niterider96cord

Title says it all. Loss of like 70% power, backfiring ,sluggish driving. I have researched possible problems, head gasket blown, bent valves, cap/rotor bad, injectors stuck open and so far I think I can rule out head gasket and cap/rotor due to the are ingood condition and I checked my oil and coolant for tall tales signs of headgasket and they look normal and fine. However I pulled the plug closest to dizzy and it was saturated didn't smell like fuel though? any help please i can make a video if you guys want to hear it. Also no thinking like noise it if were valves.

shisa3

Best place to start would be your Map sensor and 02 sensors. Very simple but could do what you are explaining. After that I would go with fuel issue (injectors). Do you have a a/f gauge or a exhaust temp gauge? That could definitely help with the troubleshooting. Good luck.

snobordboy

Honestly if the car started this all the sudden, I bet it skipped a tooth or two on a cam gear. I would check your timing belt, make sure that at TDC both of the cams and the crank are lined up correctly.

n0n_Vtec

Check your cat I bet you blew it out

niterider96cord

Would I have a CEL on if it were map or O2 sensors? No the only gauge I have is compression gauge, maybe a loaner from o'Reilly?

niterider96cord

Brand new cat, less than 10k miles

niterider96cord

This is what I was thinking especially since I still have the auto tensior. It did do it all of a sudden but it seemed to progress, at first just under 3/4 throttle, now all the time. It happened after washing the engine bay if that makes any sense. I'm going to take a timing light to it this weekend.

snobordboy

Haha ok, you just added a new variable to the equation....water.

Pull all of your plug wires and see if there is water down in the holes. If there is, it can cause misfires and poor running as well. Just run some paper towels down to soak it up if that is the case.

Chase.clint

sounds like water issue? id try borrowing or buying a new cap and rotor and trying that for starters, may need new plug wires, and plugs. do the simpler things before you start thinking your engine is trash!

snobordboy

I am just saying water in the plug holes, not inside the engine, it has happened a few times to me since I have a vented C/F hood. Runs the way he is describing until I dry it out well.

niterider96cord

Update: cleaned out cylinders (very little water) and replaced my spark plugs with a good used set I have and it seems to have gotten better. It is still doing it howver just under 1/2 to full throttle now. I am going to check the timing this weekend and probably get a cap,rotor, and wires on the way.

Swap'DShuttle

Could be a combination of problems. Listen to your injectors with a screwdriver. I had one that had even been rebuilt fail. If they all sound consistant then check them for leaks.

niterider96cord

Another update threw a CEL code today. Code 12 egr lift sensor. Going to troubleshoot everything over the weekend so give me ideas guys. I will listen to the injectors/clean. Check O2 sensor, probably take apart and clean egr valve now, check timing and ....? Any other ideas I need this running as it is my DD right now.

reciprocity327

Good luck with fixing that...

Steezer

I thought that "Subaru" sound meant you either have a misfire, bad spark plug, or worse a dead cylinder (which might be this if your saying you lost 70 % of power)

niterider96cord

Update:
Saturday- Took apart and cleaned egr valve, and flushed 1/4 can of sea foam through egr system and cleared the code. Listened to injectors w/screw driver and from what i could tell sounded normal and not leaking. Jacked the car up and whent to pull the O2 sensor but there wasn't one, just a metal plug where it should be. But it has been this way since I had the exhaust changed out and never had a cel or problem. Noticed it was running a little rich but thought it was just the chrome tune it is on? (Can you delete the O2 sensor through the ECU?)

Sunday- New cap, and rotor. Still sounds like a subaru, but it is kind of intermitten it will do it below 2k rpms or if I give it more than 3/4 throttle. If i keep it above 2k and slowly accelerate it seems to be fine.? Could not get ahold of a timing light, so not sure if timing is on yet.

So not head gasket, oil and coolant normal. Not cap or rotor. Not plugs as i just put newer ones in. Not valves or dead cylinder, not tinking and runs fine intermittenly.

Could still be injectors? Timing? Plug wires? Tune? O2 sensor or map?

