*Warning, I know nothing about engines except for the basic stuff*

I let my car sit for about a month because I had a flight to the east coast to meet my in laws.

Got back, started up my car ran great. Battery was a little low and it cranked slow but I primed the fuel pump and stuff and it was fine.

Drove it for a week no probs.

Let it sit again for a 2 1/2 weeks because I have been car pooling with my fiance to and from work.

On start up, primed fuel pump twice, but it took 8-9 cranks (Like actual rotation of crank, I only turned the key once) and started up fine. Usually my car after starting it immediately goes to 2100 then down. It went up to 2100 and went down to 500 right after start up. But sort of caught itself and idled at 1100 to warmup like normal.

After driving for about a mile, I got either a misfire or a predetination. Sort of like when you run a car too low on fuel and it sputters, but I had 3/4 of a tank. And it's doing it about 2 times every mile. Only when accelerating. When I let off the gas and coast down a hill...the engine revs a little slower then revs up and evens out, but my speedometer goes down and up rapidly then reads accurate RPM.

I don't believe its the fuel pump, because the car never felt "starved" for fuel even at high RPM. And in between these misfires the car sounds and runs great haha. Still peppy.

So in conclusion...its probably my plugs right?

EDIT: Forgot to mention: Yes the CEL does come on. And after about 9 miles of regular driving this effect goes away.


Modified by Eighty-Nyne at 4:53 PM 9/4/2008

 

bump

 

Check CEL...you will find your answer...

 

Gahh ok.

Do I have to run the engine until the CEL comes on or does my ECU save it.

Because everytime I start my car its off until the misfire happens.

 

the ecu saves it. just pull the carpet from the ecu cover and there will be a little plastic cover in the middle of the ecu cover, there will be a flashing red light there. turn the ignition on, and watch the number of flashes. then using this site or a manual or any other source, check the number of flashes and the corresponding problem. i know there is a ECU code list in the FAQs.

 

Yeah I already found a CEL code page.

The ECU is located on the wall near the doorjam on the passenger side, right?

 

right under the glove compartment near the firewall. just pull the carpet down, it may be clipped, my hatch didnt have the clips because the carpet is pretty much crap haha, but yeah its right under there. you dont need to take the ecu cover off though.

 

Got CEL #4. They were pretty flast blinks, like as fast as counting 1 to 4 without alligators between them lol. So I assume its 4 and not 40.

"CKP Sensor (Crankshaft Position Sensor) defective circuit or unplugged / defective sensor"

Would that explain whats happening?

When the car misfires it does lurch forward a little bit.

EDIT: Yeah, this totally looks like my problem. Glad it isn't something else.


Modified by Eighty-Nyne at 7:08 PM 9/4/2008


Modified by Eighty-Nyne at 7:17 PM 9/4/2008

 

well there you go. lol

 

Cept now that im reading up on it, on every other place says that it's not actually the CKP and it means you need to replace plugs and wires. It just registers as CKP. They say if your CKP is malfunctioning your car wouldn't run.

 

I've recently had this problems. Had a tune up done and replaced the NGK spark plugs with Bosch which I read was horrible for japanese cars. At 3500-4k rpms it would start sputtering like you describe. I put new NGKs in it and it runs like a champ now. Although I did replace a bad O2 sensor at the same time so it may have been that. But on my 90 crx the o2 sensor was bad for a while and it never sputtered. I would guess it's the spark plugs.

 

i had a similar issue on my hatch back when i had my a6/y8 setup. and eventually the car just died as i was coasting into a steak n shake. turns out it was the distributor. Also the crankshaft position sensor is inside the dizzy btw Could also be your plugs and wires though. Can't hurt to replace em and see what happens

 

take my word for it and don't waste your money on plugs and wires. Perform the troubleshooting procedure for the code 4 first, because if the sensor is bad in the distributor, you need to get a new distributor, which isnt cheap.. only after you prove to yourself that the sensor in the distributor is NOT bad, then move on to other stuff.

All i am saying is listen to what the computer is saying, and troubleshoot that FIRST, then start replacing stuff that may not necessarily be the problem.

99 times out of 100, the distributor in the ef failed when a code like that is thrown. I have yet to see a thread where the plugs and wires or distributor wiring was actually the cause of any code related to the distributor..