Mom's car, she's had for a long time. Regularly serviced supposedly.

I don't ride in the car with her much but I just moved it across the parking lot. It runs bad! No wonder she always puts it in Neutral at stop lights (this always bothers me when I drive with her - can't be good for the transmission)... it shakes pretty noticeable when idling in gear.

Apparently "it's always done this, that's normal for old Hondas" uh no mom, my coworker has the exact same car (well, a 96) with more miles on it and it doesn't do that.

According to my mom, it's always done that even when tune ups and stuff were done. It was in the shop last year for some oil leaks, and they didn't mention anything.

 

Putting the car in neutral won't hurt anything in the transmission.

Can you provide details about how the car is running poorly? Like the rpm when the car idles, does it only stall out when coming to a stop, etc.

Can you check for codes on the car? See the common diy thread on top of the gen tech help fourm for a writeup.

 

Hello Shovenose and PAhonda. I have very similar issues with my '95. When I first crank it, idles great. After it warms up, it's got a slight vibration to it like it's idled too low. When the fans kick on when I'm at a traffic light, it really throws the idle down a LOT to the point the battery lights starts flickering and sometimes will stay on. VERY unnerving! I'll put my foot on the brake and push on the gas down to idle it up to around 1200 to keep it idling "normal". I've had the starter / alternator / battery hooked up and they all check out great. Charging system is apparently good. I've heard the idle air control valve needs to be cleaned so I took it off (except for the 2 rubber lines going to it...fat hands...couldn't get them off) but I did spray the screen out but not sure how good of a job I did. I just cleaned the throttle body 2 days ago and it was a little dirty. Any othe suggestions?

 

When was your last tune-up (particularly with regarding to your spark plugs + wires)?


What is the car mileage?


When did you last clean your EGR chamber?


This particular generation is notoriously known for clogging EGR chamber after about 80K miles. When first clogged, it will give you the exact symptoms as described, but your CPU will eventually learn to bypass the EGR valve all together at the expense of your gas mileage. So, if your symptoms go away after replacing the spark plug wires, you should still check your EGR chamber for clogging. If it has never been cleaned or haven't been cleaned the last 80K miles, I guarantee you that it is completely clogged up. Just google up "accord egr chamber cleaning" for specific instruction. BTW, you can just reuse the metal gasket and save your $$$.

 

If the spark plugs are due, definitely change them. Only use the NGK plugs recommended for the car.

I'd inspect the spark plug wires. Original Honda wires last a long time, so I'd only replace if the insulation is damaged. You can also use a spray bottle with water to mist around the spark plug wires. Look for spark arching.

Clogged EGR ports will cause the car to stumble around 1800-2200 rpm. Clogged ports would not cause the car to stall out when coming to a stop.

 

Thank you Celicool and PAhonda. I do appreciate the advice and will look into all of this. I hope this helps shovenose as well since he actually started this post! My 95 has roughly 240k on it but is in pretty good shape for it's age. I don't know when the last tune up was but I had already bought the NGK spark plugs and new wires for it a couple of weeks ago. I plan on doing that and the EGR thing as well since I have no idea when that was done if ever. Couldn't hurt. I looked at the video link you sent and it doesn't look that difficult to do. Thanks again.

 

I'm doing some other work on the car at the moment so I will inspect the plugs and EGR. I'll report back, hopefully faster than I responded before