'98 Accord EX 4cyl - F23A1 Manual Trans - poor acceleration >3000rpm?

Just posting back. I've been working on my car a bit here an there, replaced fuel pump, belts, fuel pressure regulator, etc..

My car is seriously weak. I wish another 6g accord owner that had experience with i4 5speeds could drive mine and confirm either my car is weak sauce or thats how it should be.

Im thinking what i am experiencing isnt what i should have because i found another thread discussing comparing the i4 to the v6 accords on acceleration and most say they are pretty close. Man, not mine.. I had a v6 98 accord for a month or so and it had all sorts of power.

I wish i could figure this out. The guy i bought it from did some head/valve work and replaced the timing belt. Could a symptom of a timing belt that skipped a tooth be a laggy, weak *** car with extremely poor acceleration? I was seriously so frustrated that i've been high revving just to get anywhere and it still has crap for acceleration.

Just not sure what i should do. I have other junk to work on like my basement so i can sell my little house and upgrade to something bigger.

Any help appreciated!

Check your timing and make sure that the lines mark up and it isn't off a tooth. If that checks out next would be troubleshoot the vtec. I'm be to Hondas but that is where I would start. There is probably info around here somewhere on how to test the vtec solenoid and any other part of the system.

Also a simple compression test can tell you a lot about the condition of the motor. Only takes a few minutes to do.

I have a 00 4 cyl 5spd car. Ill test mine against yours in a roll test using a stop watch. Well see how long it takes to get from mph-mph in any gear you choose.

My 02 5sp gets out of its own way... It's not fast by any means but I wouldn't exactly call it a dog- no issues with merging- I'd check compression- plugged cats will cause power loss- you hear ticking or other noises like it got really hot after you shut the car off?

I think a faulty EGR valve would be only really noticeable while the car is idling. Did you check for slack on the accelerator cable (from the gas pedal)? You mentioned that the top end was re-done, could be the mechanic didn't properly set the cable tension to the throttle. Another thing could be the timing either timing belt or the distributor is not set to it's optimum position.

I worked on an F23A4 with a similar issue. It threw a code. Not remembering the number at the moment. Just know it was VTEC related. It was hesitant in all ranges though. Cleaned the screen filter on the solenoid and was good to go after clearing the codes. Maybe this will help.

Sounds like like timing is skipped a tooth, check your ignition timing, cause cam runs dizzy. Don't forget to unplug/jumper ign timing plug.