So I've been scouring the internet for a number of days trying to find a solution to this problem. I've already posted on another Acura forum that I have history with, but no one seems to check it anymore. This site seems to return a lot of good info and quickly... so here goes.

For starters, my car is a 1997 Acura CL with the 2.2 F22B1 motor. It is the 5 speed manual transmission with 188,000 miles. The car has clean maintenance records with no major engine problems.

[Copied from the other site]:
For a few weeks now, I've noticed the car accelerating oddly. If I give 3/4+ throttle, the car kind of lags (you can actually feel it pull back) and then it surges forward fast as if I've just come off the clutch. I should state here that the clutch is fine and that I've been driving the car for 30,000+ miles and do know how to drive it.

Anyway, the last few days have been really difficult. When I've gone to start the car up, the starter cranks fine, but the engine won't turn over completely. You can hear it attempting to and revving up to 500 and 1,000 RPMs, but never fully starts. Clearly the battery and starter are fine, otherwise it wouldn't even crank. Anyway, after about 10 minutes of periodically trying it, I can get it to struggle to the point where it takes over and successfully starts. Yesterday, after getting it to start, the car cyclically revved from 700 RPMs to 2,000 RPMs. After driving for a minute, it stopped cyclically revving.

This morning the car started up with no problems, even in this cold New England weather. However, after stopping for a brief lunch at KFC with my girlfriend, I had the problem again. The car was about to start up successfully (and right away) when it stalled out. So I rolled under the car and had her key the ignition on and I could hear the fuel pump humming. Also, luckily I was in walking distance from Advance Auto and borrowed a spark plug socket, so I was able to pull a plug and determine there is indeed a spark. With it out, I had her hit the gas and I definitely could smell gas under the hood. It eventually started up with me pumping the gas. As you guys know, pumping the gas isn't necessary in a fuel injection motor...but it did work. After it started, everything was normal again.

The Advance Auto staff have helped me to determine a few possible issues. I'm going to investigate the throttle position sensor, bought a new fuel filter and will replace that, and check out the fuel rail for a possible clog. Also, I'm going to pull the idle air control valve to ensure it's not sluggishly opening and closing. This is all scheduled for tomorrow morning. I'm hoping the IAC cleansing will solve the problem, but I suspect it won't.

Anyone have any other ideas or possible leads?

 

For what it's worth - the first thought that popped into my head after reading your post was that your EGR valve is not working correctly. If your valve is sticking or not closing completely you will have starting and acceleration problems. Not sure if this is your problem but its something you might investigate.

 

Thanks...I'll give it a look today.

 

So, today I was able to pull the IAC and properly clean it and get it back in. I was attempting to replace the fuel filter (which is in a terrible location in this car) when I gave up when I couldn't unscrew the bottom of the filter with the fuel line. I did, however, note that the fuel in the filter looked fine and that the fuel rail drained quite a bit when the service bolt was disconnected, which also looked fine. I did not look at the EGR today, as I wanted to focus on one step at a time.

After getting it all back together, the car again showed the same symptoms. It would crank continuously (proving the battery is still really strong and holds a charge very well) and occasionally begin to turn over, but never actually catch. I determined, yet again, that I had spark and fuel delivery intact. After about 10 minutes of this, I was able to get the car to run by pumping the gas again. Once the car was running, I listened to the fuel injectors, all four clicking and sounding good. I put the timing light on the car and everything seemed A-OK.

I really need someone to suggest something that could cause this. I'm scouring the internet for other similar problems--many of which either don't have a a solution, or it was never posted. I'm searching the internet to determine every sensor in the car and researching what it does when it fails. Tomorrow, I'm going to unbolt and clean the EGR and maybe take a voltimeter to the crankshaft position sensor. The Haynes guide does a lousy job showing where this is located. Anyone have any advice?

 

If you can go all the way to redline while driving, its not the fuel filter at all. I've learned this in Auto Tech class. A clog fuel filter will not let you go pass 60mph then sooner it won't go past 50mph and so on. Thats how it is with a clogged filter.

You may want to check your engine ground wire. There's also a ground that is bolted to the Intake Manifold; this one will not start your car if its loose or not connected.

 

I appreciate the response. This makes sense about the fuel filter. I'm glad to hear it, because I really don't want to try to dismantle it again today. I'll take a look at the ground wires and see if there are any issues. I could see that being an intermittent issue if the connection became bad. However, wouldn't this cause the car to stall? See, once the car is running it runs beautifully, as if nothing ever went awry.

