Hello folks! Central Texas resident, early 30s father of three adorable girls one which I have full custody of. I'm in the IT field, and a Honda lover.

Enough about me, let's get down to the grit.

Started back in about 2009, I obtained a 91 Integra GS-R and it was a love/hate relationship. Love the car, hated the fact it was slammed and I couldn't clear a pack of cigarettes laying on its side >< Living in a country town, I couldn't take it anywhere. After months of crying, my now ex-wife convinced me to get rid of it.

Well during my divorce, she took both cars and daughters and I was stuck with a decision. Two semesters left of college and no where to live with my daughter with no car. I did what any man had to do and bite the bullet. Took my entire semester's aid and bought a 96 v6 accord. Not bad, but I knew from my experience with the Integra, it'd last beyond college and get me on the right start.

Flash forward a bit, June of 2013...I was in the hunt for a more reliable car and was looking at some MK IV Golf R32s and various S2ks. Once again, the decision was made easy and I found a 2000 Silverstone S2k with 59k miles on it. I got the guy to drop the asking price of 20400 down to 14300 and took it off his hands. Honda made a masterpiece with that machine. It awakens you every time you drive it.

Well, about two weeks ago I was coming back from a funeral and it started icing over....Oh I know, ice in central Texas?!! Needless to say, I rarely encounter the stuff and the other times I have it was in a FWD car...not a RWD rocket ship >< We went for a slid down into a ditch and did a little bit of body damage down where you would put a side skit on and screwed up my passenger side front suspension. Oh and somehow punctured my soft top.

She's sitting in the shop getting repaired as we speak and here's where things get to the main course.

I finally got the S2k back operational on Jan 4th of this year. Never try to do a clutch job yourself unless you understand what you are getting yourself into hahaha. Well, new years eve. I backed up to my second job parking lot to run in and get a few packs of smokes. Didn't think anything of it and got back into the car to drive off. I didn't know that my "fart can" (yes, I have one on a v6 and it sounds amazing) went over the curb. The car didn't want to go forward at all, so I tried to back up the few inches I had and cut the wheel to try and dislodge the exhaust.

After pulling forward, I guess my exhaust decided that was where it wanted to stay. Ripped about eight feet of pipe off with it at I'm guessing the resonator. The rear chamber on the exhaust that is. I decided to park the car and focus solely on getting the S2k back and operational since my clutch it in blew a spring. (I know, sort of going backwards)

Well, we already know I wrecked my S2k...and I had to get the Accord back to functional. It sounded like warmed over dog crap and wouldn't go above 3500 rpms and over heated rather fast. I figured it was because I was missing a good chunk of the exhaust. (See I'm smart like that =P)

Went to Honda to find a replacement part and where it ripped off and about crapped myself. No way was I going to pay almost 400 bucks for whatever it was that I ripped it off at. Figured since I did a resonator delete on the s2k, it should be fine to do the same on the Accord.

Well, the exhaust shop chopped it off and placed a straight piece of pipe in its place. When we went to start it up, it sounded like there was either water in the gas or it was running on two cylinders. Took forever for it to find a idle point.

Finally got it home and decided it was a fuel issue. First things first....check the plugs/wires. Good thing I did, since I'm guessing the close to 300k mile Accord might of had them changed once before....ages ago =/ I'm betting a pen had more of a point of contact than the plugs did.

Started it up and she appeared to have no issues. I took it for a test drive and it started to do the stuttering/not wanting to idle thing again. I got it to limp home and did a bit of research. Was reading it could be one of three things: Main Fuel Relay, Fuel Pump, or something with the distributor.

Got a Relay in from the parts store and boy was it a pain to install since I'm not a tiny guy. The car started up fine again, and we went for another test drive. Got it to go over 3500 RPMs which I was happy about, and we came to a stop sign and it started the sputtering/not wanting to idle until it died thing again.

Frustrated, and knowing there's no way this car could do my 70 mile daily commute to work, I gave in.

So a fellow s2k'er mentioned this forum and I'm here in hopes of some trouble shooting/resolution help from you folks.

Thanks a bunch!

Shadycat

 

Oh, completely forgot to mention anything about the ride....HA!

The 96 I'm assuming is the top of the line, that's EX if I'm not mistaken. Full leather/power/sun roof.

Only put a cold air on it and a full "ricer" exhaust. It sounded great on my 2000 v6 Ford Ranger so I had to try it on a v6 Accord. It's surprisingly nice and deep.

Also, various interior upgrades....it is my "family" car after all with 3000 watts in the trunk

 

Welcome to HAF.

If you don't mind, who sent you our way?

Next, don't take this the wrong way, you might want to start a thread in General Tech with nothing but the story/history of the Accord.....I'm slow and at some points in this post I'm not sure if you are talking about the S2 or the Accord?

Also, is the CEL on? The 96 has both the OBD-II scan port - most parts stores will check the codes for free, just be sure to get the actual code and not their description - and also should still have the OBD-I service connector behind/below the glove box.

 

Redlineracing over from S2ki sent me this way. Sorry about the delay, constantly hounding the body shop to speed up the work on my car =/