Hi guys, I'm new to the honda scene and don't know as much about cars as a lot of people here do so here goes. My car idles and starts perfectly fine. 95 civic EX auto, no performance parts, just had a full tune up. I have not had the car long at all so i can't tell if the problem was occurring before. Well after my car heats up fully (about a quarter of the way on the engine temp meter) My car will accelerate SLOWER than when I first start it up. WHen i start my car I will let it run for a good 5 minutes then drive off, temp would not be a quarter of the way at that time. I noticed before it gets heated all the way up it will be nice and peppy and fast-ish. After I have been driving for a good 15 to 20 minutes, whenever I leave from a light I would have to rev up to 3000 rpm to get a good speed. I don't get it, there are no lights on, no jerks, no nothing. DIstributor wires plugs filters all been changed very recently. What could be the issue??????????????????????????? My wife who works at an autoparts store and with mechanics is trying to tell me nothing is wrong, but me being very into my cars KNOWS there is something. All the post I look at keep syaing check the timing or the Cat. If it was the CAT wouldn't it be the same acceleration no matter what? Oh and if it was the timing wouldn't it be idling funny? I have no problems with idle, smoke, gas smell or anything out of the ordinary. It was a very clean car BEFORE I crashed it lol, it was all original lol not rust anywhere ****, I fucked up........ Ye so, the only issue is when the car heats up, it doesn't accelerate *** fast from a stop as when it's cooler. Could it be because It runs rich when first starting cause of the ECU???? Very bothersome. I have wasted a full tank of gas since Friday trying to figure out what it is. Sometimes when the car gets hotter on hot daysor when I have been driving long, it smells like oil also. There are NO leaks, No issues what so ever. Is there some type of oil catch on these cars? PLEASE HELP PLEASE!

 

Incorrect timing doesn't always make the car idle weird. Make sure it's within spec. Is your CEL on? Does it work?

 

My cel was on, I checked the code and it was the O2 sensor heater. I changed it, engine light went off and never came back on. There is nothing weird happening besides this, nor are any lights besides my srs light on. I took off the MAP sensor and started the car, it idles rough as hell and engine light came on, put MAP back and all ws good again so it can't be that. I ruled out MAP and overheating, ruled out tune up, so know all i can think from searching the forums is the Timing and the Catalytic converter, but if it's the cat it would do it even when I start up, correct? I told my wife to ask one of her mechanics if it could be timing, his exact words were "if it was the timing his car wouldn't start". I am a smart man so for a mechanic who KNOWS Hondas to say something like that boggles the mind. I have been in multiple cars with bad timing and they all started up perfectly fine.

 

The trick to this is that it revs fine and fast when cool, but when the car heats up I HAVE to rev up to 3000 to get up to 25 miles an hour on a timely manner. Oh and I have no clue how to check my timing. I am mechanically inclined, but I have never worked on cars. How long would it take someone to check and adjust it if it was off?

 

Wonder if it's got anything to do with that automatic transmission?

 

For someone who has never done it before, it's an hour procedure. Extremely simple. There's a how-to in the FAQ's sticky.

 

How is the acceleration at higher speeds (eg. to pass someone on highway)? I'm thinking maybe a slipping one way stator clutch within the torque converter.

 

Well on the highway it feels alright, it's a smaller car so if you want to accel faster obviously you have to push a little. But in lower gears it feels like it takes to0 long to get to certain gears, but my wife told me that it's hondas auto trans. At a certain rpm the trans shifts fine, but in lower rpm it prolongs each shift like im driving a stick. But doesnt really JUMP into the other gears when I do give it gas. I think I need to change the fluid. I don't think it's been done.

 

A slipping one way stator clutch will have horrible low gear acceleration, however, at higher speeds it's fine because once it reaches higher speeds it's spinning with the torque converter. I would knock out the cheaper options first obviously and do the fluid change and see if that helps at all.

 

Well I just drove it right now. Nice long drive. It's cold out right now so the engine stayed in the lower temp area, a little above the cold line. I think I may need to change the fluid and it may have something to do with me having a heavyfoot AFTER it switches gears from 2 to 3rd. It went from 0 to 35-40 within a small city block while I was turning. < That's a good thing I suppose, I was all over the place with this last post. How HORRIBLE will the acceleration be. Like 6 seconds to get to 20 miles an hour? give me something in detail please. cause if it would be anywhere near that time then thats not my problem. As I stated before it only happens when the car gets up to normal, 70 degree weather outside temp. It's pretty cool in the chi today.

 

Anyone got any ideas????? I need to figure this out. It pisses me off that im ziping around when the engine is cooler, but once it reaches operating temp, I have to give it more gas and higher RPMs( Up to 4000 to get it to 35 in around 4.5 seconds.) Is that a normal speed? Like I said, It has no lights or other issues besides exhaust is a little loud. I have NO CLUE if it's an aftermarket exhaust or if it's factory. Tailpipe is factory. No black smoke on my bumper. No flickering lights. no lose of power besides the damn acceleration in 1st and second gear!. When I reach 40 it feels pretty good and I can get the Vtec to kick in in and everything. IDK if it's because I am not used to hondas or what, I heard they run richer when you turn them on. but all I know is it takes a good 3 seconds to get to 30 when it's just warming up, but when its at temp it takes about 4 seconds to 5. That's when I give it more rpms at that. I noticed it's kinda slow till I hit 2500 when the car is hot, then it will almost literally jump to 4000 rpm.

 

My fault, I guess my wording wasn't the best choice. Basically a torque converter multiplies your torque at low speeds to make the car accelerate and move faster. There is not a set time or speed that I could quote as each car is different. Basically if nothing else is wrong with the car other than there being a noticeable difference in acceleration speeds at low speed, then there is a high possibility that it is your one way stator clutch within your torque converter.

