1998 Accord LX 2.3 vtec wont get out of its own way

been trying to figure out what is wrong with my mothers car. we had the timing belt replaced by a local trustworthy shop(at least always been good to me with my chevy truck) because i did not have time to deal with it. the check engine light started to come on around 100k miles, we figured it was the 100k mile better replace timing belt before its too late light. so the belt was replaced and after a while the light came on again, took it back and it was a lean code, he dumped some crap in to clean injectors and told her to see if it comes back. all this time the car was driveable and didnt seem to run too poorly at all.

so over time we are at about 110k, had belt replaced about 1-2k miles ago. the light came on again, and gradually developed a stumble and is now to the point that the car will barely get out of its own way. it will idle and purr like a kitten all day long, but slightly ease into the gas even at idle and it will stumble for a quick moment before it revs. now when you put a load on the engine like aitting at a light and the ac compressor kicks on, it will idle down really low almost like it wants to die, but never does. when you take off from a stop, with ac on or off(slightly worse with ac on though), it will barely move and sortof sound and feel like its running very rough. you can fluttler the gas, let off and ease back in, mat it, ect nothing seem to help. eventually it will take off and at a steady cruise it seems to run smooth and normal, but say you wanted to pass someone and held the pedal to the floor it would stumble for a second, downshift, and then still try to pull but not like it should.

it still had the factory plugs wires cap and rotor on it so my first thought was to check there. the center electrode of every spark plug had one side of the V groove completely eroded away leaving about 1/8in plug gap and the cap had a nice thick layer of white corrosion on each contact inside. as bad as these were i though that had to be the issue. put all new plugs, wires, cap, and rotor on it and let battery sit overnight unplugged to clear the light since i dont have a code reader. next day the car does the same exact thing, still no light on. when we had cleared the code before it would take a good 3 or 4 days of driving to work and back (60mi) before it would kick the light back on.

my next step was replacing the MAP sensor. the symptoms im having sorta sounded like that could be the issue, but evidently thats not the problem because it still has not changed. no worse no better. had a friend bring me his code reader to read the codes but there are no codes to be read.

so right now im stuck with this car that wont run good enough to drive it long enough to throw the code to tell me what is wrong with it.

do you have any suggestions? what should the timing be reading on the code reader? im worried it may have jumped a tooth on the belt? he told my mother that he had to do some sort of rigging on the tensioner pulley. the car does make a tight belt wine, but i figured it was because the belt was still fresh.

my ideas are:

maybe a weak fuel pump? do they get weak or just usually give up completely? this car is as bone stock as they come, literally was a granny car, my mother inherited it when my grandmother passed away.

plugged cat? this thing is stupid quiet but i really dont think the cat is plugged. with no load the engine will rev like it should.

thanks for taking the time to read this. this is pretty much a last resort before i drag it to another shop. ive built big block chevys, lots of older cars and trucks but the modern fuel injection is somthing im not as knowledgeable with.

Need to see if that lean code is still there.



My first thought is the Catalytic converter, but it should throw a code since there is an oxygen sensor in it. The cat just bolts on, so pull it off and look in there.

Fuel pump on these cars lasts a good while.


At that age and mileage, Timing Belt job was needed anyway.

and about that timing belt tensioner pulley rig - might not be the cause but that guy should have replaced it. The Timing belt job on these cars should include:
Timing Belt
Water pump
Tensioner pulley(s)
Valve lash adjustment

thank you for the reply. i have always heard its usually a good idea to change the timing belt around 100k miles. im sure it would have lasted longer, but being an interfearance engine i didnt want to chance it.

using the code reader the car has no codes that it will pull out of the computer. need to get it out and drive it to get the code to come up again. my mother is afraid it will break down on her so she wont drive it, and i cant drive it because it doesnt have hand controls and im a paraplegic. guess ill grab a broom handle haha. i really doubt it is going to completely quit, it just doesnt have any power. always fires right up reguardless if its 100* and just was drove 60miles or its 70* and it sat for a week.

