Hey all!!! I've been having some problems that seem serious, but I'm not 100% sure ..... or exactly what it is. Below is a string of PM's that Sir_Nasty and I have written to each other. Please offer advice or testing ideas as I'm drawing a blank.

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FALKORE24:

first, you should know that the high temp dropped 20 degrees in the past 2 days, so that may have caused some of this.

When I got back to my car around 7:30 last night, I auto-started it from the bus like I always do and when I got past the 3-way merge to get out of the park and ride it was a notch or 2 from full operating temp (~80% warmed up). I pulled onto the highway with a lot of room to speed up slowly, but it wouldn't. It seemed like the descriptions I've read of "limp home mode" ..... basically operating normal with very little gas and VTEC seemed to be locked out ..... I pulled over to let it warm up for another minute and then it behaved like it normally does before it's fully warm, kinda like the choke is set too high. I got up the hill and it was fully warmed up, then some guy in a 5th gen accord got cute and cut off the SUV in front of me across the white stripes on the service road exit ..... knowing that he planned to rip up on the left lane to cut off the Odyssey in front of the SUV, I fealt compelled to humble him (car's running right now). So I got on his *** and he jacked over in front of the Odyssey thinking he could box me out to the exit ..... lol, blew his doors off!!!

Leter on last night, I went out for a bite to eat and it went into limp mode when fully warmed up. After a few pumps of the gas pedal, it went back to normal ..... once while acting screwy, the rpms climbed to 5k with no power.


Recent work:

Dec. 1 :New lower engine mounts
Dec. 24 :New side engine mount and torsion damper
Dec. 27-30 :4x tranny fluid change + oil change


Any ideas??? Any possibility that a bad tank of gas could cause any of this? Is my tranny dying?

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SIR_NASTY:

for the rpm's to climb that high with no power sounds like a slipping tranny, since you've done the fluid changes have you checked the levels? first thing I would do is pull the tranny dipstick and smell it... If it was limp mode you should have a CEL which I'm assuming you don't....

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FALKORE24:

No CEL, but it did come on for a second .... I plan to get the codes read tomorrow. It was weird..... I think the tach bounced (maybe water in the gas?), and it did rev some, but I don't think as high as the tach read. I'll check the fluid level tonight, it should be a little high ..... I shorted the 3rd change a third of a quart and put it in the last change, so 3.33 qts total on the last change. With 7.6 qts total it's only a 5% overage. Other than it acting up yesterday, it drives fine ..... before and after.


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FALKORE24:

Last night, as I left the park & ride while still pretty cold, it definately fealt like a tranny slip, but that was the only time. After I got home, I had to go out shortly and the car was still not fully warmed up when I got back in ..... for another 2 minutes. So at this point, I am taking it easy and just driving normal ..... no slip. I got on the highway, no problems .... hit a U-turn and got back onto the highway near my park & ride and did a rolling (~5 mph) launch. It redlined 1, 2 and I let off in 3rd, no problems! This morning, going to the P&R I got onto the highway (6 lanes total, left at a light to get on) and hit it from about 15 mph, ripped up no problems (not real hard because of traffic).

Also, I checked the fluid last night ..... it's as clean as it gets and a hair less than an 1/8" above the top hole (intentional as noted).

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SIR_NASTY:

If the fluid was fine and didn't smell burnt then I'm kinda at a loss. It's seems somewhat intermitant... Is your coolant and everything ok? any possibility you've got a fuel filter issue?

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FALKORE24:

Well, the fluid is new as of last week (4 changes). I'll check the coolant level when I get to the car .... did 2 vinegar flushes and 5 water a couple months ago. Filled with Peak Lifetime --- the yelow stuff. 6th Gens don't have fuel filters and per HondaDude (I think) the pump screen hardly ever gets blocked, plus I don't think it's a fuel delivery problem since I can get to 7k rpms.

I get the feeling that it is related to the weather and it's not going to resurface ..... or the car just does not like to be driven when cold, and this is going to bug me until I get rid of the car (may be fairly soon, but I don't want to HAVE to get a new car).

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SIR_NASTY:

just for the sake of testing have you considered draining a tad bit of tranny fluid so it right on or maybe a TINY bit low. Perhaps the extra fluid in there when it's cold is thicker and the added fluid give added pressure and causes some issues... Hard to pinpoint right now but since that's the only thing you know isn't on spec you may as well do a quick fix on it...

 

I got the ECU/TCU codes ..... all 7. Here they are:

P0171 ---- Fuel System Too Lean
P0300 ---- Random Misfire
P0301 ---- No. 1 Cylinder Misfire
P0302 ---- No. 2 Cylinder Misfire
P0304 ---- No. 4 Cylinder Misfire
P0305 ---- No. 5 Cylinder Misfire
P0780 ---- Problem in Shift Control System <--------

Thanks KilrSpaz for the codelists on the Accord Wiki & HondaDude for providing the info to Spaz.

 

Which can be found here:
http://hondaaccord.wikidot.com/obd-codes

 

for p0171 and the misfires are most likely from a problem with the fuel pressure regulator/pcm in winter...but have you experienced any hard starts? excessive cranking and thne youhave to hold the throttle open to keep it running smooth?

if not, have you done the egr update?(new valve and port cleaning)

do you have access to a scantool to read live engine data? if so, i'll post some info on sensor readings, etc to help diagnose p0171

p0780 = transmission death. sorry, that code indicates a mechanical problem in teh shift system or hydraulic system. i mourn your loss...

 

damn ... so it's definately shot??? Why is it driving fine then? The lean code, I think has been mentioned to me before ... I can't think when or why, but that one didn't surprise me ...... the misfires I figured were incidental, but the last one means I'm getting rid of the car?!? Well, I guess it's so long 3G.

 

You're not going to replace the transmission just sell it? Will you get another accord?

 

at the very least you can try to do solenoids...however,most likely there are some metal shavings or clutch material blocking up a few valves or a check ball in the valve body causing an intermittent hiccup. drive it till it drops.

 

i just looked at the pics of your ride! very clean! looks like you have something on the dash - xm radio or some kind of fuel management system?? either way, i like those headlights! are they HID or just halogen behind a projector? do you have a link where i can buy them or something info on them??

 

Well .... on the dash, on the left side I have a Sirius Tuner & in the middle I have a G-Timer and my X50 .... sometimes my GPS as well. I do have a V-AFC controller under the radio.

A friend suggested that it might be a part of the problem, but it's been there with it's current tune for about 3 years ..... I'm going to take it out and sell it regardless.

The headlights are TYC Elegante projectors with a 5000k HID conversion kit.


The strange thing about this whole deal is that right now, the car drives fine! The lean code was old, the misfires could be from a burp, but that tranny code ....... kinda makes me nauseous.

 

clear the codes and wait for them to return, then troubleshoot it. you can try solenoids and cross your fingers.


how is the light pattern on the tyc? does it look good? i was considering doing a hid retrofit into my stock lamps with the tsx or s2000 projectors but i wasn't really happy about the $$ for parts.