I have a 97 accord SE. I bought it roughly a year ago and since then has slowly been developing a sputtering problem. It only happens during warm up and occurs within the first 2 minutes thereof. It sounds like an ignition problem...it sputters pretty bad now when trying to accelerate and the car boggs down substantally untill whatever it is "passes." After 15-30 seconds of issues it returns to normal. I found that there is pooling oil in the sparkplug tube on the farthest right (drivers side)..I dont know thecylinder number, havent looked it up. Could the two issues be related? And could the pooling oil be a sign of oil leaking into the chamber and being burned accounting for the smoke coming from my exhaust? Or is there a more common diagnosis for the burning oil that has only just started in the last 2 months? Also my check engine light had been on for my entire ownership until a couple weeks ago when another car slid across the front of my bumper pulling it mostly off and "fixing" my check engine problem. Im pushing 235,000 miles and any help or advise would be much appreciated.

 

For starters, stop by an autozone and have them check the engine code that still should be stored. Post the code on here. It will be P####.

You could also use a paperclip to short the service connector. Look in the DIY section under ACC 5th gen... That dhost site has a link to to retrieve CEL codes.

 

Your spark plug is probably fouling out. If I had to guess (and its only a guess) your valve cover is leaking oil on to the spark plug and fouling it out. And the reason it is sputtering at low rpm or start up is that there is oil on the plug and it is trying to fire but cant because its soaked in oil and as you accelerate it cleans it self off the fires. If thats your problem change the valve cover gasket ,plugs and oil and you should be good to go.