Civic Racer X 7

so im driving my del sol with b16 swap
its had a CEL from missing 2nd 02 since day one

anyways its all smooth and runs strong

but every once in a while ill be at a light idling around 1000 as normal
suddenly idle will go to 1500

then when i take off from light it will stutter a little

and there is a weird *** smell
not rich gassy smell more like plastic burning car being painted type smell

and I notice in between gears the rpms drop way faster than normal

whats real weird is all i have to do is switch the car off then crank it and its back to normal

what in the world could this be?

Former User

Creating a thread title that summarizes your tech problem helps you get more responses by letting members know what specific information is needed -- Title edited.

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The problem with not fixing a CEL problem is that you don't know wehn new codes are thrown. Have you checked for new CEL codes?

Sonia's Driver

I suspect that you have a couple of issues working together to cause your problem.
The idle surge is probably the result of a dying IACV, intermittent vacuum leak, or other sensor issue.
The full throttle stutter is probably caused by fuel starvation. Check the fuel pressure and fuel pressure regulator. It could just be a clogged fuel filter.

Trace that burning smell first - it'll probably lead you to one of the problems.

pityocamptes

Maybe the burning smell is a wire/sensor lead burning the insulation off against a hot/exhaust part? Or maybe an electrical short...

Civic Racer X 7

no it doesnt stutter under full throttle only when starting off at a light

and the burning smell ONLY appears instantly when it acts weird then goes away right when i cut it off and re start it

very very strange

pityocamptes

Have you tried to track the smell down when its acting "weird"? Because you could have a sensor or some other electronic device trigger at some point, temp, whatever, and that lead might be exposed or shorting. I had an older vehicle that would do that when it rained and I used the blinkers - all hell would break loose - vehicle would die, etc. Ended up being a shorted wire in the frame. Only happened with a set amount of circumstances...

It could be something else besides electrical, but I would try to track the smell down to an area when the smell occurs...