Car Hesitation
 

hey guys,

this started 2 days ago and is really weird. when i accelerate the car feels almost as if it's going to die out, but then it's like the car gets its power back and it starts accelerating normally. happens in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. it almost feels like the car's tires are spinning and then they grip again (that's how it feels)... any ideas???

thanks

check the tension on your throttle cable

Sounds like an ignition or fuel delivery problem.

When was the last time the plugs, wires, dizzy cap & rotor, air filter, fuel filter were all replaced?

Does this happen when it's cold/warm, every now and then or all the time?

Is the check engine light on?

yeah me and a friend think it might be fuel delivery... it only started 2 days ago

any ideas on what i can do to check at home??

^
Before you do anything, is the check engine light on? If yes, then get the code first and post it up here. You can google the procedure on how to get the trouble code, it's not difficult. What year and model car is it?

If no check engine light, you can check the following:

Pull the spark plugs and see what they look like. Check the gap. You can google for a spark plug reference chart to estimate how your engine is running. The ideal colour is light tan-brown. If one plug looks bad, try switching it with one from another cylinder and see if the problem follows the plug or stays with that cylinder (fouls the clean plug).

Pull the dizzy cap and rotor and take a look at them. The rotor spins around and passes by the posts (which sends the electrical charge out to the spark plugs via the ignition wires). If you notice the rotor tip has some discolouration, erosion and some crud built up as well as the posts in the dizzy cap are eroded and crappy looking, then you should replace them.

Ignition wires, if you have a multimeter you can check the resistance. I can't remember what they are supposed to be but I'm sure you could google that or someone else here will know. It should be so many ohms per 12inches of wire length or so... can't remember off the top of my head. That will tell you if you need wires or not.

If you turn the key all the way on, but not start the engine, you should be able to hear the fuel pump turn on for a few seconds. You'll hear a click as the relay turns on, and then it will click off again. You may have you put your ear down near the ground towards the back of the car and see if you can hear the pump buzzing for those few seconds. If you do hear the pump run, that means at least the pump is fine.

Fuel filters are cheap enough, should replace that anyways, especially if you don't know when it was last done...

You could also check the fuel pressure. You can buy fuel pressure gauges that go on the top of the fuel filter assembly or you'll have to take it to a shop and have them check it. The crude and less-acurate method would be to disconnect the fuel line from the fuel rail and turn the key on. You should see a good amount of fuel come pouring out...lol.

Could also be a bad injector or many bad injectors. Running some injector cleaner or seafoam through the fuel tank wouldn't hurt.

Could also be the main relay...


Good luck. Let us know how you make out. :)

And oh yeah, any excessive white or blue smoke out the exhaust? How does the oil and coolant look?

thanks for the info...i was planning on pulling plugs and checking the cap and rotor... wires and plugs were changed at about the 100,000 mark or so with ngk and msd cap, rotor, wires... fuel filter i would say has about 80,000(max... a little old i know)... thanks for the help, much appreciated

i checked codes last night with a friend and the reader said it wasn't throwing any codes, which we both thought was extremely odd???

It's actually not unusual for an older honda to run like garbage and not throw a check engine light...lol. Unlike modern cars where you just have to look at them and they throw a code...

my car was running like crap today after i drove to oshawa from scarborough, i brought it in for a tune up and KABLAM, it ran really well after, better then before lol

^^^ what did they do? :S why was it running crap?

well wasnt really a tune up more like just spark plugs but it made a noticeable difference. it was strange today, i was driving longer then usual and out of no where my engine light came on and afterwards my car just felt really sluggish going past 80. the car felt like it did not want to go past 80 and would slow down a bit just before hitting the 80km/h mark.

but ya after changing the plugs and probably letting the car cool down or something or fixed it

turns out it was none of the things mention prviously... it was the ignitor switch.. it had come lose and just needed to be re-crimped, which is why it wasn't throwing a code... thanks for the help though

^^^ Glad you got it figured out man :yeah:

this happens to me sometimes... turns out its my tires spinning ^_^ lool