Car stalls when driving...

[kelso]

I've just bought a 94 civic, when it starts the revs idle at around 1000 rpm everything seems fine. When I'm driving mind, when I dip the clutch the revs take a nose dive towards zero and it sometimes stalls. I'm having to drive now using a heel & toe technique so I can brake and keep the car from stalling. I turned everything off when it was stationary and again revs at 1000 rpm, turn lights on and it drops to 800rpm, aircon on and its down to 500rpm, stereo on and it stalls.

Any idea what the problem is and what the fix is?

Cheers

JK

[HDi fun]

It's possible the ECU is responding to some other spurious input. Are all the electrical connectors sound?

Secondly, is it in need of a 'Turin Tune up'?

That's where you get the engine warmed up cautiously and meticulously and then go drive it hard for an hour or so. If you think there is a mechanical fault then please don't do this roght away.

Even simpler stuff - air filter?

Is the fuel injection a single point or multi point system? Injector cleaner can work magic on simple problems. Dump a litre of STP cleaner in the tank before refeulling and then proceed with the Italian job described above.

[prevtec]

could be the distribitor needing replacement
you can actually get the coil inside them replaced, over here it costs 90 euro and you could do it yourself

as hdi says, put engiene cleaner in to a full tank of petrol, and redline it through the gears for 15 mins when hot

a service will tell you alot also mate

try them small things first mate and get back to us

[Country Bumpkin]

The first check is Alternator voltage output. You should be seeing around 13.5 volts at idle. The output should ideally be between 13.75v and 14.5v.
If it is around the 12 - 12.5v region it's not enough to top up the battery to keep in line with the engine/car requirements. As you are turning more things on, more amps are required and the alternator just can't supply it.
With a multimeter, set to 20v, clip the +[red] terminal to the + terminal of the battery and the - [black] to the neg of the battery. Check the battery voltage with the engine off. It should read @ 12.5 v. Start the engine and read at idle, it should be around the 13.5 -13.75v region. Increase the engine speed to @ 2,000 r.p.m. and it should go up to around 14.5v.
THIS is a cheap multimeter if you don't have one, there are cheaper ones around and can be bought at local motor factors for a few pounds.
If the above readings are not uniform with your tests, it is probable that you have a faulty alternator.
If the above test confirms that your charging circuit is working fine then i would look at the idle control valve although this should throw a check engine light.
There are other possibilities but the above checks should be first.