Hey All,

Just finished putting a new head gasket on my 2005 and it started fine and sounded good... but when I took it for a ride around the block the engine cut as I started to accelerate and then a couple of seconds later it kicked back in... then it proceeded to do the same thing each time I started to accelerate. It felt as if I was out of gas, but it seemed to happen so consistantly at the same curve it doesn't quite feel like that. Any ideas? Could it have something to do with the VTC? It appeared to be locked when I was reinstalling the cam (at least it didn't move). Would appreciate any insight.

Thanks!

 

My first thought would be cam timing, but without actually driving it myself, it's kinda hard to say.

 

I agree, though I'm confident that the chain and the cams/crank are lined up, which is what had me thinking that it could have something to do with the VTC. Do you know what the symptom would be if the vtc wasn't advancing or malfunctioning in another way?

 

I'm not really familiar with the K stuff enough to have much input. I tune distributor Hondas on a weekly basis, but they don't have that.

 

Once the VTC is locked the only way to unlock it is with applied air pressure, and it's tricky, I doubt you have a timing problem, they will set DTC's if they are off a single tooth. Do you have any engine lights?

 

Just had same problem. replaced head gasket.. ran/sounded great but no power, no acceleration. Timing marks all looked good, but when I put timing light on it I could see it was firing near TDC, not 16 degrees before as it's supposed to. I jumped the timing belt one notch over and was able to get timing mark to line up.. now it runs great.. Try this.. shoot a light on it and see. There seems to be enough play/tolerance on timing belt/tnesioner/cam sprockets/crank pulley to make it look lined up when it's actually a bit off.. you're almost there!@

 

Sorry for the delayed response, Xmas was keeping me busy. Thanks for great info, I will be checking car out today. I was sure all timing marks were right, but who know, it could have jumped a tooth. Jbaehr: I was pretty sure that if i didn't disengage the vtc i was probably OK, thanks for the reassurance!

 

OK... went out to car with my trusty timing light all set to put this car in it's place when I realized that I've never used a light on this car before and since it doesn't have "spark plug wires" (at least nothing like a 74 V.W. bus) I'm starting to thing that my old Craftsman timing light won't work on it? Let me know if I'm missing something here. Below is a link to a video of what the car is doing right now... please note that the surging is coming from the car and is NOT the result of me pumping the pedal... though the more intense surging at the end of the video is me giving oit more gas. Does this sound familier to anyone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnJ17...ature=youtu.be

 

don't know if I should mention or if it's obvious, but thge engine will not rev any higher than that. More gas just makes surging more intense.

 

Your video is marked private, I can't see it. The only way to check ignition timing is with a scan tool. That light is not going to help. The ignition timing is not adjustable anyway. Do you have any engine lights?

 

Just made video public. I have a check engine light... It's the first time i've done this job and I dont think i could get the car where I could have it hooked up to a computer at this point. let me know if you are able to access video. Thanks!

 

Got to advanced auto or auto zone they will scan it for free, get the codes and report back.

 

That is a tell tale sign if a bad or stuck idle air control valve, but it should not affect the amount of rpms you can give it. Take off the intake tube, you will see a hole in the throttle body. Place a finger over the hole and see if the idle stabilizes. If it does try giving the valve a few good taps with a extension and a hammer. The valve is on the bottom of the throttle body it may be tricky to tap on it. Tapping on it may free up the valve

 

Actually after viewing the video again, I realized that your idle is stable but high. I doubt it's the valve. My guess would be that it is in fact out of time.

 

You will probably have a code described along the lines of the cam sensor being "out of phase"

 

Because of the very consistent surge I tend to agree timing might be the issue. I've recently had the IAC apart and I completely cleaned it so I doubt it's that. Don't think I can get the car to autozone since they are 40 mins away, but I'll check if my local napa will do it for me. Thanks for info, I will post results

 

To set the timing, I found the marks on the crank pulley are very small and hard to see from above. I crawled under the car and turned the crank with a wrench until I found the marks, used some chalk to mark it and the opposite side of pulley also.. I would recommend doing this, using paint or nail polish or something bright. See the manual how there is a white mark (TDC) and a red mark (16 deg BTDC).. Almost impossible to see without marking them better - Now I know they are set right and the distributor isn't gonna move. My car is running sweetly..Hope this helps.

 

Thanks again to everyone that replied! Just got done cleaning my garage to ready screw with the timing chain (which I began to firmly believe was the issue). But prior to pulling the car apart (again) I called one last place that was within a few miles of my place to see if they would hook up a computer (no autzones within 30 miles)... and they did. The guy looked perplexed at the code he was getting and then went under the hood and said "There you go"... I'll be damned, I left something unplugged on the timing chain cover. Car ran fine on the way home... I did a compression test just to make sure the head gasket was holding and as of right now everything looks fine!

On a side note... this was a pain in the *** job, but ultimately I was able to do it myself even though I'm not a mechanic (though I am mechanically inclined). I'd have to disagree with anyone that said to just replace the engine... If you're gonna replace the engine anyway, give it a try (with manual of course). The value of knowing my car better than I did is huge, but on top of that had I done it myself the first time it would have been done right and saved me an awful lot of money.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!