Swap'DShuttle

What a helpful statement from someone definitely not upping their post count because why?

Anyways, no other codes? Almost sounds ignition related. Try swapping out for a good working dizzy just for *****? Hey, I'm just trying to give ideas and be more helpful than that guy ^^^.

Map sensor could be faulty, and tune? Have you done mods that required it to be tuned and it was? Or do you mean ecu could be bad?

niterider96cord

Agreed, Sick of useless comments.

Well it is throwing code 21, and vtec is not engaging. But I figured that'd be a later problem to deal with. You think it pertains? (I think my oil pressure is a bit low) As far as the dizzy goes I will get ahold of some junk yards and see if they might have one, unless someone has a good P13 distributor laying around to loan me? Dont want to go pay $125 unless I have to.

Is there a way to test the map sensor? Well my car is a 93 Prelude originally with H23. It was swapped for 2000 prelude motor H22A4 and the previous owner socketed the P72 ecu it is on and tuned on chrome pro.

Thank you for your help swap; the thread views just keep going up and up but no one seems to have anything to say..

easy

I'm guessing by the info you gave, that you did not tune the ecu (or have it done for you) that it was instead done by the previous owner. I would highly recomend that you have the tune looked at. a lot of so called base maps have really bad tuning done down in the low end of the rpm range (because people people make them as base maps + intake/header/exaust... and tune it wide open throtle and upload it calling it a base map.). some of these bad tunes cause problems that feel like missfires or even feel like detonation.

Swap'DShuttle

Yeah, the vtec code isn't going to cause the problems you're seeing. I'd suggest finding someone with a working dizzy to try rather than buying one, even from a junkyard. 0.5-1.5 volts at idle and 3.0-4.5 volts during high throttle low vacuum for the map. Believe with key on engine off there should be 4.5-5v.

Also just read the part about washing the engine (or whatever you did all I know is it got wet).. Did you happen to get water in the dizzy or check?

And to answer your question about deleting the o2 with tuning yes you can, must be why it isn't throwing a code.

niterider96cord

Well yesterday morning I got off work early so I decided to change my oil, not because I thought it would fix anything but because it needed to be done. While the oil was draining I tested the volts for the map sensor with ign on engine off and it showed about 5volts between yellow/red&white I believe, but when I tested yellow to green/white it showed negative volts.. And red & white/green & white showed 0. I may have wire colors off slightly, but they should all show continuity within each other correct?
Anyways played with the wires to see if I could get a reading and kept the same. So I Finished the oil change and went to go to work last night and the car is running great, feels like a healthy H23 (no Vtec)... WOT , below 2k rpms even tried lugging the engine to get it to do it again and nothing. It only has a slight hiccup when starting the car now, barely even noticeable except for me, as I am listening to anything and everything it is making.

niterider96cord

Easy-
As far as the tune goes I believe you are right on this as well as ever since I have owned the car it has ran rich, I never had it tuned because I had big plans to boost it and run hondata. I am thinking about having Reid from kaizen speed tune it for me in the near future (I'm not even 15 mins from the Dyno) I'm sick of 19mpg and having to clean egr system every few months or so.

Is it a good idea to get an o2 sensor and have it tuned with it? Or is it just going to throw me some problems and won't affect much? I do not have emissions to worry about btw.

snobordboy

Personally I like having an o2 and letting the ecu adjust based on that, but getting a tune either way is the best idea. Do you know if the VTEC wiring is even connected, or it ever worked with this engine?

Swap'DShuttle

Glad its working for you. Definitely get that thing tuned asap. Rich basemaps are super lame.

niterider96cord

Ya it is connected and it did used to work, stopped working when I was messing with the egr over the weekend. So I may have just knocked something loose. I've already taken the solenoid off and cleaned it and made sure the pin was moving. I am going to trouble shoot it more thoroughly this weekend. I can live with no vtec for now it's still got more ponies than my old same displacement accord with vtec haha. Why did Honda do that with the f22 anyway. What are they like 8.5:1 compression?