hi,i don't know what it is but when i hit the gas pedal the car takes off pretty fast but i don't like to push it like i'm starting off the line for a drag race.it will go and as it's getting faster and faster there's a point when it will take off and get this extra power boost like i have a turbo charger under the hood..it just doesn't feel right,as if it's holding back and kind of surges as it's going faster.what can this be? 02' tl w/287k miles..thanks.

 

The forum where this was originally posted, the AcuraZine User Help, Support & Suggestions Area , is meant for problems, comments, and suggestions for the website itself, so I moved your thread to the car specific forum applicable to your vehicle.

This was explained in the sticky thread at the top of that forum, or click here if you can't find it, which will explain why you shouldn't have posted your thread there.

I moved it to the 2GTL Forum. If this is incorrect, reply here and I will change it.

 

Mikes Black AC, A couple of questions.
Does the gas pedal feel "sticky"? When you push lightly on the pedal does it do nothing then all of a sudden take off?
When you say it surges is this during acceleration of does the RPM surge when it is idling?
Any data from an OBDII reading? Fuel trims etc?

 

no the pedal doesn't feel mushy.the car moves from 0 to whatever fine.it's when you hit the pedal harder to go faster and it downshifts and revs higher you will feel a slight hold back and then it will just take off like it's being boosted with a whole lotta power.,it takes off like a rocket.no surging at idle here..

 

Ok lets see if I can describe it. When you hit the gas, say to pass someone, there is a slight hesitation like a 1/2 second then it downshifts and moves. It seems different than a few months back as you don't recall ever having that little wait time while it downshifts.
Is that a good alternate description?

 

Is this something new and out of the normal that just started happening? I am feeling that you might just not be used to a really interesting power boosting feature courtesy of the engineers at Honda.

These engines have something called VTEC which is "Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control" that adds more HP after a certain RPM threshold (usually around 4000RPM). This can be startling to somebody who has never experienced the 'boost' of a Honda VTEC engine. Check out Honda's Feb 22 Press Release on VTEC in the link below to learn more about it.

Honda VTEC

If I missed the mark, please disregard.

 

I was wondering how long it would take for some one to say it was VTEC lol.

When I had my auto, when I would go WOT from a roll when in auto and not the tiltronic mode, it would take a second or two to downshift to the appropriate gear, before immediately throwing it into VTEC and launching my car with all of it's power. Definitely caught some people off guard with this when some one tried challenging me, and it's also what got me into cars. I do miss that old '99 CL.

However, VTEC isn't the only thing happening with these motors. The intake manifold also has a butterfly valve in it. It's opens up in combination with VTEC kicking in. Honda says it's supposed to create a 'supercharger' effect, or something like that. This could also be what you're feeling. Perhaps your IMRC wasn't working before, and now it is? If you really think there is an issue, maybe check the plug for that. It's a little motor that sits behind the intake manifold. Hard to miss.

 

hi,sorry i didn't see and reply to this sooner.it's always on to the the next job whether it be my hvac,electric,plumbing and appliance repair business or one of my other cars i have 91' camry and 08' ford e250.i go to all the trouble of needing to know on the fly but don't know how i really fixed it and how it works-sometimes. iv'e heard of vtec only mentioned a couple of times as well as see it on my engine cover but never really knew what it was thanks for the article.that really hit the spot.it mentioned the spooler oil valve and it's operation.it was a coincidence because luckily one day i decided to check my oil level and noticed how extremely low it was and wondered why.i had a pinhole in my filter from a previous oil only change and had to use a pair of channel locks with a rag around it.i couldn't find it easily so i had to clean the whole area and look, you know the routine and there i discovered what the names were in that whole setup but not what their purpose was and how it worked.anyway,i don't know names of a part sometimes and call it a funny name maybe but completely off.i thought i had an oil filter connection housing thing a ma jig leak somewhere and was looking for gaskets.i figured naturally of course there would be an oil pressure sensor but the other part attached to it i didn't know what it was.now i know thanks to you guys.this solves my mystery of why i get that feeling.i really need to adjust my valves,some cleaning and checking things she has 300k on it already with the original tranny in it!..i have been babying it from 1st to second,4th jumps in and out and back into fast,5th and od seems pretty good.it's not throwing the codes for 3rd and 4th pressure switch after i did some hack trick i made up to it.that's in another thread i posted.

 

Is your 2002 TL a -S model?

 

no just the base model