-5l-4-speed-dont-have-the-power-it-should-have/66754/3 "2011-07-31T19:06:54Z")

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Have you had the valves adjusted? Has the fuel pressure been checked, I didn’t see the fuel pressure regulator listed. Have you checked the O2 sensor, I don’t think it is monitored on this model, you need a voltmeter to check it.

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**Author:** ![JulieB2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4af34b/32.png) [@JulieB2](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JulieB2)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-89-honda-civic-1-5l-4-speed-dont-have-the-power-it-should-have/66754/4 "2011-07-31T19:37:21Z")

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yeah everythings good im thinking the distributor maybe?

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**Author:** ![Goldwing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@Goldwing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Goldwing)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-89-honda-civic-1-5l-4-speed-dont-have-the-power-it-should-have/66754/5 "2011-07-31T21:46:20Z")

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How many miles on it? How’s the compression? How’re the fuel injectors, good spray pattern? Plugged up catalytic converter?

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**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-89-honda-civic-1-5l-4-speed-dont-have-the-power-it-should-have/66754/6 "2011-07-31T23:10:35Z")

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A general lack of power usually points to a worn engine, clogged converter, retarded ignition timing, or a timing belt not aligned correctly.

What does timing good mean? Cam? Ignition? Assuming the cam timing is correct how was the ignition timing checked?

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**Author:** ![circuitsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/circuitsmith/32/40376_2.png) [@circuitsmith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/circuitsmith)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-89-honda-civic-1-5l-4-speed-dont-have-the-power-it-should-have/66754/7 "2011-07-31T23:54:15Z")

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A Honda mechanic friend has seen distributors cause sluggish performance in this vintage.

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**Author:** ![rocketman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@rocketman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rocketman)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-89-honda-civic-1-5l-4-speed-dont-have-the-power-it-should-have/66754/8 "2011-08-01T00:12:27Z")

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4 speed?

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**Author:** ![rocketman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@rocketman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rocketman)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-89-honda-civic-1-5l-4-speed-dont-have-the-power-it-should-have/66754/9 "2011-08-01T00:13:45Z")

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How many miles on the '89 Civic?