K'netic

My V6 coupe had the main relay go out on it a couple weeks ago so I replaced the fuel pump and the relay and the car just isn't working right anymore.

My mom's friend (who worked at GM and knows "everything"; ya right) decided when the relay went bad that she would try to start the car and cranked it with no fuel til the battery went dead. I don't know if that messed something up with the injectors or what but here's what the car is doing now.

When I start it when it's cold it cranks forever but eventually starts (sometimes I have to prime the fuel pump 5 or 6 times to make it start).

After I start it it runs rough sometimes until it warms up then when it hits the VTEC range it runs like normal.

If I turn off the car when it's warm then try to start it again it barely starts and idles well under 600rpm. If I try to hold the revs up it misfires and if I put it in gear it falls on it's face. If I give it full throttle it misfires really bad and won't get the revs up. If I give it about 10% throttle the revs will go up and it doesn't misfire as bad. If it's in gear I can barely get it to move and I can slowly accelerate if I don't go over 10% throttle. If i give it too much throttle it will misfire badly and the CEL starts flashing.

After a while of driving at low throttle above 30mph it will start running better. Full throttle under VTEC revs has hardly any power but when VTEC kicks in it takes off like normal (Feels like it goes from 40% power to 100% @ VTEC).

I hooked it up to a scanner and found out the engine was throwing 7 codes, 6 codes saying misfire on cylinders 1-6 and 1 code saying "random multiple misfire on all cylinders"). I cleared all codes but it kept acting up and threw the codes again.

I'm at a loss and I can't afford to take it to a dealer to have it diagnosed.


Any suggestions would be helpful. Even if you it's a long shot throw some ideas out there and let's discuss it. Maybe we'll get lucky.



Thanks guys.

phootbag

Sounds like it could be a fuel pressure problem. Was the pump replaced before the car was "cranked until the battery went dead"? If so, I wonder if the fuel pump was ruind by running it so long without fuel to cool it off.

K'netic

The pump was replaced after the "crank til its dead" thing.

phootbag

What is the service history of the vehicle for the past year? Also, were the replacement parts new from Honda or from another source?

K'netic

It's had regular service over the last year. Nothing special other than oil changes.

The main relay was from Honda, the fuel pump was from Autozone.

phootbag

Curious about why there was no fuel when the main relay went bad. Sure it was the main relay or was it out of gas? Could be a faulty fuel pump from Autozone. Might want to check fuel pressure to rule this out. I'm suggesting this because apparently the current problem developed after replacing the fuel pump.

phil900

I have a 2000 accord v6 with the same exact problem. The same dtc codes (6 with misfire in each cylinder and a 7th with random). The problem has been occurring intermittently but more often lately. I was thinking that this might be a fuel pressure problem also but i haven't replaced the fuel pump yet. The car is doing exactly what k'netic's accord is doing. I recently filled up the gas tank with premium gas and some fuel injector cleaner and the problem hasn't occurred for about a week. I am thinking that it may be the fuel pump and that the injector cleaner / premium gas thing is a fluke.

With the fuel pump, even if i remove it to test it, it might test bad but with the nature of electronic parts failing entirely or intermittently there is no guarantee that I'll get the result i'm looking for. Did you replace the autozone pump yet? I've had problems with autozone electronic parts before.

adaddo43

did either of you figure out what the problem was with your accords....Mine is doing the same, with the random misfire codes, running rough when cold, idling low
Any help appreciated
Thx

K'netic

I replaced the Autozone fuel pump with an OEM Honda one and I'm still having the same problem.

I was on my way to work the other day and one of my coil packs crapped out on me. The way the car felt on 5 cylinders was really close to the way it feels when it's running rough with this fuel/ignition/whatever problem I've been having.

So I go to good old Autozone and pick up a new coil pack and since I had just been given my first paycheck I decided it was about time to replace the EGR valve (Since it's known to be a problem for these motors). I took the old one off and it was really black with carbon but it didn't look like it was clogged (I replaced it anyway, figuring that the ports might not be clogged but the valve itself, which you can't see, might be)

It still had to crank for a few seconds before it would finally start and after driving around for a week I can say that it's still having the same problems as before.

Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) slows down the combustion process so the ECU will compensate for that by advancing the spark by a certain amount. If the EGR is blocked then the combustion process is happening faster than the ECU realizes and the result is a spark event several degrees before it should happen which would result in a noticeable drop in power. Because of this, my next course of action is going to be to try and clean out the EGR passages that lead to the exhaust and intake manifold. I'm not sure how to do that yet because the passages snake around at some weird looking angles so I need to find something flexible, thin, sturdy, and preferably with a wire brush on the end.

Another possibility, which may be occurring in conjunction with a blocked EGR passage problem, is the Catalytic Converter.

Here's my train of thought... Try and stick with me here.

Cats reduce emissions by using a catalyst to absorb blah, blah, blah, we all know what they do. The catalyst has a warm-up time before it starts working, right? Well, if the cats are clogged with carbon the passageway would constrict as the cat gets hotter, resulting in more backpressure, which, in turn, could send more exhaust gasses (and presumably more carbon) back into the EGR, thus clogging the EGR passages. This could also explain why I can cold-start the car, drive 4 minutes to Wal-Mart, turn it off, then start it again 15 min later without a problem: The engine may be warmed up in 4 min, but the cats wouldn't be. If I drive to work (20 min) the cats will have been thoroughly heat soaked and and if I shut the car off, it won't start again until the cats have cooled off sufficiently.

The only way to check this is to unbolt the exhaust and check the cats, but this exhaust has never been removed and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a BITCH to get it off.


If I'm wrong in my assumptions anywhere please let me know, I don't mind being corrected, I just want to get this damn thing running right again.

And remember, I need suggestions on how to clean out the EGR passages so please feel free to speak up.

TJF

Okay to the guy trying to figure out how to clean just use a can of carb cleaner. Id clean the egr with with then spray it into thw passages then pyt the egr back on run it for 10 mins and then clean the egr again. But thats just me... i had to do that yeater day the egr will throw a code though... im not really a honda guy. I bought this 2000 2dr v6 accord like a month ago and let it sit around till yesterday i went out and drove it around after checking everything to make sure it was all alright bc im planing on taken it on a 9hr trip tomorrow. But i went to start it today and alll it does is turn over. Im not sure about this car at all in usually into small block chevy motors like the 350 or 327...

Lost Again

283 in a 66 Chevelle sitting in the garage checking in......the basic things still apply, how you test and verify are the only differences.

Fuel/spark/air - what is missing or out of spec