Originally Posted by stumpedtech

My car will start rough and then it will bog down 100 feet after i start driving. After it's problem, it drives perfect. Right after you turn it off, it starts up just fine, that is if you turn it on in the next few minutes, and, will still do the bogging down the road just like before. If it's left off for 10 or 15 minutes it does the rough start again and will still do the 100 feet down the road bogging.

Note:: When put in neutral while it's bogging, bogging does not happen. Rev's are great.

It used to help when I primed the pump relay a few times with the key on and off. I just don't know any more....

When I say bogging I mean that the rpm's go down, feels like fuel isn't being delivered enough, and pressing the gas only helps a little to keep it up, then it takes off. I'm used to it so I let off the gas a little and it settles out. It does it twice usually.

1998 Honda civic ex coupe 2 door
1.6L 4 cylinder automatic transmission

Parts replaced:
TPS, battery, alternator, starter, spark plugs (double platinum), spark plug wires (NGK premium), cap, rotor, power and ground wires (4 gauge), fuel filter, and fuel pressure regulator, all installed within 2 weeks ago.

Head gasket was replaced and head resurfaced. Water pump timing belt serpentine belts also, done all at the same time a little over a month ago.

The spark plugs were fouled a week ago causing it not to start, covered in black carbon and unburnt fuel. I have checked the plugs as recently as a day ago and they do not have anything but a light gray dusting like normal. The timing was off by 10 degrees also. Both fixed and still have an issue

Originally Posted by Swap'DShuttle

Codes? Also check grounds, especially T stat ground for engine harness. That means clean it up anyways after you disconnect the neg cable.

Originally Posted by stumpedtech

Enough testing that wouldn't matter if it was all combined and redone by someone else 100 times over.

Originally Posted by stumpedtech

Testing means sticking an $8,000 computer checker into the car and literally testing each device that would throw a code only after the very act of testing. If you don't do this and there isn't a code because of the very act, you are SOL, because thanks to these ECU's.. These engine computers, they do not throw check engine lights for components that are failing 100% of the time, probably only 5% of the time. They only throw codes for things that have failed, or that have been unplugged, not "Fail_Ing". Like putting an EKG onto someones scalp.

Originally Posted by stumpedtech

Can you tell from that EKG that you have ketchup hanging on the edge of your lip because you just gagged yourself with an NY Coney? No! You have to bite your lip and screech first to pulse the EKG. There is no biting lip in these parts! Not sensitive enough! (No pun intended).

The car would probably not fail until the spark plugs were fouled again, just like I thought, because the same symptoms were showing again. A sick never ending loop, and also because of it, things like the TPS failing on the side.

I replaced all power and ground copper wires and connecions (with 4 guage wire, nice and thick compared to the original 6 guage) and checked with a multimeter to make sure there was no current but a ground, and no power but the correct power when being turned on and off. All passed. 100% waste of my time.

I had to replace the original starter which worked fine, also being told that it might be the starter that was making my battery light flash intermittently. False. I got a new one, because I had this itch that maybe the power wire
wasn't secure or scraped enough. Tightening back on, the internal connection snapped in half with the supporting plastic around the side. Starter brand new, Duralast. I don't like duralast. They slap stickers on lego batteries, that is all they are good for. Dur-a-last. Dur once more. Dur for the last time.

I replaced 2 separate alternators after checking specs. 100% waste of my time 2 times in a row.

I replaced the battery. It was reading perfect before hand, but decided to replace it anyways. 100% waste of my time, and the battery sat in my trunk dripping acid all over the carpet, creating holes and rust, breaking tools beyond repair and turning a poncho to oily mush, getting all over everything.

I replaced spark plugs. That did the trick to correct the previous problem, but the 1 actual problem was causing the engine to run lean, and covered them with carbon and unburnt gasoline. The gapping was to spec at .44, the plug ends weren't chipped off. There weren't any burn marks on the insulators. There wasn't oil on them or the threads. I was told to check the valve cover gasket too. 50% waste of my time, it started my car.

