Stiff Throttle
 

We added a 2000 EX to our family of cars in late January, and so far so good mechanically; the car is handsome, although there is rust developing already.

One thing I noticed is that it's got a really stiff throttle that makes it hard to modulate mild acceleration, and this usually causes wheelspin in snowy weather. Do all 1996-2000 Civics have this stiff throttle issue? Also, I have read about cases where the 2000 had serious safety issues like the auto tranny going into diff gears on its own, as well as sudden acceleration.

If anyone has an input about the above, feel free to post! I'm still trying to learn the ins and outs of these legendary cars, as well as Honda in general (I've always been a Nissan guy until we got an Accord and Civic!).

You may want to try to clean the throttle body.
Sometimes carbon build up in there makes for a sticky throttle.

You can also adjust the throttle cable. Some people tighten it to make the car respond faster.

yes that gen hondas have a stiff throttle compared to other cars, this you get used to though. As long as you change out the fluid and drive normally the tranny should be fine

if the thing is too stiff, try to put some wd-40 on the throttle cable near the throttle body where it coils up (not sure exactly what it is called). This should loosen it up a bit so you can control the acceleration a bit better. I had the same problem and the wd-40 worked wonders.

As for the rust, where is it on the car? For a 2000 civic, there really shouldn't be any rust.

Thanks gents. Yeah, there's some white grease sprayed around that area, and it's still stiff, so I'll have to live with it. As for the rust, the plastic trim that runs parallel to the ground at the base of the door windows is coming loose, and rusting underneath. A bit of rust on the driver side doorjamb, driver door pin is already worn, and chippy rust on the rear end near the taillights. To be honest, I'm not impressed at all that it's aged so fast, but it may have been neglected in its earlier years since it began its life as a rental car and was definitely in a side impact collision before (one door has blue paint underneath the trim and the car is silver :rolleyes: ). I had to settle because the drivetrain was still good, I was in the dead of winter trying to find a used car, and I had no time to keep shopping, so I got it for $9200 total at 120K and figured it was a decent deal for a Civic nearing 5 years.

You mean from a dead stop your throttle sticks?
You throttle plate base screw needs to be adjusted. Simple fix.

Not stick, just stiff so it's hard to modulate the acceleration. I think its inherent in the design, but I'll take a look at the screws this weekend. Thanks though.

lube BOTH ends of the cable with WD-40.. then clean the pivioting arm where the cable attaches on the TB..

If problem isnt soved. Disconnect cable from pedal (just clips in) and see if the pedal move sfreely. If it does. Replace cable.