Hello,

I have a 2005 Honda Accord EX (4 cylinder, 4 door, automatic, around 45k miles) and lately the rpm needle has been fluctuating.

Lets say, when I am driving, I press on the gas pedal, the rpm needle goes to 2 or 2.1 and then if I let go of the gas, the rpm needle drops quickly below 1 and then rises up to 1.5 and then it gradually goes down. It feels like as if I stepped on the brakes even though I didn't.

Also, I noticed that when I put the car on Park or Neutral the rpm needle will sometimes be on 0.7 or 0.6 (with no loads: AC is off and the radio is off). When I put the car on Drive the rpm needle will sometimes be on 0.55 or 0.65. And sometimes the rpm needle will remain at a constant 0.65 whether I put the car on Drive or Neutral.

Last November, I replaced the Idle Valve Control via the dealer and the dealer performed a reset of ECU as well.

The car feels very sluggish. I put the Chevron Fuel Injector Cleaner but it didn't make any difference.

I really would appreciate if someone can shed a light on this problem.

Thanks a million!

 

Welcome new member!

Any check-engine lights?

Since your idle control valve is pretty new, it shouldn't be dirty yet. How is your air filter? I think it's supposed to be replaced every 30k miles, so if you did that it should be OK now. Open it up & look?

Maybe remove the big rubber air duct to the throttle body & look for crud inside the TB? Seems like 45k is too low miles for that to be dirty, but ???

Spark plugs are supposed to go for something like 100k miles, but you could take em out to look at their condition.

 

The air filter and the spark plugs are new as well.

I bought this used car from CarMax last year February and I took it to the dealer and did an oil change, transmission flush, coolant flush, replaced spark plugs and air filter. At that time it had 34K miles and the engine looked very dirty. I guess it was sitting on the CarMax lot for a long time.

I removed the rubber air duct going into the throttle body and it looks clean but slightly oily. Should I clean it using a De-Carbonizer? Or should I take it to the dealer and tell them to clean the throttle body?

Thanks.

 

You can use soap & water to clean that rubber duct. As you take it off, look around for any tubing connetions disconnected or loose or leaking.

If the throttlebody looks dirty, clean that out with TB cleaner & a brush.

 

I cleaned it today. Although the car struggled to stay alive and died twice until I kept pressing on the gas paddle and then on the third start it remained alive. I didn't find any leaks or loose connections.

The RPM is much stable now. Thanks JimBlake! You are a life-saver!!!

The RPM stays at 650 on park and 550 on drive. Is that normal?

What's the normal idle RPM on park and on drive for a 05 Accord?

 

Mine's a manual tranny, so I don't know for sure. But I think the idle should be the same in both cases. That's the job of the IACV (controlled by the ECU).

 

I have found the fuel economy on this car to be 19 city and 23 hwy. This is the best economy i have been able to get in the past 6 months. Car has 32k miles and is mint. I just had it in for scheduled service and the tech said everything on the car was operating within normal parameters and had no explanation aside from that it mught just be the car. This the first car i have owned that has not met or nearly met epa ratings in the past 25 years of driving. I have been paying close attention to the shift points and the torque converter lockup; the car will not consistently engage the torque converter lockup, in fact it rarely does, and when it does it only takes a small depression of the throttle to unlock the torque converter. Does anyone have an opinion on what to suggest to the shop or me to help direct the efforts on resolving this? If not, I have a mint 2005 accord for sale with low miles.