DVS Luder

Ive been having the same damn problem with my car for a while now and its seems like its been happening more and more. Its an intermittent problem, but lately it feels like its been doing it everday.

CAR:1998 Prelude 5spd, 67,000 miles, only mods are its lowered, v2 intake and apexi ws2 exhaust. burned out cat with a code 67, i doubt this is the problem tho cuz when i got a new cat and the cel went away it still acted up. now the code is back, only took a month or so for the cat to go bad too, waste of $450!

SYMPTOMS: tach needle jumps around or drops completely to zero for a few secs then jumps back up while the engine is running normal. however, sometimes the tach gets jumpy and so does the engine too, like it hesitates, loses power then gains power all of a sudden so the car drives all jerky. then people look at me like im driving crazy. this can happen at any speed, even freeway speeds but most of the time when it hesitates, it usually does it under acceleration from a stop. sometimes it hesitates so much it feels like its gonna stall, and about half the time it does. sometimes theres no signs of it acting up and it'll just die at a red light. it can also stall at freeway speeds(happens less tho compared to stalling at slow speeds or at a stop). when it comes to starting the car, when i first start it in the morning, night or whatever, 99% of the time it'll start fine, but once i drive it, it might start acting up 200 feet away from my house or 200 miles away, just completely random.

when the car does act up and i try to restart it, the situation becomes completely random again, sometimes it'll fire up instantly with no problems, other times it'll take me a few minutes to get it going. when it takes me a while to start it, the car stinks, like a mixture of burnt and unburnt fuel. revving it up feels like it helps restarting the car, not sure tho. im not sure because sometimes when it does start and i keep my foot on the gas, it'll stay on but once i let go, it just dies, other times even when i got my foot on the gas the car seems like its bogging choking and just dies anyways, regardless of my giving it gas or not.

ive been looking into this problem for a while now and some say that for sure its ignition related with my tach being all jumpy. should i just replace the ICM (ignition control module)? some say it can still be fuel related, others say its my computer. need serious help pleeeasee


Modified by DVS Luder at 11:35 AM 10/19/2006

Chuckles99SH

it could be an ignition problem for sure. When you changed out your cat did you check to see if your o2 sensors were ok? If your o2 sensor is toast it might cause your motor to run pig rich. Have you pulled a spark plug to see what they look like? If you are running pig rich it could cause some unspent gas to make its way into the cat causing it to burn up like that.

mgags7

Wow man I really wish I had a definitive answer for you, we are having the same problem with jd3jdm's car right now....for a while a different ecu fixed it, but then it came right back...

When we do figure it out, I will <u>surely</u> make a huge post about it and let everyone know....

DVS Luder

imma buy a multimeter tomorrow so i can test out the ICM, i looked up the steps on doing it in school (wyotech). the test procedure says if all tests are normal, replace the ICM, that part sounded weird but i guess imma give that a shot.

mgags7

those tests make sure that the wires going to the ICM and from it to the coil are ok....so if they are fine, then the ICM is at fault

HiFi

hey dvs, im having the same problem too. Currently there is a post going on about that. look here on my https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1758028.
man apparently alot of people have this problem

DVS Luder

i pulled my plugs out and theyre black as hell, would a bad icm or coil cause this somehow?

russlan44

im having same almost problem on my 98 SH tac jumps and dies on the road time to time doesnt matter where freeway most cuz i drive on freways a lot, and 200 feet from my house the car dies couple times on me, pulled out my spark plugs they black i dunno if thats the case but the car doesnt die all the time like in a week at least 4-5 times. and when it does the car starts back right away sometimes cuz its in gear and im driving and sometimes ill take a while to start. most of the times when it dies the rpms fall and then the car starts again it self and my ATTS will be ON


Modified by russlan44 at 12:17 PM 10/15/2006

admedlin

wow i was thinking i was the only one with this problem too. Hmmmm mine will die when i pull up at a stoplight and put it in neutral. So lately I just keep my foot on the gas and keep it just above 1k rpm and it doesn't stall. I've changed my distributor, cap, wires, plugs, everything. I'm taking it to my mechanic tomorrow to see what he can do about it.

