jonwrong

Here is the entire background. For a month or more, the CEL seemed to come on after about 10 minutes of cruising at the same speed every time I drove the car. When the car was turned off and back on, the light would be off, but it would return under the same circumstances time and time again. Otherwise, the car seemed fine.

Now, the CEL has not been coming on. But the car has developed what appears to be a random hesitation/loss of power. I can only describe it as similar to what happens when your car is in too high of a gear at too low a speed. It seems to happen most in 1st and 2nd gear when you are accelerating moderately from a stop. It appears to be RPM specific because it always clears up higher in the RPM range (above 3500-4000 or so). It never occurs under WOT conditions. It only happens when the car is at operating temp.

I have changed the plugs, and they appear to be of normal color after a week's use. The plug's that came out were the same. I have changed the fuel filter and run a can of sea foam through with a fresh tank of quality gas (premium from Chevron). The car appears to be running better and the problem appears to happen less now, but it still occurs. I have yet to check the distributor, but the plug wires appear fine. I check the codes, and it had a lot of them... but it was blinking numbers that I do not think exist on the code list. I cleared all the codes (about 5 or so, and I do not remember what they all were), and it has not thrown a new code in 2 weeks.

Any ideas? Thanks!

GhostAccord

Sounds like it could be your ERG system or a clogged up Catalytic converter.

There is a do it yourself thread in the FAQ's on how to clean your EGR system.

Did you ever try to retrieve the codes from your ECU after the CEL came on? If the code(s) are still stored on there they will give you a more accurate place to start looking.

jonwrong

I did retrieve the codes initially, but none of them made sense. They did not correspond to numbers for the list I had. Since I reset the ECU, no new codes have been thrown. Odd that the car is running so rough and showing no codes. When I jump the plug now and turn the key, the CEL stays on but does not blink. I am under the impression that this means there are no current codes. I will try to check the EGR. The exhaust is old (170k miles). the muffler currently has a small hole and needs to be replaced. Hard to imagine that the CAT is causing the hesitation problem.

GhostAccord

You are correct. A solid CEL with the connector jumped is a no codes stored situation.

Yes it can be somewhat hard to imagine that a lowly clogged cat can cause hesitation. But a clog is a restriction. Any restriction, in an already restrictive exhaust path, is detrimental to the overall torque & Hp.

jonwrong

Bump

radiuslight

I want a new exhaust so bad!

ws350z

if and if only there is a clog in the cat it could be causing back presure in the engine and stoping the engine from preasurizing correctly, one question does the engine ever sputter or back fire when idling or when your making a turn?

jonwrong

It was idling high at idle until I change the fuel filter. Now it idles perfectly; no sputters. Cornering does not seem to affect the problem either.

92accordboy

just joined in an effort to find a solution to the same problem. I have a 92 accord ex mt too and am having the same issue. did pretty much everything that you have done, and i also replaced a few sensors since the comp was throwing out some codes, cleaned the tb, new spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor, even cleaned the iacv and fitv. checked out all the sensor for voltage and proper ohms and everything checks out fine.

I did see a TSB, technical service bulletin, #98074 which relates to this issue. it occurs on 90-93 accords and preludes as well as 97-01 accords and preludes. I called the NHTSA, national highway transportation safety assoc., to see if they have resolved the issue but whoever i talked to on the phone couldn't find anything. the nhtsa # is 603961. it's a very annoying problem. Some call it a lean surge, where the car is trying to run as lean as possible at lower rpm range, causing the loss of power then all of a sudden gain of power.

Im gonna try to look at my cat if i can get the bolts off of it, since it's the original, i do have new exhaust if that helps you eliminate that hole in yours as a possibility. Im also going to clean out my intake manifold and see if that helps.

let me know if you get anywhere and ill post back the results of my cleaning

PaHonda

I am having the same problem in my 95 EX. I notice that my car has that lean surge that you mentioned usually around 1800-2000 rpms. Sometimes it happens at ~2800 rpms.

I do notice that it happens more often when I am coming out of a turn.

The O2 sensor has been changed. Cleaned the intake.

92accordboy

ws350z why did you ask if it happened when he was turning?