frogg5872

My buddy has a 95 single cam non vtec with auto tranny that he uses to go back and forth to work everyday. The car has NO power going up hill. You can start going up at fifty and drops to twenty before you get to the top. We gutted the cat COMPLETELY (nothing left inside to blow back in the exhaust) and he just got the tranny flushed and everything and its STILL doing it! CaR used to make it around very nice and now feels like its dying.
WHERE SHOULD WE LOOK NEXT? One guy at a shop said clogged resonator. We even replace the whole ignition. Cap rotor plugs wires and bottom of the dizzy.

b20hatchek

it's a d non-vtec, they make 70whp at best

nothing_shocking

How many miles on it? It might just be that it's a 15 year old motor... But like b20 said, it's an auto/non-vtec/D series... There's yer problem. I love D's, but they just don't cut it (stock) for power...

fv8s

HILL > D+ 8 valve+ Auto Trans

94EG8

8 valve D15B8s never came mated to automatics, D15B7s did. I used to own one in a sedan before i swapped it, it shouldn't be gutless like that.

dmeconitas

I have the same problem with my 98 2.3 Honda accord. Going to la the semitrucks pass me. Motor is well maintained and new tranny. People tell me it's just that the motor is old. In to find out a solution.

apexi_rsx

transmission is probably getting to its end. maybe running an aftermarket tranny cooler could help sum but i dought it. these autos are not really ment for hill climbing. most people in the hills own 5spds. even though its a pain in the *** alil bit.

b20hatchek

nope im right, its making about 70whp when new and it's auto meaning, the torque converter is robing even more power from it, i'd say (for your sake) do a full swap or mini-me and a 5spd conv, personally when i had a d with auto, i blew the d and the trans on purpose and swaped to the ls and b16 trans

chewyv

Must be a pretty steep hill...if it's the hill you should be able to tell if your engine is fightin for it's life. If your losing power than its another issue like transmission or clutch.

Former User

Has the ignition timing been set to spec? Did you install NGK spark plugs?

You may want to measure the fuel pressure and replace the fuel filter.

Any CEL codes?

frogg5872

It throws a CEL every once in a while but it only blinks and yes the dizzy was set to spec. It never had a problem before. When he first got it we could go up the mountain at sixty mph. And maintain that speed.
Its obvious that its not going to keep pulling to 120 with the small motor thats in it thats a gimme.
But it used to make it around fine. Now when you go to merge in traffic it just slugs out. Max speed on 60 mph on the flat. Motor revs fine at idle and we now noticed a distinct hissing noise higher in the rpms while driving only (assuming exhaust leak after the cat where did not get a bolt back on).
he is getting a new fuel filter today and we are going to put that on and if that does not fix it i am going to unhook the exhaust at the cat and see if it makes a difference.

I was thinking the tranny might be dying but he just got a full tranny flush and filter replaced and the guy said that everything looked fine from what he could see.

it also seems like it should be kicking down a gear but is not. If you manually shift it it helps but not enough. Any more insights are greatly appreciated!!!!

frogg5872

and yes they were ngk plugs i installed them myself. I even went over all vacuum lines and replaced the worn and/or deteriorated ones. Do the codes stay stored even if the light is not on?

Former User

Next time the CEL turns on while driving, pull over and leave the engine running while you jump the service connector to pull the CEL codes.

frogg5872

will do. Thanks for your input.

frogg5872

did not do anything yet other than him hitting a deer and the car was able to go up the hill at fifty five. He said something sounds like it got knocked loose. Going to inspect it when he gets here.