I dont generally work on Hondas (not that I dont like them) but I'm tring to help a friend out in a time off need.
He has a 91 Accord EX, around 200k. He tells me that the car will loose power while at cruising speeds, no throttle response at all, engine still runs, but wont accelerate. Hasnt died on him completley, and whenever I drive it personally it runs great. My first thought was fuel filter so we replaced that, still having the same problem. My next thought is possibly the pump is weak and heating (this kid never has more than a 1/4 tank) or the fuel pressure regulator. The regulator is 60 bucks, and I havent priced adaptors to fit my pressure gauge to test the pump.
My question, after reading many posts on this site, is ... could it be the EGR passage, or mybe the catalytic converter?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Tom

 

Measuring fuel pressure is a good idea before buying a pump or FPR.

How about other tune-up stuff? How old are the spark plugs? How about checking spark timing...

Sounds like he's not a mechanic, so you can probably describe it better (to us) after it happens while YOU're driving.

I think it would throw acheck-engine light if the EGR passages were clogged.

If the catalyst was plugged, I don't see how it could be OK when you drive it.

 

so your saying the engine can be reved up but the car won't move or accelerate more?

if so it sounds transmission related to me.

 

Sorry, I'll try and be more clear.
I sat the kid down this morning and tried to get a clear picture of what happens.
The car starts and idles great, this only happens after it is warm and hes driven a few miles. He says he can press the acclerator to the floor, the engine does not rev and the car will not accelerate. He did say this morning that it will shudder, (may be missing) and it does eventually respond.
Im going to pull it in the shop and go through it next.
Thanks for the help. I'll let ya know what I find.

 

Alright, pulled the plugs. They are brand new Bosh Platinums, there was quite abit of oil on the outside of three of the plugs, not near the electrode, just on the external, o-rings in the valve cover gone? Wires and rotor are also new. I did find two vacuum hoses that were suspect so I replaced both of them. One was to the ??? MAP sensor I think, and the other attached to the throttle body. Test drove fine, got it good and warm.
We'll see.

 

For some reason, Hondas don't get along with Bosch plugs. Get NGK or NipponDenso. '91 probably calls for regular Cu plugs, not very pricey.

Oil may be from the valve cover gasket, specifically the round sparkplug tube seals. These are usually (not always) included in a VC gasket 'set'. Make sure you get them.

There's another set of O-rings farther down in the sparkplug tubes, these may be the location of his leak. Clean out the tubes & see whether you can see the source.

For these lower seals you have to take off the camshaft bearing caps. The seals are #19 here. Make sure you get the bolt tightening sequence & torque for the cam caps (I wouldn't trust them to be the same as my newer cars).

 

Yea, x2 on getting rid of the bosch plugs. And did you check for stored trouble codes?

 

Thanks for all your help. The exploded view breakdown was appreciated. Going to have him buy a Chiltons just so I can identify everything and retrieve any codes, and some NGKs. I've always been a believer in NGK, eaven in my Chevy. So far no more issues with the car, but I want to fix those leaks and get everything right. I also noticed an exhaust leak, sounds like its just about under the front floorboard, I'll get it on the lift next time.
I'll let you know what happens.
thanks again.