So my girl has got an 01' Accord, F23A4 V-tec, auto trans., 4-door, no mods...yet. When you start the car while the engine is cold, it starts really rough. Almost as if it's boging down or chokeing out. Since we;ve got the car, about 8 months ago, all I've done is change the oil and tires. I think it's got 10w30 in it now. I found that the manual says it should run 5w20. Could that be the problem? And why does the 01' run 5w20 when my 96' runs 5w30?

 

RT: A few things here. First, Honda's don't like to be pushed when they're cold. Warm up the car by driving it lightly for 3-5 minutes until the temp is at least a quarter inch above the 'C'. When cold, these engines do run rich and choke if you try to push it. The oil must be the correct weight! If you hold a bottle of 5w20 in one hand and 5w30 in the other, you can feel the difference when shaking them. The oil weight has to do with the clearances in the bearings inside the engine. Honda changed to the lighter oil to improve the economy when viewed globaly ..... individually, there's not much difference. I've seen 30 weight oil cause a civic engine to make a sound like a minor valve tap, but after an oil change with proper oil, it went away. I'd recommend that you run a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil for 1000 miles to clean the engine internals and then put the 5w20 in. The Marvel will thin the old oil a bit and 1000 miles with 30 weight won't hurt anything.

Also, if this thread gets long, please add your gf's car info to your signature with an arrow or star or something so readers don't have to look back for it. Let us know what happens!

 

I agree with falcore. Also,if it gets below 32 degreesF where you live you need to stay away from 10w30 oil. I run 10w30 down here in Mississippi because it is 100 degrees the majority of the summer and rarely gets aywhere below 32 in the winter. If I were you I'd probably do exactly what falcore said.

 

I'm having a similar problem. When I first start my car in the morning, it will lug badly. Drops to 200-300rpm and will die. It's not cold here yet and I keep it garaged. When it gets warmed up (after 5-10mins), it won't die, but it still will idle low (600-800rpm). When I accelerate from a stop, I press the gas pedal and it will take 1-2 seconds to get going. It's not like it's missing, but it has 0 power.

My first thought is that it's the timing and some sensor is bad. Could that be it?

My other thought is it could be the fuel. I had just filled up the night before this started happening.

Didn't want to hijack this thread, I just figured our problems might be similar. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

DJ: check all vacuum lines and the EGR valve.

 

So is this Marvel Mystery stuff something I can get at any auto parts store? I've never heard of it. And when I put it in the car, I asume I need to drain some oil, is that true? And also, should I run something other than 5w30 in my 96'? Oh, and the car runs fine after it starts, although I haven't really checked to see what it idles at, it's just the initial start that's rough. I usually warm both of our cars up for atleast 5 mins. before driving if the engine is cold.

 

Her car was originally spec'd for 5W30. 5W20 is an alternative that Honda retrofitted, so to speak. Either oil will be just fine and what you have in there now is not the hard starting cause. When was it tuned last? Air filter---how old, how clogged? I assume it's fuel injected, have you run a dose or two of Chevron Techron (or any fuel system cleaner)through it ?

 

Marvel Mystery Oil is sold at Strauss Auto. I'd assume that you can get it at Autozone or any other auto parts store.

You are supposed to drain a quart and replace it with Marvel. As a maintenance item, I add a half quart 500 miles before every other oil change, but do not drain any. It hasn't given me any problems yet and this is the third car that I've been using it on.

 

So to answer both of the above, thanks for the idea falkore. I like the idea of adding the Marvel Mystery for the fact that it sounds like it helps keep the engine a little cleaner and flushed. I had my 96' flushed at a friends lube shop last year sometime but have done nothing else since. This sounds like a good way to keep both our engines a little cleaner.
As for the other question, the air filter only has around 6000 to 8000 miles on it. I actually checked it at the last oil change (about 1000 miles ago) and it was pretty clean. I haven't done any kind of a fuel system cleaner in it though. As far as a tune up is concerned, I haven't done anything. I checked the plugs the same time I checked the air filter and they looked good. The plugs and wires actually appear as if they where changed when I bought her the car, that's within' the last 8months, roughly. And no idea about the cap or rotor, haven't looked.

 

I found out what my problem was. Bad gas. Put new gas in the tank and it's all better.