I hope you are right. I will take it out and re-install it. The pedal itself responds with a descent force back when it's pushed upon, so it's a weird problem. If I do manually push the accelerator on the throttle body there is some resistance to it going back, so it could too be a sticky throttle body. It's the worst at the lower RPM, higher RPMs stick less.

 

Check the slack on the cruise control cable, as it might not be letting the TB close like it should. It's possible you might have some light rust causing the issue as well from not using it (the car itself).

 

I re-installed the throttle cable, it's 90% better. There is still a very slight stickyness at low idle (below 1k rpms) probably time to clean the throttle body. Basically the cable was probably even a little bit kinked this problem will happen with the throttle sticking, I uninstalled it and made sure the cable was unbound the entire way through and made minimal bends and reconnected it. Problem is pretty much solved. The thermostat is sticking from sitting so long and the car is not reaching 180F, it's getting to about 160-165F or so and just under 1/4 on the temp gauge as validated with an infared scanner (klein tools brand which is actually really good). Coolant leak has been fixed with a hose clamp to the hose for the overflow tank. Took it for a drive and the transmission also shifts smooth now on deceleration, the high idle will cause some hard downshifting when coming to a stop.

 

Good. Check & clean everything else like that - you said maybe the throttle itself may have some friction? Gunk in the throttle-shaft spring?
Disconnect the cruise cable to see whether that contributes to it - clean it up if needed.

If it's only 90% better, you'll probably keep having occasional issues especially when it gets cold.

 

Its idling pretty good now. I swapped the thermostat, scanner now reads about 177F on the radiator, so it's getting up to temp now (t-stat is 180). While I did the t-stat I also cleaned up the throttle plate, it was basically black and even around the edges. After this I had to re-adjust the idle again, and it was a real PIA for about 30 minutes. Part of the trick is to get the rubber boot that screws back over the end of the bolt to act as a guide for the cable itself. It's now idling around 700 rpm and it's not weird at low RPM now. Revs up and down quickly.

Going to go through my manual on the belts, that's kinda my last real concern before taking this back on the road now. Power steering belt might be a bit too tight. Ran it in my barn for about an hour tonight and revved up to 5k. rpms. The power steering pump/belt needs some adjustment, the alternator/AC belt probably also needs adjustment. We will see how well my dewalt impact (1/2") torqued down the crank pulley bolt. I did it multiple times and with the tool and a large breaker bar to hold everything in place. It took off my axle nuts without a problem, dewalt claims 200 ft pounds but I only need 150 ft pounds.

 

Car is all back together and running well thus far. Alignment needs to be done and re-smogged, cooling system has some air in it still - gurgles a bit after stopped. Thanks for the help on here. Hopefully some of the info posted can help others who have the same issue. Transmission seems to shift okay. Hopefully I get another 100k out of this vehicle.

 

Did you use the bleed valve on the thermostat housing to remove air from there?

 

I did, but it probably needs to be done again with the heater on and let the cooling system burp the air out from the radiator side as well.

 

Bad news. . Pulled the car out today and there is a 6-8' wide puddle under the car between the transmission area. It's engine oil from what I can tell so it's either the oil pan or the rear main seal, or something up higher like the vtec oil pressure switch. Going to clean it off and put the car on jack stands. This might require removal of the transmission and at that point I might as well pull the whole thing again with the engine too if it's the rear main seal.

I replaced the rear main seal with a good kit and even used a feeler gauge to seat it properly. Hopefully it's the damned oil pan. Of anything done on the engine the oil pan was actually my biggest concern at this time, so hopefully that's it. I used that felpro that just did not feel that great and was concerned about that area next to the rear main seal where it meets. Not sure how else to tell however without removing the trans and looking at the seal itself.

 

Oil leak ends up being the distributor from my original 95 engine, that engine had all kinds of oil stains and this must have been the culprit. Can feel right under the distributor and get a handful of oil. It's dripping down from there all the way to the bottom of the transmission. I don't think it's the rear main seal at this point. The cooling system has been burped and no more gurbling thus far.