I just bought a 91 accord ex, 2.2l, auto with 289,xxxmi. it runs good when its cold but when it warms up it starts surging really bad when I try to accelerate and I have to push the gas to the floor to go. It idles good hot or cold, starts easy. After I gas through the surging a couple times the check engine light comes on but its off the next time I start the car.
I don't know much about cars, especially 4 cylinder, fuel injected cars. The things I did know enough to try are an oil change, new spark plugs, I unhooked the egr and plugged the vacuum line, and a new fuel filter. I'm out of ideas! Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks guys!

 

It may be that the EGR ports are plugged and the engine isn't getting enough EGR. Have you checked the code(s)? Pull a vacuum on the EGR valve to see if the engine stumbles or dies at idle.

 

Nothing changes when I pull the vacuum line off the egr. I got the codes 1,2(oxygen sensor a and b) 12(egr) and 43( fuel supply system). There's a little bit of surging in idle but nothing serious. And after I gas through the surging and jerking when I'm accelerating and the check engine light comes on it seems to run better.

 

I wasn't clear: Create a vacuum on the line going to the EGR valve when the engine is idling. Use a vacuum pump. That will actuate the EGR valve. The engine should stumble or die. If it doesn't then it's likely that the EGR ports are dirty. Could be an EGR valve too, but less likely.

Surging while accelerating lightly with a warmed up engine is a classic blocked-EGR symptom. I'm guessing that the EGR code popped up when the line was disconnected?

Do you have a factory service manual? It makes diagnosing so much easier:

Online manuals

 

Ok, I applied vacuum to egr. Idle got really rough. Does that rule out egr passages? What about the o2 sensors? Could they cause this?
Also no service manuals and no computer to download service manuals.

 

Maybe. It could still be that one or more EGR ports are clogged. I've heard that 4th Gen EGR port cleaning is a PITA compared to 5th Gen's but it's still worth doing considering the symptoms.

It doesn't sound like something a primary O2 sensor would cause but it's certainly worth checking if the heater circuit has continuity and checking if the output voltage readings cycle as they should.

I don't understand: How are you using this forum if you don't have access to a computer?

 

I'm going to check out the o2 sensor before I attempt cleaning egr passages. I checked the plug for my o2 sensor and its definitely got oil in the plug. cleaning it out now.

 

And I access the forum on my cell phone, but I can't download the manuals to my phone.

 

computers at the public library?

 

I'll be replacing my o2 sensor tomorrow. If that doesn't fix my problem I will definitely try the library because I'm out of leads.