Sudden big problem

[Bfarrell01]

So I just just driving to work when suddenly my car starts missing a little bit. I think whatever, but as I go down the road, it starts getting worse to a point where I have to pretty much floor it to maintain speed. After a little while of that, it finally decides that no amount of throttle will keep it going and I just start slowing down.

I pull over, turn it off and get out to look. Didn't see anything so I tried starting it again and after a bit of gas it started and I was able to drive to work with it running perfectly.

Any ideas what this is?

[steveko]

Mine has done this in the past might check the heat riser tube from the exhaust to the airbox if it's the stock airbox.

[Bfarrell01]

Alright. Where is this located and what does it look like? Sorry cars aren't really my thing.

[russiankid]

Mine has done this in the past might check the heat riser tube from the exhaust to the airbox if it's the stock airbox.

As far as i know, the heat is used in cold weather. So if it isn't cold outside, i don't see how this could be the issue.

[Bfarrell01]

Well it is quite cold outside. I went out and looked for that hose, but everything seemed like it was connected fine. Could it be the fuel pump dying?

[steveko]

Could be yes,if cars are not you're thing take it too a good mechanic for diagnosis.Might be cheaper in the long run.

[Bfarrell01]

Are there any other things I can check?

[steveko]

In you're earlier post you had problems with the idle or RPMS sticking did you ever get a chance too check out the post that 2001 sent you alot of stuff there that could address the problem.

[Bfarrell01]

So i was thinking possibly the fuel filter so I bought not one but two. (i guess there are two.) I got one done in the engine bay but I have this other fuel filter and I have no idea where it is.....Any idea?

[Bfarrell01]

Alright, so I was talking to my friend who I bought it from and I guess this has happened to him before where it starts missing then after a little while wont speed up regardless of the amount of gas. And just just in my situation, he shut it off and started it again and it was fine.

This doesnt sound mechanical to me, it sounds like my ECU....what you guys think?

[russiankid]

Alright, so I was talking to my friend who I bought it from and I guess this has happened to him before where it starts missing then after a little while wont speed up regardless of the amount of gas. And just just in my situation, he shut it off and started it again and it was fine.

This doesnt sound mechanical to me, it sounds like my ECU....what you guys think?

I don't see how this could be the ECU if its a carb, considering a carb technically doesn't have an ECU. Did you try doing a tune up and leaning the carb?

[AccordB20A]

has it got water. cars do that when you overheat them lol

[lostforawhile]

if your heat tube is off or missing,or the vaccume motor on the air cleaner is leaking,happens all the time, then i would say carb ice. was it cold and high humidity? remember as the air goes through the venturi it speeds up,and the temprature drops as much as 40 degrees. any moisture in the air will condense out in the carb and freeze. this usually blocks your jets. what happens is when you pull over and let the car sit, the heat from the motor rises up and melts the ice. then the symptoms disapear. there are three systems that are supposed to stop this. the main one is the hot air tube coming from the shroud on the manifold. the air cleaner can control the temp going to the carb, when it's too cold that air door motor lifts, and air coming into the air cleaner is pulled from around the exaust manifold.. the second is a heated intake manifold,thats why coolant flows through the manifold. it also has a thermostatic valve on the bottom of it. this controls coolant that actually flows INTO the carb base. it comes up through the intake manifold,into the bottom of the carb,and exits out the coolant hose on the back of the carb. the third is the EFE heater thats built into the carb base, this is the wierd looking grid thing. it comes on under a certain temp to help keep the fuel vaporized. this is the same thing that causes caburated airplanes to crash. they have a manual carb heat control to prevent this problem. ours is fully automatic. the interesting thing is it doesn't have to be freezing outside to get carb ice. if you calculate the temp drop caused in the venturi and subtract it from the outside air temp, you see you can get carb ice in even 60 degree temp. it depends a lot of relative humidity. in the old days you might have been more used to carbs and reconized this right away,but since carb cars are somewhat rare now, the symptoms are not as farmiliar. this is one thing you don't have to worry about in EFI cars.

[lostforawhile]

hey anybody want to make that a sticky? ihear this same thing all the time and i always have to type it over and over.

