sputtering while driving
 

okay, from the beginning: (sorry for writing a book. i just want to explain as best i can.)

i have a 88 crx si w/b16a from an xsi. pr3 ecu

with that out of the way, i was driving one day, and my car was wanting to go very very slow. eventually there was so little power i couldnt drive up the slightest little hill.

the main symptom:

the engine would absolutely not rev over 4500.
if i floored it would eventually bog to an even lower rpm, until it almost died.

so i started looking for problems.

in the process of discovering that my cat was clogged, i had replaced the timing belt, fuel pump, fuel filter, & ignition control module. also during this painstaking process, i had accidently broken the two studs closest to the drivers side that hold the valve cover on. so there are leaks in that area until my new studs come tomorrow at honda. upon discovering that none of those other things were the problem, I took all of those parts back.

okay, i gutted the cat. everythings great again! for like an hour........

i was getting on it really hard, and at higher rpms the car sputters and jerks like crazy. its getting worse and happening more often and more throughout the rpm band. usually the check engine light will sputter on and off with the engine sputtering. it wont stay on & there is no code left on the ECU. one time when i was revving it up in neutral and had the hood popped, i even got a glimpse of sparks coming from near the distributor. i know that that is a VERY BAD SIGN. but this is the only car i have, and i work and go to school full time so i need this fixed ASAP.

someone please help me!!1 I AM BEGGING!

thanks so much!
ronnie


Modified by b16acrxer at 11:40 PM 9/9/2003

Re: sputtering while driving (b16acrxer)
 

oh just in case: here's a picture of the broken studs that I was describing....i dont think this is causing my problem though. at any rate ill have the studs replaced today.
http://members.aol.com/b16acrxer/studs.jpg

Re: sputtering while driving (b16acrxer)
 

2 things to check, both happened to me

-check your cat. mine clogged up from running rich, and melted itself shut. the almost completely sealed cat, the backpressure kiled the car.

-dizzy cap and rotor.... most likely your problem, a cap and rotor for a 90-93 teg works fine.

Re: sputtering while driving (Phatwhippin_CRX)
 

*edit

just realized you said the cat was clogged! lol

been there, done that https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emsad.gif

you're running very rich man, lemme guess you have the )2 wires spliced into one O2 sensor for your ECU........?

Re: sputtering while driving (Phatwhippin_CRX)
 

i do not have them spliced. i think each oxygen sensor wire is going to the right pin on my ecu. but yeah im running rich i guess.....how can i fix that, too?

Re: sputtering while driving (Phatwhippin_CRX)
 

i have a similar problem but it only is in the morning, and its only until the car warms up, usually while driving in 1st gear through my apt complex, it bogs up until about 3500rpm, once i get out of the complex and floor it it all goes away

i have a brand new exhaust (cat, header, piiping and muffler)

i didnt notice the problem until after i got my zdyne, before that it never happend, the day after plugging in my zdyne boom this crap


Modified by slowpokesi at 6:38 PM 9/10/2003

Re: sputtering while driving (slowpokesi)
 

Well I can tell you one thing that I didnt check untill I put my type r manifold on. The Idle Controll Valve. Its on the back of the intake manifold right next to the throttle body. There is a screen on it. Take yours off and have a look, chances are its all kinds of cloged up.

Re: sputtering while driving (b16acrxer)
 

yeah but that screen being clogged is in no way gonna cause the distributor to SPARK! im a pizza delivery driver...i got get this fixed. you guys are all i got. https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emsad.gif please help me, you're my only hope!

Re: sputtering while driving (b16acrxer)
 

CAP AND ROTOR

Re: sputtering while driving (b16acrxer)
 

i fixed it. there was a bolt in between the + terminal on the starter and the starter casing. this was causing power surges whenever it would make contact with both. im lucky more damage wasnt caused. thanks for the diagnosis's....

Re: sputtering while driving (b16acrxer)
 

check your plugs maybe oil in the plugs??? or your wires???