My wife was driving our '92 Accord 2.2L the other day and told me afterwards she had an issue where the engine suddenly lost most of its power and the car wouldn't go over about 10 mph. She had just pulled away after starting the car and starting to drive down the neighborhood street, was going about 25 mph when this happened. So she pulled off the street, put it in park, and tried revving the engine two or three times and then she could feel the engine power seem to come back okay, and she was then able to drive on just fine after that. She was pretty sure when it happened that the check engine light didn't go on. This hasn't happened again since that one time, and the car has been driven quite a few times since then. Most likely unless I can get to the bottom of this "freak occurrence" and get the problem fixed it'll happen again or worsen. Any thoughts about some initial troubleshooting for this would be appreciated.

Side note: Sometimes lately (about half the time it seems), when first starting the car the engine will run very noticeably "rugged" for maybe 5-7 seconds but then smooth right out okay and be fine. But the other half of the time it starts smoothly without that issue.

 

Check for codes, since the car is running normal.

I would check the spark plugs, distributor cap, and rotor for signs of wear. Also inspect the spark plug wires (OEMs seem to last a long time on these cars).

You will have to test for the issue if, or more likely, when it returns.

When you first turn the key to the II position and do not try to start the car, the fuel pump turns on for about two seconds to pressurize the system. You may want to do this a few times and see if the initial rough start goes away. If yes, then maybe a sticking check valve in the fuel pump is the issue here.

 

Okay, thanks PAhonda. I thought about checking for codes too but I was under the impression (mistaken probably) that usually if the check engine light did not come on then a code wasn't stored. But if that's not necessarily the case, I'll see about checking for codes per your suggestion.

The car isn't driven a lot, a relatively low amount of mileage regularly accumulated, and it was only about a year ago when I checked the plugs (which were fine then) and actually did replace the distributor cap and rotor, and even the spark plug wires since they were past time for replacement at that time too. But of course I can double check these items again.

And we'll go ahead and follow through with your other suggestion to turn the key to the II position for at least a few seconds before starting the car to see if that seems to alleviate the initial rough starting issue I mentioned.

Also, could you please further clarify for me your statement "You will have to test for the issue if, or more likely, when it returns." Do you mean I shouldn't necessarily worry about testing/checking things until when/if the problem happens at least once again?

Thanks again, and any further comment(s) welcome/appreciated.

 

Haven't seen you in a while - guess that means things have been going good.

Yea, sometimes you have to wait for an issue to "grow up" before you can solve it.

I'd re-check the plugs - or just replace if you are not sure of the age. I'd use NGK plugs if you can get your hands on them.

 

Yeah poorman hi. Yes other than that issue things have indeed been fine for a while

Well I haven't got around to checking for any codes yet (but will) or anything else for that matter (plugs, rotor, or distributor cap), but will. The loss of engine power issue while driving hasn't happened again since the one time I've mentioned, or since I posted here the other day about it.

For the record, wife has been remembering to try, when starting the car, as per suggestion of PAHonda, first turning the key to the II position for a few seconds before turning all the way to start the car. She reports that it still had the initial rough start though, one time after doing that but only one time (out of the other six times starting it since the posted suggestion).

Poorman, on the plugs: maybe go ahead and replace them just because I'm not sure of age? Even if they look ok?

 

If they look good and the gap has not worn, I'd prob clean them and throw them back in

 

Plugs are cheap. I once had a problem with over-rich mixture & it fouled the plugs. They were quite clean looking so I was too stubborn to replace them after I had fixed the fuel-mixture problem.

After my wife told me I was being too stubborn, I put in new plugs and it started right up. No guarantees, but that told me sparkplugs can be bad even if they look real good.

 

I'll at least check the plugs, and maybe go ahead then and replace them even if they look clean if it indeed seems the symptom(s) as I've described might be caused by a bad plug(s). The car doesn't really have a problem starting up, but often, sometimes but not all the time as I described, the engine runs quite noticeably rough for several seconds right after starting but then just suddenly smooths right out and then stays running smooth. And, then there was the one time, so far, that the issue as I described in the first sentence of my first post this thread. I too am rather hesitant (or stubborn about) the idea of replace the plugs even if they look clean/fine but, as you've mentioned, they are (at least relatively) cheap, so if plugs replacement doesn't fix the issue I suppose that should at least rule out the possibility a current plug or plugs is indeed bad. Thanks.

 

If the problem is generally during a cold start I would clean the throttle body and IACV. It is cheap to do and I always do with when I am doing a 30k service on a the older Accords during service. If that does not do it nor the plugs as mentioned above it could be fuel pressure related. One thing you can try regarding fuel pressure is when the car has sat overnight and you expect the problem to occur, when you get in the car turn the key to the on position so all the dash lights come on, wait two seconds, turn the key to off and then start the car as you would normally. This will pressurize the system. If the problem does not go away it may be fuel related.

One time I had an 95 Accord in with same symptoms you describe. There was a slight odor of gas near the drivers side rear. The owner of the car thought it was normal from filling the car up etc. it ended up the fuel line was bad. Replaced fuel line and cold starting problem went away. The theory behind this was when the car sat over night the fuel very slowly drained from the system so on cold starts there was a rough idle until the line was full and revving the engine would smooth out the idle. Try priming the system by turning the key and see if you problem goes away. Use that as a diagnostic tool.

 

Rough idle on startup can be caused by leaking head gasket allowing water into cylinder. Upon startup, a brief miss will occur until water is cleared. A key indicator will be loss of coolant. I had this happen on 94 EX w/o any overheating accidents.

good luck