I drive a 1995 Civic with 112,000 miles, V-tech engine, manual transmission. It has begun to stutter when starting from a full stop. It’s as if the clutch is slipping. This is the second time this has happened. The last time, about a year ago, my husband diagnosed slipping clutch and arranged to have it and the throw out bearing replaced. The mechanic did the work, but said it wasn’t needed. It didn’t fix the problem. Later, our son (ASE certified) looked into the electrical system and found what he described as a ‘fried distributor’ with everything melted together. Appropriate parts were replaced and problem went away. Since I’ve driven this vehicle for 12 years without problem, I’d like to get to the bottom of this issue. Any ideas?
So when you say “It’s as if the clutch is slipping” do you mean that the tachometer climbs rapidly without a corresponding change in speed? If not, the clutch isn’t slipping.
Or do you mean that the car kinda jerks around rapidly as you accelerate, in which case it could be the distributor again.
Has it, by any chance, rained where you are recently? If so, I’d suspect that the distributor cap is cracked and is letting moisture inside, which is playing hell with the electricals. Replacing the cap is cheap and would fix it.
But before you do anything, you should describe in a lot more detail what the car is doing.
Does it drive normally but there is a lot of vibration when shifting? Enough to make the dashboard shake? Both of my 5-speed Hondas did the exact same thing. 1984 Accord sold with 212k and 1998 Civic sold with 157k. Both stuttered, neither ever had any clutch, trans, or drivetrain issues. Maybe it is a case of “All Hondas do that”.
(Distributor problem is likely unrelated to clutch issue)
Starting up from a stop sign, flat pavement, dry, as I let out the clutch, it starts jerking. Depressing clutch stops it. Eventually rolling fast enough to go to second, and it seems to be all right. It’s intermittent, maybe days apart. For now.
Only at very low speed, so far, just starting in first gear. Otherwise, nice and smooth going through the gears. I’m fairly certain this isn’t a drive train issue. Hoping someone can identify the electrical problem or computer setting.