 

The car has started up ever since I cleaned the IAC yesterday. The last time I've started it up today (about 5 times now) it started rough...but it did start. I don't want to seem hopeful, but maybe the IAC did it.

 

So the car has started the last few days, albeit sort of rough, but it did start. I tested the EGR two days ago and everything tested fine.

Today, it started up and stalled immediately. The smell of fuel inside the car was pretty strong. After a few minute of attempting to start the car on and off, it finally took over and then ran smoothly. Looking under the hood, I don't see any visible leaks. I had a helper start the car while I looked under the hood and didn't notice anything leaking. There was also no visible dried up drips or anything on the fuel rail.

Could this possibly lead to be leaky fuel injectors? I'm really trying to rack my brain to figure out what is wrong. I'm running out of ideas quickly.

 

If its a leaky injector, some of it would've gone down to the bottom of the oil pan and mixed up with your oil while car is off and parked. Take out your oil dipstick and smell the oil to see if it smells like fuel. If it does, its either a bad Fuel Pressure Regulator(Diaphragm inside is bad) or a leaky injector.

 

Check the coolant level. Add antifreeze mix as needed and bleed the cooling system.

I'm betting you have air pockets around the TW sensor and IAC valve.

And never ever go with an Advance Auto or AutoZone "diagnosis." Those guys almost invariably have a domestic-make mindset, which doesn't work for Honda cars. They don't know how to fix your car; they just want you to buy parts that you can't return, like filters and fuel additives.

 

I've ordered a fuel pressure testing kit to check the fuel pressure up to the rail and also test the fuel injectors. It should be here in two days, when I'll proceed to check the fuel system. I also purchased a compression testing tool, just in case. That will be checked the same time I check the fuel pressure. I'll pull the dipstick tomorrow to see if it smells like gas.

Your idea about the coolant is interesting. Now that I think of it, I started having issues with hard starts and acceleration lag when I began fighting a low coolant level. I've had coolant issues in the car for some time, as there is a small leak that I am yet to find. Hmmm. However, is this contraindicated in that when I took the IAC off, coolant was clearly under pressure and came spouting out?

I'll try to rebleed the system tomorrow and see if that consequently makes a difference. Thanks for the new idea.

 

Pressure test for leaks and combustion leak test for possible head gasket failure.

 

I was hoping no one said that yet, ha. As I read the post, I came to that conclusion. The coolant would puddle up in the cylinder's and keep it from firing. Extreme amounts would raise compression and make it turn over rough. Would explain the coolant loss and the air in the coolant. Which would explain the bouncing idle.

 

Brief update: the coolant pressure test came back good. The car holds 10 psi cold with no issues and runs at 7 psi from start-up through fast idle to curb idle. No issues. I'll be doing a compression check later or tomorrow, whenever I can get a helper.

 

A compression check won't necessarily detect a bad head gasket. It sometimes can, but often can not. A combustion leak test - which checks for the presence of exhaust gases in the cooling system - will give you a definitive 'yes' or 'no' for head gasket failure.

 

Well, it's been an exhausting day. The compression tester isn't really built for a through-the-head spark plug socket. Even though I had tightly secured the correct fitting to the tester (via threads--what an awful design), the fitting ALWAYS remained in the block when removing the comprssion tool, except when the rubber house began to twist in place (leaving the threads stationary). Anyway, I became quite handy with an easy out and a pair of needlenose pliers. I also noticed that plugs 2 and 3 came out hard and that the holes need to be rethreaded. I think that because of this the 3rd cylinder didn't come to full compression as it didn't thread tight enough. Otherwise, here are the compression results:

Cylinder 1: 180 psi
Cylinder 2: 165 psi
Cylinder 3: 135 psi
Cylinder 4: 175 psi

Today I also tested my fuel pressure. Before start the fuel pressure built up to and held at 46 psi. At idle the pressure was a consistant 36 psi.

 

The car has been starting fine since then. Not had any issues. I remember around the beginning of the year not driving it for a few days (4 or 5) due to the amount of snow that had fallen here in Southern New England. I'd been driving my Jeep and left my car to relax. I'm wondering if it had started hard because of that and has gotten it out of it's system.