I'm having problems with my car.

This afternoon I drove my car and it started to kind of bog. I'm having a really hard time trying to describe this but I'll try my best. You know when you started to drive a stick and you're really terrible at it? And the car jerks because the driver let go too much clutch without enough gas? My car does the same thing - just not as violent.

I'll be at a full stop and I put the car into first gear. Then I'll give some gas and it feels like my car lost a lot of power. Then from ~1,500 - 3,000 RPM the car will have spurts of power, thus giving the impression that i'm a noobie driver. Do you guys know what's going on?

Brief history of the car:

I recently did my own valve adjustment (less than 250 miles ago)
The car since the last oil change drank a full quart of gas.
Recently had the coolant flushed.
Car currently has 38,xxx miles on it.

Do you guys think that my clutch has prematurely worn out? What other suggestions are out there?

Thank you in advance for your help.

-Scott



Modified by integobsession at 1:57 AM 5/20/2003

 

Oops... I also forgot to add that I drove the car EXTREMELY hard the last 250 miles through the canyons.


And this doesn't happen every single time... it only happens every once in a while. Also, if I give a lot more gas (so the rpm goes to 2K before I let go the clutch) then this doesn't happen at all.

 

"The car since the last oil change drank a full quart of gas." <-- what?
If you mean oil. It's normal, if you drive it hard.
There's several things i could think of. Ignition, timing, fuel delivery, vacuum.

 

hummmm... it's the first time of hearing somthing like this.

well i think it's more of an inigiton problem seeing that it doesn't happen everytime it rules vacume out.

 

First time doing your own valve adjustment?

 

Wow...I notice these same symptoms with my car. It usually only happens when the engine is still cold, and I'm in 1st gear. The clutch will be totally disengaged, and I'll have steady pressure on the gas, accelerating, and all the power will die and then come back. It jerks me forward when it happens, and it's always under 20 mph. I have 126k on my car though, so it might not be the same problem...

 

i had a very similar problem to this....my ignitor and coil went bad...good luck

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by teg-your-it &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i had a very similar problem to this....my ignitor and coil went bad...good luck</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well if that were the case, the car wouldn't start/run at all...

 

actually it still will ...in my case the problem was intermitent (how ever its spelled) so it would come and go...sometimes it would start no problem but when i pressed the gas to accelerate it bogged out...sometimes it would not start/run at all like u said...my shop said the ignitor and coil was all corroded inside...put in a new ignitor and coil,i never felt the car start so easily,and feel so strong...never bogged again..mind u i replaced the fuel filter,used injector cleaner,changed plugs, wires,cap and rotor and that never did anything..so it went to the shop and the conclusion was.."ignitor and coil"...just trying to give u another option to check...

 

check all spark plug wires, Spark plugs and check coil (per helms for all) and make sure there is not water or oil in the tubes for the spark plugs tubes. if those are ok check cap and rotor.

If there is water or oil in the spark plug tubes it can make the spark jump directly to the head and not go to the plug to ignite the fuel causing a shitload of bog.

Also if this is the first time you have adjusted valves you should have it rechecked by a honda/acura dealer.
If you did it yourself did you do it by the instructions in the Factory service manual?
There are very certian steps that MUST be followed to do this job correctly.

 

the valve adjustment was done to spec and exactly according to teh Helms manual. So i highly doubt it has anything to do with the valve adjustment, but to be absolutely sure, scott(integobsession) is gonna check the clearances again today.

Time to hav scott read this thread for teh updates...

Thanks for everyone's help... keep the suggestions coming...

-Eric

 

one word......warranty
if the car is still under it, i say take it in. nothing beats free work
and if they ask if you did anything, tell them no, because even if you did it right dealer will say "too bad"

 

Yes this is the first time I did my own valve adjustment... and I hope it's because of that... but i'm not sure.

I also forgot to mention that I recently cleaned my engine bay with that "gunk" stuff... perhaps you guys are right about the "ignitor and coil"...?

 

I also have this same problem!!!! Thought it was my clutch but im not sure. sometimes my power is steady then sometimes it dies a little and comes back and dies a little with constant pressure on the gas pedal!

 

Wow i'm glad that I'm not the only person here...


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NA Gen2Teg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I also have this same problem!!!! Thought it was my clutch but im not sure. sometimes my power is steady then sometimes it dies a little and comes back and dies a little with constant pressure on the gas pedal! </TD></TR></TABLE>

To make sure that it's not ur clutch... from a full stop put the car in third gear and try to see if the car moves. If you stall then you gotta replace your clutch.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4DeepCivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">"The car since the last oil change drank a full quart of gas." &lt;-- what?
If you mean oil. It's normal, if you drive it hard.
There's several things i could think of. Ignition, timing, fuel delivery, vacuum.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

oops... I meant engine oil.

 

the ignitor and coil was ruffly 180 for both..mind u though that was on a 92 ls....and you guys problem sounds the same as to what i was going thru...

 

My car was doing the same thing. I was told that its detonating (spelling). has something to do with the valves I believe.

 

my guess is you got a little water in your distributor. im not sure if water wil do this but i know someone that got water in there and it didnt start. It might be his ignitor and coil or whatever but his car has only 30k.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by integobsession &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Wow i'm glad that I'm not the only person here...


To make sure that it's not ur clutch... from a full stop put the car in third gear and try to see if the car moves. If you stall then you gotta replace your clutch. </TD></TR></TABLE>

If you car stalls your clutch is good. If the RPMS raise = clutch slipping.

Could be spark plugs, distributor, spark plug wires.

 

figured out the problem guys.... a little water must have gotten into the spark plug hole for cylinder 4 when we degreased it... and cause it to not fire sometimes i guess... but not much water cuz it was barely on the plug wire and the upper half of the spark plug was a little wet. We dried it by hand and also by air... readjusted the valves jus for the hell of it... and test drove...

REsult: Strong as ever

Thanks for all the input guys.

 

so the test drive went alright? goddamn it was hot today... good thing we had those CapriSuns hahaha

 

UPDATE!!!


It didn't fix anything. Now the check engine light came on... so give me 10 minutes and I'll check the code it's throwing...

 

I had a similar problem.

at low throttle the car would act like it didnt have power, but when I pushed more on the gas pedal the car acted normal again.

does the car act differently when driving on the freeway at low throttle?

what about when the car is warm? does it do the same thing when it is cold?

my problem ended up being the IAC valve. you can check it by taking off your intake tube at the throttle body location. there are 2 holes on your t-body. when the car is warm put your finger over the top hole and see how much suction there is. there should be just a lil bit of suction.
do the same thing when its cold and there willl be alot of suction. according to hondata there should be a 80% reduction in vacuum between when the car is warm and cold.

i have an extra one for 30 shipped if you need one.

also check your intake manifold bolts to see if there are any loose or missing. also check all of your vaccum lines

 

i had a similar prob in my gsr hatch...

it had to do with 2 things.

1. wasn't getting enough fuel. got a b&m FPR and bumped it up. this was because i was using stock CX fuel pump.

2. there is a sensor on your intake manifold that has to do with your idle, especially during cold weather. when i unplugged it, it gave it a lot more smooth power, no more jerking. it did however throw me a code. it ran faster and smoother with the code and the sensor being unplugged.