hesitation at all rpms after driving for a while

[jray8]

has anyone had this problem? took it to the shop and they said everything checked out ok on a computer scan and that they ran numerous tests. i replaced the map sensor, plugs are only 2000 miles on them, checked them everything is ok. ran fuel system cleaner through the car several times. car only hesitates after it has been driven for at least 15 miles or so. it hesitates in all rpm's at anything above 1/2 throttle, feels as if the life is being sucked out of it! please give your opinions, thank you

[chazdawg35]

HEY DUDE CHECK THE COILS I HEARD ON THIS SITE SOMEONE HAD A SIMALAR PROBLEM!

[jray8]

i have not, i will have them checked next week though, i have absolutely no clue how to do it myself, im a noob! i appreciate the information!

[HELL_ON_WHEELS]

I'm the one who had the coils go bad on me, I took it to a shop I trust (after weeks of me trying to find the problem myself with no luck and taking it to Honda all they did was charge me $75.00 just to tell me they didn't know what the problem was A$$HOLES)

My wife drove me to work (about ten minutes away) and the shop had already found the problem, and it would be fixed as soon as the coil was delivered it only cost me $60.00

PS I don't think there is a way to check the coil your self with out buying a fresh one and then replacing each one, one at a time

[jagg]

if you look at the coils closely jray, there may be signs of a malfunction.
I.E. burned, melted, signs that it's been arcing to something else.
has the computer set a warning lamp? might tell you which cylinder is misfiring. if you've got multiple misfire codes, you might be barking up the wrong tree, (bad cat conv, fuel syst prob) or have more than one coil failing. did you change the plugs 2k ago for an engine miss? was it there for a long time? raw fuel down the exhaust can ruin a cat conv if you run it long enough with an engine miss.

if not , hell on wheels has got the right idea. buy one coil and do the old switcheroo, you might get lucky and hit er on the first try! if you're not too tight for funds, buy all four. if you've got one failing, chances are the others aren't far behind. if you're pretty handy, it's a breeze of a repair. ( at a minium, it ain't a bad dart to throw)

best of luck, jagg.

[HELL_ON_WHEELS]

thats the bad thing about the coils when they go bad they don't throw codes or a check engine light, I don't know why

[jagg]

that suprises the crap out of me.
you'd think on such a modern , sophisticated engine set up, it'd be spitting codes all over the place for an engine miss.
jeepers, a bargain basement chevy pcm will detect a misfire.
catalyst efficiency is so crucial to low polution production, maybe this car isn't as "green" as i thought. you know, it's ultra-low emissions status was the primary reason i bought it. NOT!
have a good one guys.....i'm out of the office in 5min, and going to get some seat time in.
jagg

[HELL_ON_WHEELS]

have fun

[jray8]

thanks guys, yes i changed the plugs 2k miles ago just to have them changed, they all were in "good" condition. i believe im gonna just save up to buy all four and hope the problems is fixed. as i mentioned earlier, they said they performed performance test(i think that just means joyriding) and scanned with the computer several times. i also forgot to mention that the quickest way to make it "hesitate or stutter at all rpms" is to drive around with the ac on for about 20 miles. this is what lead myself and several others to believe it was the map sensor, got the new one, drove with the ac on, same results, im gonna save up for the coils, shouldnt take too long! Thanks guys!

[desmo4]

I had a problem a long time ago at 32000 miles. The car would stall at traffic lights and I could restart it. After 6000 miles and many miss fire codes the extremely clever mechanic at the dealer after a 130 item list from Honda did a leak down. Cyl 1 exhaust valves had burned through the seats and into the head. Honda paid for a new cylinder head and I had the dealer install a set of Mugen headers at the same time.

Jonathan

[jray8]

it doesn't set a misfire code, it hasn't set any code, but i sure as hell hope its not what you just described....thanks for the information....

[MattG]

There is one more thing related to the map sensor that I remember reading about somewhere. There is a small groove in the throttle body where air is supposed to get into the map sensor, and this can get clogged up with dirt. A bit of cleaning may help if this is the case.

Also possible problem with idle air control valve? (IACV)

[jray8]

what exactly does the iac valve do? i just took it for a run, before i did i did what i think was the ignition coil test by pulling each on off and noticing the symptoms, it seemed to stumble upon removing each one(not all at the same time,) so am i to believe that they are good, plus plugs are brown, i think that means they are ok? Also noted that only after hitting vtec problem occurs, after 1st gear shift, it starts cutting out at 7,000 rpm, so mostly happens anywhere from 4-7 after first hitting vtec....oil has just been changed and map sensor was replaced 4 days ago, i will check that groove you speak of in the daylight very soon, thank you.

[s2000isu]

I had the same problem desmo described on my turbo car. I had cracked pistons and a blown hg though. What youre describing doesnt sound like that although a compression test can never hurt. Unhooking one coilpack at a time was a good idea to try to determine if 1 cylinder was giving you a hard time but since it idles fine it wont really tell you much.

My guess would be a clogged cat but theres a million other things it could be.

[jray8]

ok, i appreciate the advice, i hope to get to the bottom of it sooner or later, sooner rather than later, hopefully, thank you!

[philiam]

"quickest way to make it "hesitate or stutter at all rpms" is to drive around with the ac on for about 20 miles."

The AC draws a pretty good size electric load when it kicks in. You might check your ground wires and make sure they have a good contact. That also might confuse the computer and not let enough juice through the injectors to compensate for the extra load. Heat will also affect electrics. You might want to check out the battery and alternator under load.

I might be all wet but it's just another thought.

[jray8]

ok, thank you!