Hi there. My car started giving me grief on the way home from college today. About 5 minutes into my drive home I came to a red light and stopped. I noticed my car began to idle very roughly and felt like it was going to stall. I turned off the AC and the radio to see if that would help, but it didn't. The only way I could get it to stop shaking me to pieces is if I got the revs up to around 1500. Once we started moving again I did notices a lag in my acceleration, but once I reached driving speed, it ran great.

I do need to do my timing belt, as I have been putting it off, but I don't think that is the problem since it only occurs at low rpm.

Any ideas to what this issue can be? I am starting to get a bit frustrated because my car is trying to die on my, and I barely have any money as it is.

Thanks in advance!
-Sly

 

Any main't ever been done to this Creampuff? Plugs?
You might want to unplug the IACV and see if the idle drops a couple hundred RPM.
What is the idle speed BTW?

 

Update: I had to go run some errands today, and I noticed that after a cold start it would run fine. I drove around for about 20 minutes through town and hit a few red lights with no problem. When I arrived at my destination and pulled into the parking space, I had the same issues.

hondadude,
Plugs, wires, and distributor cap and rotor button were replaced about 1.5 years ago...should re-do them all soon though I guess.

I never took notice of what it idled at normally, but now it is around 800 rpm. When at a red light or stop sign it begins "sputtering" like it is going to stall and drops to 500 ish rpm.

Do you have a link to a good picture or drawing showing the location of the IACV?

I don't have a whole lot of experience working on cars, but I am saving myself a lot of money by learning to do it myself!

 

Idle air control valve (IACV) is #15 & you unplug the electrical plug.
Fast idle valve #8 raises the idle while engine is cold.
Boost valve #9 also has something to do with idle control, but I'm not so sure what it does.
Either of those might be dirty & the gunk makes it act flaky.


What kind of plugs & wires? They should last more than a couple years.
NGK spark plugs are good. Many people have reported issues with Bosch in Honda engines.

Honda factory plug wires are excellent, pricey, but last almost forever. One way to check the cap & wires, is let the car get completely cold. In complete darkness, start it up & look for arcing along the wires or on the cap. It might show up as a dull blue glow - anything like that indicates the spark is 'leaking' out thru the insulation.

 

I cleaned the IACV with carb cleaner and an aluminum brush, it was really dirty. Put it all back together and drove it around the block, but it had the same problems. It may be a little bit better, but it still idles roughly. I also noticed that with the AC on the problem is noticably worse.

What is my next step?

 

Update:
I may have inadvertently found the problem While checking the PCV valve by using pliers to clamp off the hose, I got the **** shocked out of me! After coming back armed with rubber handled pliers I touched each spark plug wire where it connects to the plug and the number 2 plug wire arcs about a half an inch. Would this be an explanation for my problem? I will go ahead and replace them (probably tomorrow) since I am sure this problem isn't good for my gas mileage.

 

That would absolutely explain the problem.

Honda factory plug wires are excellent, but pricey. They seem to last forever. Lots of people have said NGK are real good too.

 

Update, 5 months later I am having the same symptoms:
Well, since replacing the spark plugs with a name brand (forgot the name though) the car has been running well. I also had the timing belt, crank seals, water pump, and other appropriate gaskets and what not replaced a few months ago. Over the last month or so my problems have returned and are now worse than ever.

On my way to class this morning it was giving me the same sputtering and "bouncing" rpms. I didn't take notice as to what the numbers where, but it rides rough, hesistates really badly when accelerating, and "surges" and "bogs down" (don't know how else to describe it). It actually stalled at a red light about 5 miles from the college, but started immediately. It did; however, "bog down" and hesitate more than usual until I finally got up to speed. This is the first time it has actually stalled on me, and I really need to get this fixed. It is no longer just a nuisance and killing my gas mileage, but it is becoming a safety issue. I can imagine it stalling or "bogging down" for too long merging onto the interstate or something!

I do know that the VSS needs either cleaned or replaced, but I am not aware if that could be the cause of my problem. My ignition assembly has also seized and I have to start it with a screwdriver, but that is neither here nor there. My mechanic said that if I could live without a reliable spedometer and odometer, it really isn't a pressing issue if I don't have the money to replace it.

I don't have a whole lot of money or I wouldn't still be driving this bucket, but I am willing to pay what I can to have a safe and somewhat reliable car back. I even looked into seeing if my car qualified for "Cash for Clunkers", but to no avail. I highly doubt my car still gets 20+ mpg, but I will never with that argument with the Feds.

If it would help I could try to get a video of it up on youtube. Maybe a view of the instrument cluster during the problem with sound and maybe from "under the hood" would help? Anything I can do to make it easier for you guys to get me safely back on the road just let me know!

Thanks in advance for your help,
-Sean

 

My idle speed was having problems similar to yours, but that was because I overfilled the AC and it was too much for the engine to turn, it would drop to 100 rpm and nearly stall! I also noticed that higher octane fuel decreases the idle rpm speed, are you using regular or premium? If you havent fiddled with the AC then its some other problem, ignition related problem, but you seem to have covered most of the ignition system. You should check the plugs to see if theyre fouled.

When my AC is on my car feels like 2x slower, so the sluggishness you described seems like it would be from the AC, which sucks 10hp + from the crank, I keep my windows rolled down unless Im on the highway now. You said you turned off the AC and it still idled roughly though right?

 

You said the sparkplug wires gave you a shock. But you didn't say you replaced them...

Try to remember what kind of spark plugs you bought. NGK is bets, ND is good, but people have had trouble with others, especially Bosch.