with the catalytic converter, i was under the impression that if plugged you would have a really stinky exhaust. it doesnt smell any different than any of our other vehicles. i may pull the cat and try it. we dont have smog testing here, so this car has not been tested in 10 years, so it could have been failing for quite a while.

im going to try and get her to drive it tonight. need to get this car fixed, its her ride to work 30mi each way and she is currently driving my truck at 13mpg. gets expensive and i need my truck back!

still runs like crap, still no code. i looked up what the code was the last time it was thrown, and it was a p0171, and from what i find that code is fairly vague and could mean any number of things.

i wish i had a fuel pressure gauge. im thinking my best bet unfortunately is going to take it somewhere. everything looks good..... cant find any vacuum leaks, TPS responds accurately as i press the throttle and doesnt seem to jump or flutter, checked to see if the egr was plugged for the hell of it and it looked really good. checked the injector screens as i had found a service bulliten related to the p0170 code saying to check those.

so as far as i know, im down to a fuel pressure issue either due to a weak/failing pump/plugged strainer or a faulty fuel pressure regulator.

or, would the o2 sensors cause it to run this way? they seem to be reading about like they should, the main one is continuoisly going rich lean like it should, the secondary seems to stay fairly steady.

i dunno. its got me!

how about that. I'm a paraplegic too.


My second guess was the fuel pressure regulator.

Did some research and it could also be your Primary oxygen sensor. With the age of the car, it just may be worn out. Use a Denso brand (preferably) or NGK.


Your better at tracking down the issue than me. Stay on it my friend.

well, i wish i could tell you what fixed it... but after i took the injector screens out and cleaned them i ended up with a vacuum leak, it was late and i was tired of working on it so i let it sit until morning. took back apart and one of the large seals had fallen off in the process of wiggling everything back in. got it put back together again and it fired up and ran awesome. had my mother take it for a spin and it ran better than it ever has. had her do a few 0-60 pulls to make sure it got nice and hot.

im still not entirely convinced it wont act up again, but it is running great so far. one thing that i am a little stumped on is the fact that when i was first trying to diagnose the issue, i never noticed the radiator fan kick on when clicking the ac on. it also never would idle up the engine when the compressor would engauge. when i started it up this morning first thing i did was kick the ac on because beforw it would almost want to kill the engine. this time it idled up and fans kicked on.

so i guess for now its fixed. ill report back if anything changes. definately going to buy an obd2 reader to have on hand. my newest vehicle is a 92 so i never saw the need before now!

thanks for the help and suggestions. if nothing else it helps having a place to write everything down and go through it in my head as i type.

Well, the rotten thing worked great for a couple days! this morning on her way to work my mom said it was still running good, but it threw a code and turned the light on. after work she drove about 10mi, stopped at the store and on her way out it started to act up again.

I just went out and pulled the codes. Im getting a p0170 and a p0171. after a little bit of digging i found a thread here with a link to a service bulliten, (wont let me post links because im still a noob) reguarding fuel pressure regulator issues. it shows rerouting the vacuum lines and capping off one of the vacuum ports. well, our car does not have this update done to it, so this is my next step. going to get a regulator and replace it while im at it.

what i am thinking happened to get it to run right was when i was cleaning the injector screens, the regulator may have gotten bumped or hit on somthing and sorta knocked it loose internally. after a couple days maybe it started to get stuck again. this is the only explination ive got to why cleaning the injector screens worked temporarily. so i told her before she leaves for work, tap it woth a screwdriver handle a few times just to see if it temporarily will clear it up again while i wait for parts.

when it rains it poors, my truck threw a code today as well haha. good ol obd1. heard a rattle under it and then the light came on, knock sensor tripped. got it home and still runs perfect no loss of power, great oil pressure, not hot.....its always somthing!

stay tuned. ill have this car fixed one way or another. i just hope its before i replace every fuel system related sensor