Dear friend...
Hey dOOd,
Well, from what it sounds like... you are slipping in a steady 2nd gear? 1st gear you probably don't notice much.. cuz it is a quick rev (short gear). However, in 2nd gear you probably feel it cuz it is the *driving idle* if you get what I am saying. Could be that your tranny is giving up bro. I would suggest you take it to the shop A.S.A.P. before anything else -worse- happens! You don't want wear being induced onto your engine (even though the TRUCK ENGINE can handle it)! heh!
Your engine code is known as: KA24DE (KA - Series/24 - Displacement/DE - Direct Electronic Fuel Injection *If I am not mistaken*). Either way, it is a 2.4 litre 4 cylinder Nissan Truck Engine. From 1989-1990 the engine produced 144HP while the 1991-1993 KA24DE produced 155HP with matching torque range. It was taken from the Nissan truck platform because of its fuel economy, mid range power, and availability (cheap engine to produce too). That is why they call it a TRUCK ENGINE. It is seriously indestructable man. You can try to nuke it and you'll hurt the bomb rather then the block. Hahah!
In terms of performance upgrades... your pretty much left in the dust my friend. There aren't too many (if any) upgrades that you can do to the engine. The simple air intake, ecu re-program, etc... would give you some little punch... but don't expect anything more then 180 HP if your lucky. The reason for this is because the "power potential" with that engine is very difficult if not impossible to grasp. Like I mentioned in a previous post, there have been only a handful whom have achieved the ideal 250-300HP but nothing more - and after a hefty BILL to pay!
I suggest you do a CA18DET and/or SR20DET engine swap for your car. The SR20DET will bring you to a good 200HP (S13 one) and that is more then enough to toy around with and give a little kick in the ass to those Civics on the roads.. (eeeew... Front Whell Drive... NEVER AGAIN!)
There are tons of sites and performance shops out there... check em out... and ask questions - it doesn't hurt!
I suggest you check out
www.sr20detperformance.com for any engine questions/parts that you may need!
Take care,
KaOz.