HappyGoLucky
Jan 1st, 2007, 09:18 PM
Hello -- I'd like some quick opinions on what might be happening with my 1998 Honda Accord EX, 4 cylinder. :confused:
BTW: I posted another message about ignitor coil issues, but that was for another Honda, so please don't get confused! :cheesygri
Something odd has happened twice so far (and never before -- car has 230K kilometers), both within the month of December -- might have to do with the weather, but not sure. The first time, my car was low on gas -- I had about 8L left, which has never been a problem before. What happened, was that I started the car (cold start and cranked fine), and I expected it to high-idle for maybe 30 seconds or so as normal, but instead it sort of "sputtered"/"shuddered", very much sounding like it was going to cut out. If I give it a little gas, I can maintain the RPMs without hearing or observing anything abnormal. As I come off the gas, or actually, when I'm off the gas completely, the engine is definitely having a hard time to keep going, like it's being starved of fuel -- which is why I initially thought I ran out of gas. When the engine is sputtering, if I recall correctly, the RPMs are bouncing around as if the computer is trying to prevent it from stalling. Anyhow, I took my wife's car, bought some gas, put it in mine, started, and went my way merrily, with no engine hiccups --thought I was done! By the way, the car was in neutral with this all happening -- when I put it in reverse, same problem, as well as in drive.
The second time was yesterday -- same problem, but it (cold) started fine, and drove fine, and I was at my local Tim Hortons (less than 1km away), placing my order at the drive-thru, when the "sputtering"/"shuddering" reoccurred! Just a side note, it did sound a tad unusual when I started the engine (I can tell since I've heard this car start thousands of times), but thought nothing of it. At Timmys, I thought the car was going to stall, so I just put it in netural and upped the RPMs a little to be sure while waiting, put it back in drive, and went on. It did seem a bit choppy though afterwards, as if it didn't want to change down (gears) as I accelerated, but the drive home was close so I didn't do anymore testing.
The engine has otherwise always run very smoothly without problems. In 2001, I did have the fuel pump changed because it was faulty -- something very similar -- cold start, (or even warm sometimes), idles too low, computer tries to up the RPMs, engine shudders, and a couple times cut out, but if I got the car moving (or more appropriately >2000RPM), no problems.
Any help and thoughts appreciated! Thanks!
BTW: I posted another message about ignitor coil issues, but that was for another Honda, so please don't get confused! :cheesygri
Something odd has happened twice so far (and never before -- car has 230K kilometers), both within the month of December -- might have to do with the weather, but not sure. The first time, my car was low on gas -- I had about 8L left, which has never been a problem before. What happened, was that I started the car (cold start and cranked fine), and I expected it to high-idle for maybe 30 seconds or so as normal, but instead it sort of "sputtered"/"shuddered", very much sounding like it was going to cut out. If I give it a little gas, I can maintain the RPMs without hearing or observing anything abnormal. As I come off the gas, or actually, when I'm off the gas completely, the engine is definitely having a hard time to keep going, like it's being starved of fuel -- which is why I initially thought I ran out of gas. When the engine is sputtering, if I recall correctly, the RPMs are bouncing around as if the computer is trying to prevent it from stalling. Anyhow, I took my wife's car, bought some gas, put it in mine, started, and went my way merrily, with no engine hiccups --thought I was done! By the way, the car was in neutral with this all happening -- when I put it in reverse, same problem, as well as in drive.
The second time was yesterday -- same problem, but it (cold) started fine, and drove fine, and I was at my local Tim Hortons (less than 1km away), placing my order at the drive-thru, when the "sputtering"/"shuddering" reoccurred! Just a side note, it did sound a tad unusual when I started the engine (I can tell since I've heard this car start thousands of times), but thought nothing of it. At Timmys, I thought the car was going to stall, so I just put it in netural and upped the RPMs a little to be sure while waiting, put it back in drive, and went on. It did seem a bit choppy though afterwards, as if it didn't want to change down (gears) as I accelerated, but the drive home was close so I didn't do anymore testing.
The engine has otherwise always run very smoothly without problems. In 2001, I did have the fuel pump changed because it was faulty -- something very similar -- cold start, (or even warm sometimes), idles too low, computer tries to up the RPMs, engine shudders, and a couple times cut out, but if I got the car moving (or more appropriately >2000RPM), no problems.
Any help and thoughts appreciated! Thanks!