russlan44

by the way what gas octane u guys use i use 89 and 91 like one time ill use 89 the other time ill use 91 dunno why just i fill up my girlfriends car with 89 and she has 99 accord v6 and my i feel up with 91 so some times i just forget cuz we change cars time to time

bluedlude

well the easiest way to check your ICM on the OBDII H22 is to check the timing. if its off, then your ICM is bad. just make sure you check the timing at normal operating temp with the service jumper connected. and in my past experience with my 01 lude, i've taken the cap off of 2 different distributors and the stock rotor was rusted to HELL like you couldnt believe. just a few easy things to check out.

SKDRCR

Start your car and let it idle then flick on the main relay and
see if it causes the car to die or cut out.

admedlin

"by the way what gas octane u guys use i use 89 and 91 like one time ill use 89 the other time ill use 91 dunno why just i fill up my girlfriends car with 89 and she has 99 accord v6 and my i feel up with 91 so some times i just forget cuz we change cars time to time "

I'm pretty sure the 5th gen is supposed to take premium only. Gas where I live is 93 octane

I know I had the timing belt replaced about ~35k miles ago, but I was thinking I should check the timing. I know the problem isn't electrical, I haven't smelled any gas fumes so I know it isnt fuel related, it has to be something with the timing. Mine dies only when say you pull up at a stoplight and put it in neutral, put it in neutral in a parking lot or drive-thru, etc. Mine usually takes a few tries to start back up and sometimes makes a weird sound when it is starting up. Kinda like a gargling sound, maybe flooding or something. But then it fires up just fine.

DVS Luder

thanks guys, well i did that test for the ICM and all tests pass so it says replace the ICM, i was testing the coil and i got an unacurate reading on the primary side, it'll show a number then go to zero, but on the secondary i get good results.

about flicking the main relay, immah try that tomorrow. admedlin, my car makes weird *** noises too when i try starting it up after it dies. also, i use 91 all the time, either shell or chevron but lately more people are suggesting me to use chevron.

also, i read somewhere on these forums that the coil and icm is related, something about if you replace one, replace the other, so immah look into that also.

bluedlude

this is besides the point, but for about 2 years i only used citgo gasoline and the past 2 weeks ive been using HESS and am getting about 5 mpg better. weird?

DVS Luder

tested out the ICM and it was in good shape. tested out the coil at home, in school and at a shop and it failed the test on the primary side. i went ahead and replaced the ICM anyways since i already ordered it, plus it has a lifetime warranty. also changed spark plugs and cap+rotor while i was at it. ive been driving it a lot to test out the car. no more jumpy tach, hesitations, bogging and stalling.

also, i just wanted to say that i read somewhere on HT that coils dont cause intermittent problems, well mine was. just letting folks know so who ever has this problem, this info might help.

russlan44

im glad that it helped you, my car stoped doing it havent died already for week and couple day, and i havent changed anything exept paying attention on what i put in it 91 fuel and it stoped so will see if thats what was causing the problem for me

DVS Luder

hmm....i doubt that'll fix the problem. its intermittent, mine used to do it once every month or two, then it got worse. test the ignition coils primary and secondary resistance, its easy to do and get ur ICM tested, also easy. if you need directions just ask.

WhiteBB2

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by russlan44 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im glad that it helped you, my car stoped doing it havent died already for week and couple day, and i havent changed anything exept paying attention on what i put in it 91 fuel and it stoped so will see if thats what was causing the problem for me</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DVS Luder &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hmm....i doubt that'll fix the problem. its intermittent, mine used to do it once every month or two, then it got worse. test the ignition coils primary and secondary resistance, its easy to do and get ur ICM tested, also easy. if you need directions just ask.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That could have taken care of some of the problem because the H series motors have the Knock Sensor on them which run off of the Octane in the fuel. Not enough octane in the fuel then the KS&gt;you!