Greetings,

I have had a 94 H22a1 lude sitting and waiting for a bit of love. After a few years, I thought I was almost done. Now it seems things may be worse off than before. Hoping you all may be able to help troubleshoot the issues I am experiencing.

It all started because the dealership told me the head gasket was blown based on coolant in the oil. After a few years, I got the time to start on this and began an investigation into the issue.

In the end, the following was done:

1) Head rebuilt - New valve seals, seat valves, port intake and exhaust ports
2) Block - Decked and honed
3) New: Injectors, clutch, flywheel, belts, rings, seals, gaskets, & misc bolt on parts replaced (mostly due to me damaging some of the items on the teardown).
4) Upgrades: Balancer shaft removal, manual tensioner, exhaust out, CAI, & motor mounts.
5) Transmission inspected and reused (No issues)

Essentially, the motor was rebuilt to stock with minor upgrades. I drained the old fuel, blew out the lines, and filled with new fuel. Put in new fuel filter and fired it up. There is a A/F gauge installed on the O2 sensor as well. Start up was rough but running. After fixing the idle surge by replacing the fast idle valve, the car seemed to be running well enough for a drive. It has been running very lean the entire time.

When running on the road, the first 5 mins of the drive is okay. Car is running close to what I remember but eventually gets to a point where it loses almost all power. The transition is gradual but very quick when it starts. The gauge goes off the range of lean even when warmed up and putting my foot to the floor does nothing for power. If I stop the car for a few minutes, it will go back closer to running normal but returns to low power state very quickly. If the car is allowed to idle for a bit of time, the A/F gauge will go closer to mid range but under load returns to lean.

I am not sure what is happening or where to even look. When I drained the fuel, I did not see sentiment in the tank, but I thought it may need a new fuel filter bag. Another person suggested there may be a blockage in the exhaust. I scoped what I could and found nothing. I even switched the cat out for a test pipe to reduce restrictions there.

Any help on where to look would be appreciated.

J

 

I would test your fuel pressure and see if it's in spec. While it sounds like a lack of fuel, a weak ignition will also show up as lean on an A/F gauge (remember it's an oxygen sensor, not a fuel sensor). Any CEL codes?

 

I will check the fuel pressure to see if that is the problem.

Is there anything you could see that would change the ignition condition during driving? In the first few minutes of the drive, the power output feels great. After a few minutes, the power output is greatly reduced.

Thank you for reminding me of this. It has been a few months since I messed with the car. The CEL that was on was the VTEC Solenoid which I still have not figured out. I put voltage to the solenoid and heard the click so I am not sure of the source of this code.

Thanks,
J

 

The ignition problems I've experienced are failed ignition control modules inside the distributor. It's a very abrupt failure, however. Feels like someone is switching the car on and off. I would try to get all codes cleared and fixed, you could be going into limp mode.