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Hesitant / kangarooing acceleration

superste

superste

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Location
Ormskirk
Car
Accord VTEC 1.8 S
Hi all

I've had my 6th gen Accord for 7 months - it's the 1.8S with 112k on the clock. It came with full service history (but not a very good one, it transpires). I'll get in it first thing in the morning and it's fine - for about 400 yards. Then, when changing up (most noticeably 1st, 2nd and 3rd) it stutters and hesitates, seemingly around 1500 to 2000 rpm. So the process is - I'm at a roundabout, go for a gap by applying revs and letting out the clutch. The car takes off, then the revs drop and the car stutters. Scary, half way across! I then have to depress the clutch a bit and give it plenty more revs, let off on the clutch and I'm off. Once the car is up to temperature, it behaves itself much better, but can still display the symptoms. I'm after some clues as to what's causing it, so here's what I've done / noticed with it.

I gave it a full service - oil, filter, spark plugs, ht leads, air filter, fuel filter. The fuel filter had never been changed. The consumables were cheapies (and to be fair I've stuck cheapies on too...). Most scary was the spark plugs. When I first opened the bonnet, I noticed the lead to #3 was sitting a bit high - there's good reason for that. I took out #1, #2, #4 no problem, but #3 was cross threaded. Plenty of WD40 and forward and backwards, it finally came out. Of the 4 plugs, three were different brands / part numbers, and I reckon the garage had ballsed up #3 years ago and never changed it. Dodgy cowboys... The new one into #3 seemed to go in okay, all things considered, although not as smoothly as the others. I've had a look at the distributor cap and rotor - seem okay. I've took the EGR valve off and gave it a clean, but it didn't seem unduly blocked. I've not cleaned the EGR plate - not sure I fancy tackling that...

So - what else can I look at? Reading the forums, I'm suspecting the Oxygen / lambda sensor, although I'm struggling to locate it. Should I have one, or two i.e. pre and post cat? There doesn't seem to be one at the front of the engine in the manifold - any light to shed? Other suspects - EGR plate? But as I said, the valve wasn't blocked. I was wondering about checking the OBD, but mine's pre-OBD2(?) i.e. there's no connector in the passenger footwell behind that tab of carpet. However, I located the blue 2 pin connector when I replaced the cabin filter - is it as case of short the 2 pins out, switching on the ignition and counting the flashes?

Hope some of you experts can cast some light on this, before I get caught out on a roundabout!
 
Have you actually driven it since the service? You might have just fixed it by doing all that work, you pretty much did exactly what i'd try to be fair and you have exactly the same car as me.
Also do you have/had any warning lights on the dash?
 
Hi Solvalou

Yes, I've put about 3000 miles on since the service. I think the faults got slowly more noticeable over the 7 months I've had it, as if a sensor is deteriorating. MPG is spot on, 33 - 34 miles to the gallon with mixed driving, did 40 on a motorway trip recently. I also regularly give her the 'Italian Tune-up' i.e. 3rd gear at 6000+rpm for a mile or so, to get her into the VTEC region, which is great fun! (I'm guessing the 'older gentleman' who had her for 12 years was a somewhat sedate driver...). I've also regularly added Injector Cleaner (Redex) and used the posh petrol to clean any gunk out. No lights i.e. EML on the dash, but does that necessarily mean that there are no fault codes logged? Hence, I wouldn't mind trying to find out if there are any. So can I short out that 2 pin connector to get the flashes? I've also been reading about a 5 pin connector in the same location as the 2 pin, but I didn't see an obvious one...
 
I'd be inclined to pay a garage to hook it up to their proper diagnostic machine rather than messing about, before you get taken out on a roundabout.
 
Hi Cliffordski

Yes, it's not the safest of situations! However, it does improve as the engine warms up, and I can 'work around' the problem as I know what to expect. Just an instant response when taking off is what I'm after... As I reported, I don't have the OBD2 diagnostic port which is in use on all 'modern' cars, so was wondering how else to interrogate it. And ultimately, I'm trying not to spend any 'extra' money on her 0 which is good for my bank balance and my car mechanic skills!!
 
Could be so many things, might be worth getting the fuel injectors checked.
 
Hi exec
Yes, agreed it could be many things. The wife's got a misfiring injector on her Panda and it feels different and is apparent constantly, whereas mine's only occasionally at lowish revs. Also, her EML is on and a fault code logged on the diagnostic port, whereas my EML is off. If I can interrogate my diagnostic port I can maybe see if I've any faults logged. But as mentioned, mines a 2000 W reg and doesn't have the 'standard' port. So can I interrogate it with my 2 pin connector, watching the EML flashes on the dash?
 
Just had a go at shorting out the 2 pin diagnostic port. All that happened was the EML light came on (and stayed on) but no flashing. Can I read into that there are no faults stored? Obviously good news but doesn't help diagnosing my hesitancy. I also found the 5 pin diagnostic port and seem to remember reading some instructions on using that too. Will have a look, but any pointers will be appreciated.
 
If it were an O2 sensor fault then you'd have a code come up.

My advice, fill the car with a tank of V-Power, get it warm and then run up to the redline a few times (in gear) so slip roads are your friend, then top it up with V-Power again.

If it's a carbon deposit fault, which if the car were owned by an older chap before is likely, this should clear it.

'A redline a day, keeps the carbon away' :lol:
 
Only things I can think of apart from this are injectors. Or get a compression test done.
 
Hi luvmyaccord, yes I've made half hearted attempts before to rag it with some posh petrol in the tank. Will give it a concerted effort next fill up, methinks. At the moment, I'm going for fuel economy and I'm on for a return of high 30's mpg from everyday unleaded - pretty good and I guess it shows the engine's in fairly good shape... Going to try some easy maintenance fixes ie clean the throttle body, then have a go at the egr plate, then hold my breath and try checking the valve clearances. Ultimately, I reckon you'll be proven right about the injectors.
Question from a novice - compression test? What is it and what's involved?

Cheers
 
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