Car not running that great

[jdawg90 10+ year member]

I have a 97 2.2l accord with about 110k. Somewhere around half a year ago shortly after I bought it the check engine light came on. Autozone scanned for the code and it was lean on the 3rd cylinder. I put half a bottle of seafoam in the tank, half a bottle straight into the intake, drove 50 miles, then unhooked the battery. The light never came back on but it did not run any different (not that it was bad in the first place) or get any better gas mileage (25 usually, 27 if I drive like an old lady). Fast forward a few months and every now and then it will take longer than it should turning over the engine to start. Sometimes it will bog down for a second or two after starting the engine like it is going to stall. Sometimes it does both.

It's got a new starter, dist cap, and wires.

Any idea what's up? I'm wondering if it's an O2 sensor. Can there still be a code even when the CEL is off? I forget what the code was before.

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[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

I was just talking to Dylan about a similar problem with his car... Try the O2 sensor, MAF sensor, Maybe something with the EGR as well..

 

[jdawg90 10+ year member]

I was just talking to Dylan about a similar problem with his car... Try the O2 sensor' date=' MAF sensor, Maybe something with the EGR as well..[/quote']
Is there a way to test the 02 sensor so I'm not throwing parts at it? Could it be the air idle control valve?

I'll look into the whole EGR thing its not the first time I've came across it when searching for this problem.

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

Hmmmm Im not sure if you can test them or not....

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

Could also be a crank shaft position sensor.

 

[itsblown 10+ year member]

yea it sounds like a gas air fuel mixture problem. if it was a bad 02 sensor im almost sure it would throw a code

 

[Sleeklsc 5,000+ posts]

I'd pull all the plugs and put some plat's in. They're stupid easy to replace and shouldn't cost anymore then $12 for 4.

Get some maf cleaned and clean the maf. Clean the throttle body too with tb cleaner. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/suave.gif.858fc102f7646e678ee8af7e1fbc41d1.gif

Check air filter while your in there.

When was the last time your timing belt was replaced?

 

[jdawg90 10+ year member]

timing belt was done just before I bought it. Its possible for there to be codes when the CEL is not on, right? Wanna make sure before I drive to advanced.

 

[DoesDad 10+ year member]

My sister had one of these. I'll betya it's one of those stupid a$$ sensors. It won't always throw a code. My sisters ran funny for a while too. It turned out to be a throttle positioning sensor. Her's didn't throw a code either.

 

[thevic24 5,000+ posts]

A bad 02/air-fuel sensor will throw a code.

If you have a MAF, take out the sensor and clean it real good. There are a few very small resistors in there that sens the air flow. If the get anything on them

it can cause your issue.

It seems funny but most ECU's will not pinpoint which cylinder is running lean as the ECU gets the lean/rich data from the 02 sensors. Most of the time the ECU will throw a "Bank 1 system too lean" code or of the like.

If it is an individual cylinder problem, you will usually get a misfire code.

Unplugging the battery can help sometimes but clean the MAF(if you have one) and then un do both battery cables and touch the 2 cables together for about a minute. (make sure you disconnect any extra batteries and caps you may have first!!)

 

[jdawg90 10+ year member]

I put some new ngk's and ****** half a bottle of seafoam through a vaccum line straight into the intake manifold which seem to make it run a little better. Air filter was fine and the obd scanner didn't pull any codes. I guess I will clean the maf sensor and if that doesn't work just pull off the throttle body and clean everything. I really don't know **** about egr valves or anything though.

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

My Mitsu ran rough after I bought it, never threw a code.

I double checked everything I could think of, and it turned out to be a hairline crack in a plug wire.

Replaced that and put some iridium plugs in ($8 ea x 4) and its run great the last 40,000 miles.