I have a 1997 Honda Accord LX (with automatic transmission). When I start it in the morning (or when the engine is cold) and put it in drive it stutters. It is so sluggish that it barely moves. When I press the accelerator pedal (while the gear is in park), it stutters and shakes a little bit. If I allow the engine to idle (or run while in park) for about five minutes, the car runs normally.

This is what we have done so far:

1. Engine mounts changed (I don't think this is related to the current problem)

2. Fuel pump has been changed.

3. Spark plugs have been changed

4. Fuel injectors have been cleaned

5. Cold start switch (valve) has been changed

I'll appreciate your help in solving this problem.

 

Is this a 4-cyl or a V-6?

Some of the things you've done seem unrelated; but maybe they were needed for other reasons besides the stuttering.

Engine mounts - why?

Fuel pump - was the fuel pressure low or was the pump sometimes not running well?

Spark plugs - what brand? how old were the old plugs? what did the old plugs look like?

Fuel injectors - how did you clean them? (stuff poured in fuel tank or remove & send away?)

Cold start switch (I guess that means FITV) - did that improve the situation?

Does the check-engine light come on?
- does it come on for 2 seconds when you start? (bulb check)
- if it stays on, have you read the error code(s)?

When you start the cold engine, what RPM does it idle? What's the idle after it's warmed up?

Can you start the cold engine in darkness & watch for arcing around the distributor & plug wires? Let us know what you see.

 

Thanks for your time.

I should state that I took the car to an auto shop.
It is a 4-cyl.
The engine mounts were changed because of engine vibration.
The technician thought that the fuel pump had low pressure.
The fuel injector cleaner was not poured into the tank.
Changing the cold start valve did not help.
Check engine light doe not stay on.

The other recommendations will be carried out.

 

Your 4-cyl auto-trans car has a vacuum-operated engine mount at the rear - down low between the engine & firewall. That system is for vibration specifically when idling in-gear (D or R). Presuming that the shop was familiar with Hondas & familiar with that system. Did it help the vibration?

Honda's idle-control system is a little bit finicky. It gets confused with air-pockets in the cooling system, and it doesn't always play nice when you try to make ad-hoc adjustments by your personal preferences. See this thread:
https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...e-speed-38734/

That's all good, but the stuff about engine mounts & idle speed doesn't sound like what you're talking about. The vibrations caused by those things are different from what I would call "stuttering" (if that makes any sense).

Misfiring caused by arcing from the distributor cap or plug wires might be a possibility. In the dark you can see it - sometimes obvious, but sometimes it has to be pretty dark and you'll see a dull glowing around the wires or across the distributor cap. As things warm up, it goes away & the engine runs well. It's difficult to get a shop to come out & try starting your car at 4am just to look for the wires glowing. That's the kind of thing that's pretty easy for someone to do by themselves & tell the shop what they saw - its especially visible if the weather is damp.

Lots of stories around here about misfiring when using different brands of spark plugs. NGK or Denso seem to be the brands that Honda cars get along with. That's anecdotal, difficult to prove, but getting those brands isn't much different price vs. other brands.

 

Have the same car. It's at an age and mileage (mine's 292,000) where we do work-arounds; so I'd just let it idle for a few minutes at start of day.
In fact wife does that already, start it go back in and get ready. Car runs better when it's been warmed up in the morning

 

Mine is at 228,000 miles.
Thank you for the suggestion.