Hello,

I own a 2002 Honda Civic EX with the D17A2 (1.7 Litre) Engine and I am having this weird acceleration problem. So first off I scanned the computer and there is no codes other that the SRS seat belt code (Which I unplugged long ago). The problem that I am having is when accelerating my car sometimes seemingly hits a wall where when I floor it to merge on a highway my car will cut out sort of and not accelerate at all. For example, let's say that I am going down an on ramp to the freeway and I'm doing 60 but need to speed up to 100 to merge into traffic, I then floor the gas pedal and my motor cuts out but if I let off of the gas by half then it will start to accelerate again. It seems like a potential problem with the Throttle Body itself but I'd like to see if anyone has experienced this and if they were able to narrow down the issue.

Thanks for the help!

 

Check your timing, maybe? Make sure vtec is still there too. no clogs in the screen

 

I checked the timing with a friend a few months ago when this was happening and the timing seemed to be aligned correctly. I have not checked the EGR Valve or the VTEC. The screen that you are referring to, is that located on the injector side of the valve cover near the block under the air box?

 

The car looks pretty slick. Honestly general tune up items would be great to check and are super cheap. Might be a good time to check/replace the air filter and spark plugs.

The catalytic converter is also free to drop down and check. I've said it a hundred times in other threads but my buddy's was clogged and would refuse to go above a certain speed/rpm.

Check the voltage or resistance on the throttle position sensor as you smoothly move the throttle body from open to closed. Something like between .45/.5 to 4.5v. It needs to have a smooth transition all the way through. Would be a good time to clean the throttle body and plate too.

 

 

Yeah but you're on the edge of getting into more exotic troubleshooting issues. You can check fuel pressure too. Maybe tape the gauge to the windshield while you're driving to see what it happens if you can easily repeat the issue.

How is the insulation doing on the coil packs? Would be a good idea to take a glance at how they're doing.

May also wanna spray around with carb cleaner around the throttle body gaskets. Could never know if the vacuum lines are jacked up.

 

To test for a clogged cat you can pull the oxygen sensor to let it breathe and see if it still does it. If not, then because the exhaust that is normally stuck at the clogged cat is freed up by going out of the oxygen sensor that points to the cat being clogged.

 

 

I didn't see where you replaced the fuel filter, cutting out when flooring it could easily be a result of an old/clogged fuel filter.

 

 

Sorry, used to my 1999 Civic with the fuel filter in the engine bay. Yeah the fuel pump sock is probably not the issue. My bad.

 

I know, old thread. But...
02 civic ex ULEV a/t 125k miles
rebuilt transmission (500 miles on it)
on 3rd engine (no it wasn't me)
new valve cover gasket set, plug and packs yesterday
Fuel filter and air filter fine
Checking grounds, safety neutral switch, EGR, vtec screen (altho she shifts the best above 4500rpm)
Regarding ULEV, yes is emissions, however it also is supposed to shut down another 2 valves ontoP of the 2 that VTEC shuts down.

Go down the road. And sometime in the first 2 miles, no matter temp or speed, the car acts like it forgets the gas pedal exists. I let off gas, then push back on pedal, sometimes it catches, other times it practically stalls. Within the next mile or so its fine and won't do it again until first drive next day.

I'm going to check the few "obvious" things, but since transmission rebuild, with all new solenoids, key now comes out in any gear, shifter doesn't always align with gear light on dash, which confuses the poor thing, and she still shifts hard-ish and revs slightly on the shift. Manually shifting does not help.

Back to ULEV, And the not stock motor,, is there anyway to tell if the ECU is trying to do its ULEV job, but the motor is missing something to do that? I am going to get ECU checked/reprogrammed, but honestly, this Damm car has so many quirks, I'm thinking communication problem.

Ideas?? And opinions on my idea?

 

Hey I was curious if you figured out the issue yet? I have an 03 Civic EX that had the same issue. It turned out to be a bad cam position sensor. I replaced it and the problem went away.. Hope this helps you..

 

I wil definitely check that. I did unplug the EGR valve. (Engine light for o2 bank rich always on, plus sucks air bad until warm) Did the idle relearn afterwards. Car shifted better than it ever has and check engine light went off. Im like awesome!! Til I drove it later that night and back to crap. I swear the thing wants to idle relearn everytime I start it up. I will be checking the cam position sensor tonight and hopefully the safety neutral switch. (Hoping it is just not lined up right.)