I was driving my 1992 accord lx auto home from work tonight when suddenly about 45 seconds after starting it began run very roughly, enough to vibrate the entire vehicle. Afterward, anytime my vehicle came to a stop the engine would idle at a VERY low 200rpms and sputters badly regardless of being in D, N, or P. Upon acceleration the vibration increases dramatically and begins to clear up at around 5k rpms or so. Whenever the vehicle shifts back and forth between 4th and overdrive is when it is worst.

I've read some articles on here about the potential for clogged EGR ports to cause such engine trouble? The only other known problems with the vehicle is a fading valve cover gasket that is currently leaking a fair bit of oil directly onto the exhaust manifold.

Any ideas on where to start looking for solutions?

 

Clogged EGR port isn't a terrible shake and mainly occurs around 1500-2k rpm. It sounds more like you have a miss fire. When was the last time you had a tune-up? Check your plugs, wires, distributor cap & rotor, air filter (not likely the main problem).

 

OMG ya it would be absolutely lovely if it was just a bad spark plug or something. They haven't been changed in a while, and i'd think it would be conceivable for the failing valve cover gasket to leak into the spark plug chamber and foul them up? What would I be looking for when inspecting the distributor cap and rotors?

And the vibration is absolutely god awful. If EGR's cause only slight or moderate vibration then I think that's out.

 

Yeah, I've had the EGR issue on my 92 and it came on over time and got progressively worse, but it was never horrendous, just obviously noticeable as the rpms went through 2k.

Check the cap & rotor for wear, corrosion, or any kind of fouling at the points/contacts, and if anything somehow got wet. It's straightforward but here are some pictures detailing removal of the cap:

http://www.hondadetail.com/print/199...And_Rotor.html

Inspect the wiring on the ignitor while you have the cap off as the insulation can become brittle and fall off, and the ignitor can simply fail as well. Oil into the spark plug tubes is pretty common and can damage your plug wires over time, but it won't foul the plug itself.

 

How bad would it be for me to drive this vehicle in this condition? It feels really bad and I'm reluctant to drive it, but I definitely need to be at work at 8am tomorrow. LOL

 

Get a ride.

 

Ditto on the miss, probably only hitting on 3 cly. Pull one plug wire at a time (while eng running) till you notice no change in the idle. Last time this happened to me it was a faulty wire and it was grounding to the head.
Good luck.

 

thx i'm moderately relieved that the fix is seeming to be minor. I'm hoping i didn't do too much damage to the engine driving home. i was on the interstate for about 15 min with it, it didn't go bad until after i'd gotten on the 95. Thx for the help going to diagnose now.

 

missfire

 

started the check for bad plugs by pulling the spark plug wires one by one. Got to #4 cylinder and it was definitely not firing. all 4 contacts on the spark plug wires were firing (tested them with the end of a screwdriver). There was a fair amount of oil in the #4 spark plug recess, leaving about 1/4" worth of residue inside the socket. Is this an indication of wear in the valve cover gasket, head gasket, or possibly both? It's on old car with lots of miles so i wouldn't be surprised at either. I've not seen any oil in the radiator fluid or white smoke in the exhaust which I understand are common indications of head gasket failure. The leak on the valve cover gasket is worst near the #4 cylinder. I intend to replace it next week. I found a video of it being done on this exact vehicle and it looks pretty straightforward.

I've got some new plugs i'm about to gap em and change em. I'll give an update on whether it fixes it or not.