its an 89 civic HB DX and the check engine light periodically comes on for no reason and then when i press the gas pedal it takes like 2 seconds for the gas to reach wherever its goin cause i hear it and feel it and it dont drive right then cause of that ,but if i shut the car off for a second and restart it then its fine.. why..? ive tried looking at the ECU to read a code but im lost as to how to read them flashes cause they are always in a diff pattern...

thanks
mike
ps its PGM FI if that is necessary to know..