Car Jerks after driving for a while...

[kittykat]

My car jerks at various speeds. I was going on the interstate at about 60 and it started jerking pretty badly, but when I stopped stepping on the gas it stopped jerking until I stepped on the gas again. The next day I was driving on a regular road going about 20-30 and it jerked as well until I stopped stepping on the gas. The same day it jerked really bad when I was going 30-40 and wouldn't let me gas anymore even after not stepping on the gas for a while and then my oil and battery light came on. I turned on my emergency lights, turned the car off and let it sit for a while until a friend came. He drove it around and didn't get the problem. Then another friend drove it back to where she lives and it started to jerk. Could someone... anyone... tell me what is going on with my car and ways to fix it??? Thanx.

[A20A1]

What kind of car do you have LX / DX / LX-I?


If it's carbed it could be a fuel filter or a loose part inside the carb like a booster venturi... the filters are easy to replace, tightening down parts on the carb is a bit more involving.


also check your spark plug wires... or spark plugs and see if they are loose.

Take out the plugs and check if they have black soot on the tips or if they are covered in white dust on the tips.

Also check your oil and coolant levels.

[kittykat]

It's an '88 Honda Accord LX... and it's also a carb... thanx...

[joebeets]

Anything intermittent like that suggests ignition problems. You can check spark plug wires by misting them (plant sprayer)with engine running. And wipe the inside of your distributor cap clean. If OK, suspect coil, Hall effect trigger inside distributor, etc.

[MrBen]

Had the same problem in our 88 LX. Replaced the fuel filters, PCV valve, spark plugs. Still did it afterwards intermittently. Haven't changed the spark plug wires yet though. I would try there. Although, the ignition switch is failing now, so that may have had something to do with it. It hasn't jerked in a while though, so I'm not gonna do anything

[Mike Cote]

A few things to check. ---You could have water in fuel---Dirty fuel filter under car on drivers side next to fuel tank. ---Rotor button can cause that as well and ---I had to hook my slow speed solinoid behind carb with a power line from fuse box to solinoid. My car would hesitate at moderate speeds but idled fine and worked perfect when accelerating hard. Make sure if you choose to do that, that the centre power accessory on fuse box so it only has power when key is on. Good luck

[kittykat]

Thanks Mike for the advice...we ended up buying a new carb...

only problem is now we are having problems adjusting it...I had posted another thread...

but, surprisingly, no more jerking--yippee!

Thanks for everyone's input! Mucho appreciated!

[RustyHo88]

did you buy a stock carb? or did you go with a weber or something like that? how much did it cost? im having a simliar problems with my 84, i was going to try to rebuild it, but it is a cvcc carb, and i really just want a new one. thanks

[89AccordLXI666]

I have an 89 Accord SE-i and my car tends to jerk when I'm accelerating at certain speeds, then when I let off the gas it stops... I haven't replaced my spark plugs or wires... not sure if its the fuel filters... N if it turns out to be the fuel filters where is it located, what does it look like and is it easy 2 do??? Please someone help me... thanks guys. Lataz.

[danronian]

Mine did the same thing back before I failed emissions and they charged the hell out of me to replace the wires and plugs. Then again mine also has a new distributer, so I couldnt say if that could be part of it. The only fuel filter for EFI is on the firewall, pass side. It is easy to replace, it you had the car for a few years and never replaced it, do that first, it's probably the cheapest fix. Also try some injector cleaner, that might smooth out the acceleration.

[89 Accords Rock]

Yeah that definatly sounds like fuel filter. BUT! mine was doing the same thing. And all my filters were just replace and I bought a new carB! So i would check all that and if its not any of those You basically need a new car or just rev the snot outta her and that should clear it up! worked for me!

[Sony]

i had that same prob and i got the clutch replaced and it works fine after that

[nismoracer99]

my nissan pulsar nx did the same exact same thing. but i had to pull over the car and let it idle for 5 min. when it did that, cause i could only go 20mph when it did. i was always afraid it would break my tranny cause it would violently jerk. soon it wasn't drivable anymore, so i did a carbeurator rebuild. fixed the problem.

most likely it will be to much fuel into the engine, adjust your fuel mixture screw (if you can on accords, i just got mine, so i dont really know). if you have a rpm gauge that can be looked at from under the hood (i forgot the name ) then let the car warm up, find the mixture screw, start adjusting it (losen is more fuel, tighten is less fuel, but im not sure cause i heard honda is backward) and find the highest idle. then when you get the highest idle, turn the screw a 1/4 - 1/2 turn for more fuel, and you should be good.

but honda maybe different, so i might be wrong .