MechEng

Yesteday: car working perfectly, runs great

Today when I started the car: it is running rough and heistats and is down on power, it surges then hesitates especially in low gear.
The car is a 94 RS with 230,000km but doesn't burn a drop of oil and I am the original owner

Car had a tuneup last year.

I tried new gas and there is no codes (cel).

Will the engine run if it is the timing belt, coil or fuel pump?
Not sure where to begin

I'm very nervous, my car is running terrible and I was hoping to keep it a few more years.

Thanks,

el crapitan

regardless of the cel, check for codes

MechEng

No engine light, why would there be a code?

TheRealTegger

How's the idle? Is it lumpy, with a regular miss, or is it just generally and irregularly rough?

arziffel

What he said. It can throw codes without setting the CEL. Ask me how I know.

MechEng

Irregular rough, I've cleaned the iacv a few years back
And throttle body.

01_4DOOR_LS

my 2001 ls b18b1 did this a few weeks ago found out the timing belt slipped 3 teeth and bent my valves . hope this is not your case but it could be especially if you have loss of power.

10lbteg

Does it still have the original catalyst converter on it? I had an odyssey come in with the same problem, ended up having a clogged cat.

MechEng

Did some trouble shooting:
*No codes
*Checked all plug wires <25 kohms
*Unplugged each wire and ran car, saw spark on each wire
*Did notice plugs were running rich in 3 of the cylinders but they are getting spark.
*Checked coil passed resistance test 0.9 ohms and 17kohms

Very confused.............


Further description of the problem:
At highway speed, it feels like the power is cutting in and out yet I can still maintain a speed or like an auto transmission slipping (its manual so its not a tranny issue)
At idle it runs rough.

Hopefully its not a slipped timing belt.
Any other ideas?


As far as I know the following either work or don't, correct ?

Fuel Pump
Ignitor: I tried to test the ignitor but I didn't know which ECM wire to attach to

Maybe its a fuel injector? But I'm not getting a code

el crapitan

try checking the ignition timing. if timing has jumped, it will be evident.
also, pull the distributor cap off and have a look at the contacts.

MechEng

Much to my surprise I took the car for a spin today and it is fine. Running perfectly, full power is restored. Read on....

When I checked the coil I did clean some of the carbon off the rotor, but it was replaced 2 years ago along with the cap and is Original OEM Honda and only has 30,000km on it so I thought it would have little to no affect.

Other than than, I did reset the ECU but everything else I just tested as per the following:
*No codes
*Checked all plug wires <25 kohms
*Checked coil passed resistance test 0.9 ohms and 17kohms

Would a slightly dirty rotor cause this after on 30,000km? Or did the resetting of the ECU fix it?

Or and I this is what I've always been wondering based reading some other posts
is the 1)Igniton Coil 2)Ignitor 3)Fuel injectors every intermittent.
Knowing how they work, in my mind they either work or don't work because they are coil systems. Any thoughts?

el crapitan

eh. those things can be intermittent. usually heat will cause the fault.
possible it was just the rotor. i doubt resetting the pcm did it, as no codes were stored.
and in 2 years/30k you can absolutely have wear on ignition components.
i guess just drive it. see if it comes back

MechEng

To satisfy my curiosity: I did a water test on my wires yesterday; they passed with flying colors no arcing and the idle didn't miss one firing; they are still the original OEM.
OEM wires have proven to be the best in multiple tests.

I do remember from my 91 Civic (RIP), that when the ignitor failed, the car stalled and wouldn't start until it cooled down. Same for the ignition coil.
Is that what others have experieneced?