[steveko]

Leave it too lostforawhile to follow up with the great info.I agree it should be a sticky.Who knows how many more people might ask this.

[Ichiban]

Yeah, sounds like the carb freezing up. Happens in wet weather just above/around freezing temperatures. Shutting the engine off for a few minutes allows engine heat to thaw out the ice buildup and the engine runs properly again.

[Bfarrell01]

But with all the things previously mentioned working against it, why would it still be freezing?

[lostforawhile]

But with all the things previously mentioned working against it, why would it still be freezing?
maby one of those systems is malfunctioning. for example almost every heat door motor i find in the yard doesn't work. you can remove the heat door motor from the air cleaner,you just twist it and it unlocks, and you tilt it a little to unhook it from the door. you need a hand vaccume pump to check it. you remove the air cleaner,then hook a vaccume pump to the air door motor and watch to see if the door rises. usually this is the culprit. i have a terrible time with this in freezing weather,i have a cold air intake with a hood scoop. i have built another heat riser system but i never got the chance to finish it. the symptoms you describe are carb ice perfectly. the engine mill quit making power even though the gas is all he way down, it's because the jets are iced up.

[xxxfrankensteinxxx]

yea my trapdoor wasnt working today either im gonna switch it out with a extra i have and hope it works or go to my honda dealer and see how much but they will probaly skrew me over:sad2:

[lostforawhile]

yea my trapdoor wasnt working today either im gonna switch it out with a extra i have and hope it works or go to my honda dealer and see how much but they will probaly skrew me over:sad2:
well make sure theres vacccume at the door first, and check to see if the thermostatic element in the air cleaner is holding vaccume also check the check valve. those parts you can get cheap at a junkyard. they are usually good, the thermostatic valve actually bleeds off vaccume from the door motor. the motor always has vaccume,but if the tempretre is above a certain point,the vaccume is bled off.

[steveko]

It's kinda ironic but I just tested mine today and it definitley is bad along with the check valve the air bleed is good.

[Bfarrell01]

Im sorry to sound like a complete idiot, but could somebody post a picture of what this thing looks like where it is?

[lostforawhile]

Im sorry to sound like a complete idiot, but could somebody post a picture of what this thing looks like where it is?the air door motor? it's the round thing where the air comes into your air cleaner. it's right above the heat tube coming up from the exaust manifold. it will have a vaccume line attached to it

[Bfarrell01]

So this heat tube you speak of, is it white? cause if so, it was disconnected......

[xxxfrankensteinxxx]

So this heat tube you speak of, is it white? cause if so, it was disconnected......

yes the heattube should be a white grayish color it comes from the exhaust manifold up to under the metal air cleaner it should be right under by where the thermostatic round thing is it clamps on and is very important

[Bfarrell01]

hmmmm...explains a few things. Muchos gracias amigos.

Hey another question while im asking, sometimes when im at a stop (mainly when im in a drive-thru for some damn reason) whiteish smoke starts billowing from my exhaust. It only lasts a minute and goes away, but still bothers me and the poor guy behind me.

[xxxfrankensteinxxx]

is it cold? and how bad of smoke? i notice my car does that when its cold at first but its 4 degrees f here lol

[Bfarrell01]

Nah, it can be nice and warm it will still do it. I wont even press ont the gas, just look in my rear view mirror and I cant anything but smoke and a pissed off dude....

[steveko]

Are you sure it's white?

[xxxfrankensteinxxx]

is headgasket bad? my sisters ford would do that and her head gasket was bad, how bad is the smoke can you see through it? maybe is it getting oil in exhaust usally that will burn white, otherwise maybe to rish gas mixture?

[Ichiban]

My 82 was doing this. Oddly enough, it was caused by the master cylinder, I believe. The rear seal blew, leaking a pile of brake fluid into the front chamber of the booster. Every time you step on the brakes (ie at a stoplight) the diaphragm inside surges foreward, and pushes all that brake fluid into the vacuum line to the intake manifold. And you get a giant white cloud of smoke out the tailpipe.

I changed out the master cylinder and suctioned about a litre of grimy black fluid out of the front of the booster, and my car hasn't wafted white since.