I replaced the oil thinking it was just the wrong stuff, and oil filter. I check that all the time. 10w30 instead of 5w30. 100% waste of my time 3 times in a row. I'm just going to stick with the 10w30.

I checked the transmission fluids all the time. Had to re-ground the transmission because a bolt snapped in half on the chassis, and so paint scraping proceeded. Perfect transmission fluid and level. Perfect ground.
100% waste of my time.

Someone told me that their 97 Accord was doing the same thing, that their ECU was replaced and all was nice and peachy afterwards. 100% waste of my time pondering. "Yeh yo mah alternator wuz messn up n battery flashn n anything could do it and would go away when i drove from a stop, the check engine never came on but i knew it worxed, yeh, my car runs fine now". Nope! Not the ECU.

Someone told me that it might be the fuel pump relay. That I would need to buy another one (If I could even find such a hot cake), and someone else said they would solder the thing back together, after the fact that they "solved the problem" by adjusting the time a little. 100% waste of my time pondering. "Next time bring it in if its hot and you roll down the windows and it works but wont later in the heat again, I'll solder the thing back together". Nope!

Someone said on a forum that it was the fuel pump and they fixed it. Same
exact symptoms, same exact car. 100% waste of my time pondering and searching for 1 single shop besides a Honda dealership that had the correct connector adapter to check the fuel pressure. Not one shop had that Honda/Accura adapter.

Someone told me that it might be the MAF sensor. It was reading to spec. 100% waste of my time.

Someone told me that it might be the exhaust. The Catalytic converter or something else on the exhaust. False. It was not the exhaust or catalytic converter. 100% waste of my time pondering.

Someone told me that it might be the 02 sensor. My deductive reasoning told me that it can't be the 02 sensor, because why would an 02 sensor go bad at start up, drive fine, then make the car bog down the road (losing power) coming right back up to normal, but driving 100% fine forever, but getting worse throughout the day each time letting it sit and then starting. There would have to be a flap of steel with an electronic arm shutting on the 02 sensor in order for that to happen, and there ain't no electronic arm, and carbon buildup doesn't come out of nowhere 3 times in a row and not at all afterwards. 100% waste of my time.

All of that 100% waste of my time did not solve the problem, and I'm keeping the secret! Just guess what was messing up my car the whole time, stress accumulating almost to the point that water boarding might be more tasteful.

I have posted on Yahoo answers, this site, and many many other useless forums. I've gone to Bap Geon, Napa, Auto Zone, Advanced Auto Parts, Pep Boys, backyard mechanics with ASE and other labels with some 30 to 50 years experience in HONDAS ALONE, certified honda technicians, no. None of them could give me a straight answer. None of them could do something called "Diagnose Properly" and believing what I tell them, narrowing down the key issue. NONE!

In the end, my car runs perfect now. All because of 1 device. It made my car overheat causing what should have been $2000 in repairs, but scavenged and researched and brainstormed enough to do it for $450. It made my electronics fry everywhere because what did the overheating cause? Stress on the Alternator. Some $650+ in electrical repair, most of which didn't change a thing but maybe slightly.

The biggest mistake of all was buying a reman Alternator from Auto Zone. They are reassembled in Mexico, and red paint is lathered nicely all over the copper wire mesh. Remans do not go through an actual riggorous check, like re-creating the driving environment. Nope! New and to spec is the only way to go for those.

Another big mistake was actually letting someone say to me that "I don't think it's something to do with the Fuel system" or "I don't think it's something to do with the Electrical system".

I should have listened to my own idea. That it was BOTH and something additional.

Oh, "Are you sure your belt is tightened properly for the umteenth time?", yes it is. Look here. 90 degree turn, not wobbling at all, tight, and all are brand new. 100% waste of my time.

Here's a hint to what it was:

Subtle. 15.9994 '8' #26 O. Directing. Faucet.

WOA