Hey fellas, it's been a while!
I am having some issues with my car and apparently the dealer cannot figure it out. This has been an on going problem since August of last year.
Everyday I drive the car to work, the car stays parked till 5pm, at 6pm I go pick up the kids at the sitter and when I go start the car the car takes a while before it starts up, when it starts up the car sputters, as if the car was misfiring, RPM's under 300 then shuts off, keep trying, and if I force the car by pumping the gas it eventually starts but VSA and check engine lights come on. When I shut the car off the VSA lights come on but the check engine light stays on. I have taken my car to the dealer about this issue about 7 times, I have tried different dealers. All they do is clear the check engine light and give me the car back; they say that there are no codes when they run a diag.
Thing is that they have had my car since Friday of last week and they have not been able to duplicate my issue, they want to give me my car back and did not repair the problem.
What do you guys think it could be, should I take the car back?

 

If nobody here can figure it out, try calling Car Talk! Those guys can solve anything...

1-888-CAR-TALK (888-227-8255)

 

Something's dirty in the TB!?

You have to pump the gas? Holy moly...check to see if your engine is running rich/or lean...

That sounds really wierd.

 

mine does this once a month maybe. it never throws a cel or vsa light though. i can't figure it out either.

 

Maybe it is battery or alternator, which may not throw CEL codes? If not try Idle Air Control Valve or O2 sensor? Check any vacuum lines. My brother just had a similar issue and he replaced O2 sensors.

 

things to check

FPR

Fuel line pressure (before FPR and after)

fuel pump

 

Sounds possible. Also, make sure all the bolts for the TB and IM are tight after you installed your spacers. I doubt that's it, but you never know.

This really resembles the problem I had with my Maxima when I had a faulty Knock Sensor. It also was dumping gas with the CEL. You have any smell of gas? But I had the RPM's dipping, sputtering, and having to pump the gas to keep it from stalling.

 

I'd say dirty IAC valve or TB. Try DIY cleaning.

 

Dealer replaced the catalytic converter and both o2 sensors last month, cleaned my TB and IM. Last year when I installed my TB spacers, bolts and TB seem to be tight. I will suggest the other diags mentioned to the dealer.
It's sad that a dealer can't figure out a problem with a vehicle they are supposedly certified and experienced with.

 

This occured with my car as well after boosting it though. I know I was getting misfires and I'm pretty certain yours would to. Plug up an OBD2 scanner and see what the codes are. Eventually it idled smoothly again overnight.

Did you try Bridgewater Acura? They didn't give me much problems with my car when I went to them to replace a few parts and didn't say anything about my mods.

 

 

Faulty plugs? Or possibly coil pack?

I had an Integra that would sputter and die when the car got hot. Couldn't start it after for a few hours. I replaced the O2 sensor, catalytic converter, fuel filter, and it kept fouling spark plugs. I had replaced the distributor cap and rotor two months before and when I pulled a plug and rested it on the block, it would get spark. I figured those were fine. I spent over $500 (did the work myself) and nothing worked... Finally I pulled off the distributor cap and saw that the rotor was defective. Spent $28 and the car started in a quarter turn of the key...

Did you try using dry gas, incase where you get your gas has water in it?

Random thoughts, that's all...

 

hey man, my first thought was coil pack and spark plugs. IAC could make your car stall out too. i had the same problem, the car would take forever to crank and unless i held the gas down it would just stall out. this did this shortly after installing a grounding kit. i took off the grounding kit, replaced my battery, and everything was fine. check your major grounds, our negative battery cable is in a bad place and gets overexposed and the copper starts to get destroyed. if anything, a good ground is extremely important. good luck.

 

frank wats good fam....my pops accord did this a while back except it did not throw any codes...but wat i did was change the spark plugs and the problem has not happened since....it could also possibly be your coilpacks man i would check those out to see what they are looking like.....if you need any help with that PM me

my dad's accord is a 2000 and when i would start it the RPM's did not even make it above 1000 it went to like 500 then 300 then cut off and when i did pump the gas to rev the RPM's up the car would shake basically like the whole motor would shake like it was misfiring and cut off when i let off the pedal.....if thats the problem your having then i would start by changing the plugs oh and another thing i put it in neutral and started her up and she sat at 500 for a couple seconds and sputtered like it was going to shut off then it went to 1000 and i was able to drive out of the target parking lot

btw My TL had cylinder misfires and sounded very weird kinda like a motorboat and would shake and sputter all over the place.....it was my coil packs

 

man, the CL is acting up, huh. Good luck on that.

 

Thanks fellas!
Got the car back last night, excellent points there redsly, CleanCL, Da_iLLeZt_TL973, they actually mentioned all of those things you just did. They offered to replace my plugs to further investigate but they were charging me $300 bucks. Weird because I replaced my plugs in August of 06 with Denso Iridium’s. I will do what they want, I will replace the plugs with the OEM ones and if the problem happens again they are going to have to keep the car till they fix it.

 

Yea man, really making me want to trade her in..

 

How many miles on it?

I have 106k and haven't changed my plugs yet and I haven't had any issues <knocks on wood>.

I bought the plugs at the dealership for $89 and haven't put them in yet.

Did you replace your plugs with the correct ones? I remember reading that the type S has a different heat range on them. Maybe you got the ones for the CL instead!?!
Just a thought...

 

I have 75k on it, bought the Denso Iridium's on eBay, forget what part# but pretty sure I got it for the type S, I was aware that the CL and CL-S had different plugs. I am going to have to get the OEM plugs.

 

Are you parking on a hill or on uneven ground? The only time it took a bit longer for my car to start was when I had parked on some uneven ground and the rear of the car was lower than the front. Once it started, there were no other issues. This sounds simple, but I'll offer it anyway.