Engine hiccuping at 3000 RPM's

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

Last week after a monsoon rain storm my car started hiccuping at around 3000 RPM's while cruising in fourth gear. Loss of power during the hiccup, like something was interupting fuel flow or air flow. I got a check engine light. Turned out to be an "undefined code". Problem seem to occur with greater frequency with the A/C turned on.

Anyway, I replaced the spark plugs and the air filter, did an oil and transmission fluid change. And dumped a bottle of Lucas Injector cleaner in. Nothing changed. Filled up with a new tank of gas yesterday, and the problem seems to have dissapeared.

So I guess my question would be.. A) Did water from the storm some how end up making its way into my fuel system... or B) did I just get a bad tank of gas, and the storm had nothing to do with it?

Either way the problem seems to be gone. I ran the car about 100 miles yesterday just to make sure it wasn't still there. And nothing popped up. so Idk.

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[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

it helps to know what kinda car it was

BUT

sometimes heavy rains can work there way into the ignition

causing missfires

in the old days distributer caps would get condensation and do awful things

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

Oh sorry, it's my 1999 Civic.

It was a pretty heavy rain. Arizona gets two types of rain, drizzle and monsoon (amazon type). We got hit with the Monsoon one.

could a misfire have been what I felt? a "hiccuping" sensation?

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

aaaand its back, out of no where. Been going fine for 150 or so miles. Pulled onto my street off of the freeway tonight. Shifted into third.. got to 3k rpm and wham felt like the engine shut off and then restarted. All in a second. then again. So I drove it around the block, and just when I was almost home it did it again.

WTF is going on. I'm taking it to my shop tomorrow to see if they can figure anything out. Any ideas on what I should have them focus on?

 

[fo0manchu 10+ year member]

rain could of shorted out some sensors. check sensors such as maf sensor. hopefully too much water didn't get sucked in through the air filter into the engine. some water might of got into the fuel tank also, causing that bogging feeling. They sell an additive at your auto parts store that takes out the water from teh fuel system. might wanna try that, only cost a couple bucks. good luck

 

[marleyskater420 5,000+ posts]

You know I went to powerwash my Jeep a while ago, and water got into the distributer, and coilpack, and that totally ****ed some shit up.

Check your ignition module, and your coil pack.

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

water in the dist cap?

remove,dry and reinstall with a light coat of silicone spray

 

[Trancer 10+ year member]

Replace your inline fuel filter. The storm could just be a coincidence. Its a cheap $10 part and takes 15 minutes to change.

 

[ighettoboyi 10+ year member]

hondas don't use MAF sensors so forget that...just hope it ain't the classic hydrolock

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

definitely not hydrolock. I've already done that one once. This is way too sporadic.

I'll check the Ignition today at the shop and change the filter for the fuel line.

It's hard to even figure out whats going on because I can't replicate it for anyone, it just happens at weird times.

 

[marleyskater420 5,000+ posts]

Could be the ignition.

It could also be a random sensor that goes out on those cars. My friend had a 944 that would take random shits, and it turned out to be the CAS wire that commonly goes out on these cars.

Maybe you have a loose ground, and it makes the engine stutter?

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

It's the TPS sensor. Regulates throttle control and mixture. Supposed to be running at .8667 ohms normally. Its running at 1.256 now and screwing everything up. Gas mileage has been down too. That explains it.

Came up on the check engine light finally. **low voltage throttle** blah blah. Getting fixed thursday.

Oh yeah and I need two new synchros in my ******. shit.