Again this is just a theory it would be best to probably have a transmission shop check your car out to rule out the torque converter being the culprit.

 

Yea I took it to the mechanic and he didn't say ANYTHING. He floored my car and said everything was fine. He pretty much said the same thing grumble said. It's a ******* auto. WELL I guess it's time to learn stick.....

 

Or accept the fact that you have a slow economy car. Or check the ignition timing, like I told you three days ago and you never followed up on.

Your car shouldn't be running that cold - ambient temperatures in the continental US never see high or low enough temperatures to affect a car's running temperature that drastically. You need to replace your thermostat.

 

Well I will check out my thermostat. ACTUALLY you are wrong. This winter in Chicago my wifes Chrystler did not even heat up, the line wouldn't move because it was so cold. It was at LEAST 30 with some sort of windchill today. If you don't know anything about environmental climate I think you should just stick to cars. Don't tell someone something you are not proficient in. I am POSITIVE the cold air was keeping my engine cooler. It's the same thing with better fuel economy. BUT I will check it out. On regular weather days that are not too cold or hot the temp doesn't do that, only on COLD days!!! This is Chicago, the WINDY city. Also you don't live here. Computers CPU's and GPUS get hotter than cars and ambient temperature DOES effect them. SO you're telling me ambient temp wouldn't affect a car???? LMFAO! But anywho, I have to change the timing belt ANYWAYS because the car is 20 years old and probably has never had it done. Also my tranny fluid is not as reddish pink as it should be, looks more like half used oil. SO like I said before, it's most likely the auto tranny. I had an alero with a twin cam in it so I was probably just used to the power and not having to over rev my car. Oh and these Hondas run at higher rpm. I probably just need a trans fluid change and that's it. I took your thoughts into consideration and I DO believe the belt is stretched a little and the tranny fluid needs to be flushed. Thanks for the help and me saying "it's the ******* tranny" is obviously implying than the ******* car is slow. The tranny will hold it back alot. Now you can suck my dick for it. I will just keep it for the second car. i'm gonna get a manual hatchback and probably put a b20 in it.

 

Oh and I can't check my timing without a timing gun dumbass. I am a novice to this ****, I don't have the mula for one right this second AND me doing all this other stuff will jsut lead me towards changing the belt and fluid. I just want to make sure everything is good first. Thermo can wait till after. You don't have to try to make people feel like their **** is inferior because honestly I could make this shitty auto faster than any car you have and make you pissed that you wasted money on overpriced crap. I KNOW the car is SLOWER than most cars. I KNOW the AUTO tranny doesn't rev as high in lower gears, or as fast as a manual! I KNOW like everyone else here that the only choice is manual. That's why I said "I guess I got to learn manual". What I have learned as a human that watches everything is that you shouldn't be so demeaning when you say something. I UNDERSTAND ********! I do. But people don't have these cars for ******* nothing. I have seen honda's smoke any other over powered car you can think of. I have seen this engine in particular smoke the **** out of a 5.0 camaro. Turbo'ed ONLY!

 

ACTUALLY your car should still reach the optimal operating temperature regardless. As with the thermostat closed no water is circulating through the radiator Hence it could be 0 but you'll still reach operating temperature or your heat wouldn't too well work goofball.

Your thermostat is either not there or MORE LIKELY stuck open.

PS I live in Baltimore and we hit -3 twice this year... my car still got warm. SO if you REALLY don't know anything about cars maybe when someone tells you something you should look into it a little more before telling them "Don't tell someone something you are not proficient in," because apparently he's WAY more proficient in how your cooling system really works than you are.

Will cold weather effect operating temperature?
YES

Will the car still get to the middleish of the normal range?
YES, if the thermostat is operating properly.


*drops mic and walks off stage left

 

You show me how to check your mechanical timing with a timing light and I'll buy your car for $8K. Car could be off a tooth on the cam gears and still start fine. It's gonna run like **** though. Your autotragic car is never gonna smoke anything but oil.

Better watch the name calling when you have absofuckinglutely no clue what you're talking about bud. We're trying to help but if you act like an *** hat that's gonna be short lived.

 

You are a ******* moron. It was -15 here in chicago and MY WIFES CHRYSTLER (NOT MY ******* HONDA IDIOT) TEMP METER DIDN'T EVEN MOVE!!!! Shut your dumb *** up to0, ******* retards.

 

Get the **** outta here you homo thug. I say what the **** I please for one, for 2, i know WHAT a thermostat does. It doesn't protect your car from getting to cold, oh and the temp fluctuates alot over here, so when it went up 10 degrees I seen my temp meter rise too., same day at that, ******* dumb ***** don't know **** about temperature and heat.

 

LMFUCKINGAO good luck. You're gonna need it. But you already know that, just like you know everything else.


BTW buy your wife's Chrysler a new thermostat too.

 

My thermostat is NOT the problem, my car isn't RUNNING RICH at all, ever, like I thought. I took my car to a PROFESSIONAL mechanic, not some guy who THINKS it's my thermometer. I KNOW my car, you don't there is a difference in the way i drive and the way you do. Stop acting like a know all, see all mother ****** because it ain't **** to me. It's not the thermometer because if it was acting like you say it is, it would be one way or the other.

 

What an idiot. You are truly stupid.

 

A) I never said the thermostat was the culprit of your power issue...


B) Yes it is the thermostat causing the car to not get up to temperature.


C) umad.

 

My car is 15 years old and probably never had it's timing replaced and it has 159k. IT'S A STRETCHED BELT! Oh and I was recently in an accident so it probably jumped timing. Thanks for the help though.