First I would like to thank your for taking the time to help. I have a 98 base prelude. Nothing really done to it, just header, CAI, and exhaust. I have my car in the garage for the winter. I started it up Couple days ago, like to start it once a week and let it run for a bit, and it would not turn on. It would crank but wont actually turn over, start. While doing this car would occasionally make a bogging, stuttering noise, and sometimes backfire. I replaced the battery as it was old and was getting same issues. So i let it sit for an hour and jumped it with my explorer and it started up on the first try, like it normally does.Drove it for a bit and was running great.
Next day it took a bit of cranking for it to finally start. Whenever i gave it anymore than 1/4 throttle it would studded and chug as if it was going to die. I put new gas in it and fuel system cleaner and drove it for a bit. Next day it once again would not turn on. After a bit trying to crank it I once again jumped it and it started up right away. This time when driving i can barely give it any gas without it chugging or studding. It sounds to me like its a fuel pump issue but I don't know why it started up right away when i jumped it. Let me know if you have any input or other questions needed to diag the issues. Thank You
this may be a bit different but when i owned my third gen it did the exact same thing a there was a ground cable broken. that kinda helped so then i changed the fuel pump and it ran like a champ so i would look into both of those also if your pump is clogged it needs more power to run so if you have noticed car electronics dimmer(lights) slower(windows) that could be a small sign i also saw it was sitting in the garage for the winter and just starting it. from what i hear its good to start it but ever better to drive it like 5 miles if at all possible maybe to icy where you live hope this helps o yea check your fuel injectors to if they are dirty it would cuase u to miss and what not are u not getting a CEL?
The fuel pump in in the gas tank. If you lower you rear seat and remove the trunk flooring, you'll see an access port. Just unbolt it, take off the panel and there is your pump. I would check all the grounds to make sure there is a good connection. Check your spark plugs too. The gaps might be too small or too big for it to spark. Check the spark plug wires too..mine did that too, it would chug for a bit. I replaced mine and it was fine afterwards.. Good Luck man
Thanks for the additional info guys. So today I started the car, took about 10sec of cranking but it started up. Took it out and it ran perfect, drove around till it was warmed up and then tried going 1/2 throttle then 3/4 throttle. It ran perfectly fine, I even had vtec engaged once and no issues at all.
Oh and when car is having issues it does not throw a CEL. Nothing at all.
Last edited by topeteeric; 02-25-2010 at 09:30 AM.
Yeah it did make feel a little better that no CEL was showing but just strange how the issues is intermittent. I will start it again today after work and test it. Prob check the fuel filter also.
The shelf life of the stupid stuff called ethanol they put in our gas is only about 60 days, if you car has been sitting for a while dump some fuel system cleaner, sta-bil, octane booster or drain your gas tank.
even with cleaner the gas is old, does it run better in first gear then it does other gears?
It does not matter what gear it is in. I can give it very little throttle and wait for rpms to go up. If i give it normal throttle, as far as normal daily driving, it will studder, sounds like it about to die, and backfires sometimes.
Only thing I can think of that hasn't already been mentioned is your primary O2 sensor. If you are backfiring, then you are running rich, and that O2 sensor influences A/F trim. Just get under the car and remove the old one, check it for carbon build-up. You could also switch the secondary and primary O2 sensors to see if that resolves the problem. The only difference between the two is the wire length. Report back with your findings.
So i finally got time to look into my issue a little more. So far checked to make sure that I am getting a spark from all plugs. Plug tips were white, which i know means i am running lean or they are getting hot, could be possible exhaust issues which causes that, or so i read. So i looked inside my exhaust and there was something just floating around in there, i have greddy evo exhast so its big enough where i was able to reach in and find metal stuff, like brillo pad. Dont really know alot about cars, I am a comuter tech tho which doesnt help at all in this situation. Will be taking my exhaust off to check it to see if its clogged up. Any ideas?
Last edited by topeteeric; 04-07-2010 at 11:10 PM.
Gonna finish my own thread, in case anyone ever has similar issues and is searching. So installing new fuelpump, filter, and plugs did not resolve issue. My friend had just bought an h22 motor and so we were able to swap the distributor which resolved the issue. All working great now. Now i can go to the track opening day saturday!!!!
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Now i can go to the track opening day saturday!!!!
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