98 auto 1.6 intermittent loses power/sputters when cold, town and highway
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98 auto 1.6 intermittent loses power/sputters when cold, town and highway
260,000 miles. OK, this is a recent problem, and the highway issue is more recent. The sputtering seems more pronounced when under heavier load (specifically when going up a hill). Again, this is only when the car has just started: first 5-10 minutes of driving.
The sputtering can be described as: with same/constant throttle pressure the the engine will lose power (RPMs drop) for 1-2 seconds then the RPMs spike before returning to the cruising RPM (ie. same RPM from constant throttle pressure before loss). Also of note: if you try to increase throttle when it's in "power loss" you hear more pronounced sputtering... no misfire code though but sounds like a misfire. Also, if you let off the throttle as soon as the power loss starts then immediately apply throttle again the engine will kind of speed up but will immediately bog down again: like it has to go through the bogging down in order to clear up, you can coax it to stop early by playing with throttle.
After about 10 minutes it seems to go away. This also happens at high speeds: I only just noticed it happens on the highway (don't usually highway drive). Again, after about 10 minutes of highway driving it seems to go away.
Most recent work done to the car is distributor unit and spark plugs: this work was done because the distributor unit failed (car sputtered when turned on and would die unless you throttled the accelerator: worked for about 4 days then just died).
Car has no o2 sensors: exhaust manifold has been replaced, resonator was recently (>1yr) installed because rest of exhaust system had fallen apart. No catalytic converter unless a resonator is the same thing?
Fuel injectors seem to be working fine, car idles fine except for an occasional sputter, again only when cold (ie after driving and coming to a stop it idles fine).
Other work done: brake master cylinder, head gasket (1-2yrs ago), air filter & oil filter, ICM (5+ years ago), timing belt, water pump, dis cap (older than dis unit), fuel filter (5+ years ago)... and a whole slew of other stuff.
The only other thing to mention is a super slow leak in the radiator, it's been going on for about 3 months and I just haven't fixed... haven't noticed any white smoke and mechanic didn't mention anything about deposits on old spark plugs.
Any suggestions would be excellent, not ready to let my LX give up the ghost just yet.
The sputtering can be described as: with same/constant throttle pressure the the engine will lose power (RPMs drop) for 1-2 seconds then the RPMs spike before returning to the cruising RPM (ie. same RPM from constant throttle pressure before loss). Also of note: if you try to increase throttle when it's in "power loss" you hear more pronounced sputtering... no misfire code though but sounds like a misfire. Also, if you let off the throttle as soon as the power loss starts then immediately apply throttle again the engine will kind of speed up but will immediately bog down again: like it has to go through the bogging down in order to clear up, you can coax it to stop early by playing with throttle.
After about 10 minutes it seems to go away. This also happens at high speeds: I only just noticed it happens on the highway (don't usually highway drive). Again, after about 10 minutes of highway driving it seems to go away.
Most recent work done to the car is distributor unit and spark plugs: this work was done because the distributor unit failed (car sputtered when turned on and would die unless you throttled the accelerator: worked for about 4 days then just died).
Car has no o2 sensors: exhaust manifold has been replaced, resonator was recently (>1yr) installed because rest of exhaust system had fallen apart. No catalytic converter unless a resonator is the same thing?
Fuel injectors seem to be working fine, car idles fine except for an occasional sputter, again only when cold (ie after driving and coming to a stop it idles fine).
Other work done: brake master cylinder, head gasket (1-2yrs ago), air filter & oil filter, ICM (5+ years ago), timing belt, water pump, dis cap (older than dis unit), fuel filter (5+ years ago)... and a whole slew of other stuff.
The only other thing to mention is a super slow leak in the radiator, it's been going on for about 3 months and I just haven't fixed... haven't noticed any white smoke and mechanic didn't mention anything about deposits on old spark plugs.
Any suggestions would be excellent, not ready to let my LX give up the ghost just yet.
Last edited by mattad0rk; Jul 13, 2017 at 07:24 PM.
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It's most likely another bad distributor! Seriously! Honda doesn't sell my distributor anymore and I had to go to the aftermarket. I've been through many of them!! The quality just isnt there..One of them left me stranded on the side of the road. The others I bench tested with a multimeter and the sensors were way out of specification range! The one I got now from Spectra Premium, the sensors actually are in spec, but I replaced the ignition control module and coil with Honda. After a year it's been reliable. Hopefully it continues to last. Tired of replacing these things!
It could either be the ignition control module or the sensors built into the distributor housing. Either way, the aftermarket is full of bad distributors, time to try another one and hopefully you get a good one.
The alternative is.. check to see if your distributor is available from Honda, if it is.. That might be the best money you've spent! But definitely diagnose the distributor sensors, coil, etc as being bad. No need to throw parts at it.
It could either be the ignition control module or the sensors built into the distributor housing. Either way, the aftermarket is full of bad distributors, time to try another one and hopefully you get a good one.
The alternative is.. check to see if your distributor is available from Honda, if it is.. That might be the best money you've spent! But definitely diagnose the distributor sensors, coil, etc as being bad. No need to throw parts at it.
