You mentioned Bosch plugs. I've heard people talk about misfiring with Bosch plugs in Hondas. To be honest, I used to use Bosch & didn't have problems, but who knows??

NGK & Denso are the favorites.

 

I would still do a fuel filter just because. It's cheap and was the part I replaced to fix my issue after hundreds of dollars in ignition and everything else....... With 250k miles and if it was never replaced. It needs done anyways. And is it a stock cat converter still?

Both my cat converter and fuel filter went bad around 160K miles. I had bad power loss.

With 250k on the car I would start looking at the oldest stock parts that hasn't been serviced yet

 

I'm a part of this mess, but let's see ...

oil in distributor,
EGR blockage
worn CV joints
wrong brand of spark plugs
fuel filter
catalytic convertor.

Before you follow our advice, you need to rent/watch
the oldish movie "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"



This is only partly in jest ...

 

Most of this can be test free of charge to narrow down the problem so we can better help diagnose the problem.

oil on distributor can be cleaned and see if there is a difference

Egr ports can be tested to see if there is a issue. Hold the egr valve open while car is running if the car dies then your egr ports are open. If no change their clogged

Worn CVs can be inspected and tested with jacking the car up in neutral and rotating it at hard angle and check for play

Fuel filter can be tested by testing the fuel pressure at the fuel rail

Catalytic converter can be tested with a smog tester and also a heat gun while running to see if it's the correct temp. If it's too hot it's clogged up

The spark plug thing is the only part you will have to buy to see if their is a issue.

I would go over these things before you go buying parts

Best of luck and report back so we can help. If u need help performing any of these tests in detail . Post here or PM me

 

As I continue to drive "Ol Reliable" to work and back a few more things are standing out as potential causes to my power loss. First red flag is MPG. I usually get around 25 - 31 MPG back and forth to work. I am now at 15-18 MPG. FULL Tune up is coming soon. New plugs and fuel filter especially. *Also* i havent seen a thread on my fuel sending unit but it always reads empty. i know where the access port is and how to uninstall but before I get that far how can I tell if it is the sending unit or the dash display? Thanks everyone for your input on my issues. It's nice to be able to reach out for help without paying someone to look at it.

I will make time this weekend to throw some $$$ at this old thing. My wife gave me $150 budget to fix the problem. If I can't find and fix it, she wants it gone. (She wants a $40k truck and I dont want to pay for it....impossible budget for car = new truck lol)

*EDIT* Priced a tune up at $135 without the fuel pump strainer or sending unit. YEESH! I need a $15 fix if this doesnt work hahaha!

 

Forum has seen occasional car w/ drivability issues resolved by a new O2 sensor. If your's is over 100K miles old, this might be worth a shot.

If EGR system has not been cleaned before, it's a virtual certainty to be partially (this causes flat spot in acceleration) or completely (no symptoms) blocked.

good luck

 

lmfao

 

Fuel gauge can be tested by shorting correct pins at the fuel level sensor connector in trunk. Download a 90-93 shop manual to be sure to get correct pins. From a 90 Accord manual, the wire colors were blk (grnd) and yel/wht.

When you short connector, you need to turn keyswitch to On watch whether the gauge is moving towards full and immediately turn keyswitch Off. If you allow gauge to peg against stop it may be damaged.

If gauge moves, the fuel level sensor is the problem. If not, the gauge movement is suspect.

good luck

 

Did the sudden jumping of coolant temperature go away?

I would suggest using NGK ZFR5F-11 plugs that are copper electrodes and run about $2 each. A former moderator and Honda technician would always post that the platinum and iridium plugs caused problems in older accords.

I'd probably replace the air filter. What spark plug wires are on there and how old? OEM wires seem to last forever.

Clean the EGR ports.

Check for engine and transmission codes.

Inspect the distributor cap and rotor, replace with Honda parts.

The plugs, air filter, and cap/rotor should cost around $50.

Do some testing before throwing parts at it.

 

^X2. This is really sounding like a lazy O2. Not a fan of throwing parts at an issue but the makers of O2 sensors will tell you that they are good for ~100K then go down hill from there. These should have a replacement time/age/miles like many other things IMHO.