Another thing or two: I've also been noticing the mpg hasn't been quite as good. I don't know if that could be due to a faulty O2 sensor or not. Also, I use Pennzoil Synthetic oil. It's supposed to go for a long while, but this dealership has me changing it every 3k miles or 3 months, regardless!

 

what is your economy? i've seen ppl getting 27mpg city/highway combined which is what you can expect on average. (27-33ish mpg). this car is discontinuedso there are no 2008 epa figures on fuel economy- which are more accurate.

the o2 sensor is a different kind of sensor on that car. it produces mA instead of V. it is very precise. when this sensor becomes lazy it will set a p0139 or p0159 very fast.

i'm sure the dealer techs are ok, [8D]

i know that car will do 100mph easily, it will probably cruise to 120 or 130 before the pcm cuts fuel. my own 00 accord v6 will hit 110mph without fuel cut off. (fyi - i get about 22mpg if i drive fast(~90mph highway) and accelerate hard and 26-27mpg if i baby it)

 

This is so cool having an ASE certified mechanic to talk to on here! Good to meet you IOW, AV6! Are the p0139 and p0159 codes that light the CEL?

Do you think I still need to have it checked? I can just feel a lack of some power that it has had in the past after warmup, at least in cold weather. Last summer, it would run great even after warm up unless that has changed too, by now.

Those mpgs of yours are sure better than mine. I'll get 22 or so taking it easy, but in this cold weather, just making about 3.0 mile trips, it's in the mid teens, IF the calculator on it is right.

 

I've already emailed the shop foreman some of what I'm finding out, and kinda begging him "Let's check some of this stuff out!" He'll have the emails whenhe comes to work in the a.m.

Again, thanks for all this valuable info. I'm getting educated fast here!

 

those two codes are the codes for lazy a/f sensors bank 1 and 2. have you check simple stuff like tire pressure?

how is the ima indicator? is the battery charged halfway? do you see it assist like it normally does? there is an update for the ima system but it's VIN specific. can you post your vin?

you only need to post the first 6 and the last 8 of the vin if your paranoid.

 

The IMA lightis rocking back and forth okay. I usually have anywhere from 4 to 5, sometimes 6 of the charge bars lighted. I don't have the VIN with me, but can get it for you later today if that will work. No paranoia detected.

One other thing that is weird about this car is, sometimes, after being stopped, and EVERY time, after I start it up and start out in Drive, the transmission wants to stay in 1st for an extra long time. Otherwise, it will shift so soon, I'm not aware it's been in 1st unless I tromp it. As I say, sometimes, after a stop, and it's been going a while, it will hang in with 1st a little longer. I've always assumed that was normal. Did I get it right?

 

I agree it would be surprising for there to be a sensor probblem at such low mileage, but stranger things happen. I only suggested it as a possibility since it seemed to fit the symptom. Another unlikely thing crosses my mind, could one or more of the injectors be dirty or partially blocked?

This might also fit the symptom to a degree because in open loop the OS will measure the average oxygen in the exhaust. If one injector is blocked (or otherwise faulty?) it will spray less fuel and the unused oxygen in the exhaust gas will go up, so the ECU will see a lean condition and richen all the injectors until it sees a correct exhaust oxy content. You could then have one injector still running a little lean and the others all a little rich, but with an average correct exhaust oxygen content? None of the cylinders would be making optimum power in this situation.

In closed loop (i.e. with cold engine) the problem may not be so bad because the ECU will ignore the OS and run from it's fixed internal cold running map, and only one cylinder would be affected, i.e. you could have one lean cylinder but three 'good' ones.

Dirty injectors can cause poor running because one or morerun lean in open loop, but in closed loop they will run richer so this might cause it to perform better when cold? This could be more evident at lower rpm and / or smaller throttle openings (when less air flow is present) if the injector(s) is squirting a 'stream' rather than spraying in a nice atomised mist. At low rpm and / orlight throttle this might mean that not all of the fuel burns properly, but at higher rpm there may be enough turbulence to more effectively break up the fuel droplets, so higher rpm may perform OK(?). In cold closed loop the onboard ECU map will inject a richerfuel mix which might be enough to make up for poorer atomisation, especially at lower rpm / throttle opening?

All this sort of stuff would have implications for econmy as well as performance...

 

Thanks for all that info, JohnL. Well, the crazy thing ran pretty good this afternoon. We've got warmer temps, around 54 degress or so. It seemed to be more it's old self again. As for the injectors, I run a cleaner through there about every 3k miles or so called Sea Foam. Plus, I use a detergent gas. I still would like them to check it over, be sure something like that isn't wrong, but it sure did better today.

For hondatech, the VIN on it is: JHMCN36475COO7901. That's the whole shootin' match.

Maybe things are leveling off. I've seen it go through moody times before and finally get zippy again. But as I say, I want them to check it out really good to be sure.

Thanks again-

 

The shop foreman finally replied to my email. He's going to give all this info to one of his techs and see what they want to do. I hope they think the SRI will work. I'd like nothing more than to give it a little soup up!

 

there is no real way to check the injectors. if you've been running seafoam and detergent gas they are most likely perfect. the only real check is to look at the short term and long term fuel trim. that will tell you if there is a rich/lean problem.

there are no updates for yourvin. you had a few repairs done at a dealer close to mine maybe...i'm in chicago. woa..wait a sec -

at 12,000 miles you had a few major repairs it looks like - the stator assembly? hmm...wait - no, the stator position sensor. the transmission had to be removed to replace that sensor. about 400 miles later some kind of control unit was replaced. any of this sound familar? how was the car acting prior to that work?