Can anyone tell me why my 91 civic hatch would have this problem--
Intermittently, when I step on gas from a stop or from going very slow to accellerate, it lags SOOO BADLY. Sometimes it's really feels like i'm stepping on the brake not the gas (but i'm not) then it will get a slow, slow surge like it finally registers that I'm giving it gas but even then it takes a lot longer to accellerate then it would normally. Seems to be only first gear doing this maybe it does it less so in other gears and is less noticable. It's really almost caused me to be rear ended a few times now.

Please, anyone know what this could be???

 

any cels?

 

Sorry not sure what that means ?

 

cel = check engine light

 

Nope no check engine light, any idea what might cause this to happen-or if it could be many things?

 

does it have any power like the upper rpms? does this just happen whenever you step on the gas? sometimes? only low rpms? hot days? cold days?

 

check your exhaust tip...is it very black and sooty?...if so you could be running way too rich (causing the lag as there's too much fuel and not enough oxygen to give power)...but you should definitely be throwing a code

 

all exhaust tips are black and sooty.....if you wnat to see if your car runs rich...then check the whole back of the car for little black specs everywhere. but anyway....answer these questions

 

not all car's exhaust tips are black and sooty (they might be slightly dirty but not caked on as I'm making reference to)...in fact most factory tuned Honda's run very lean and hot in order to significantly reduce emissions, thus their exhaust tips not overly dirty nor the back of the car

unless there's been a lot of tuning done to the car, or some type of forced induction installed or the engine is not running properly (such as a o2 sensor going bad) you should not have an overly sooty exhaust tip...i was using the latter as the reason why it stumbles upon initial acceleration and the sooty and caked exhaust tip will be a consequence of the overly rich status

 

bottom line....this doenst sound like a fuel problem. sounds more like normal maintenance or sensor problem or a elctrical problme but we need to find out more about what the car is doing.

if his car was running rich...it would show on the back of the car. regardless if his tailpipe is sooty or not. it would show. hondas dont run lean from the factory. they have a better fuel injector design and also employ a better engine control management that reduces emissions sooner and uses the latest improved catalytic converter technology. there is also technology in having the car warm up wuicker which makes the cat. work better. a vapor locked gas tank improves fuel not getting into the atmosphere. having the cat closer to the engine also helps warm up the cat. these are just some of the things that honda does to make thier cars run more effectivly.
as for your last sentence??? quit trying to save face. maybe you should ask "is your car overly modified in any way?" but you didnt ask that...you asked to check his tailpipe. and once again...you say he should be throwing a code. i have had many of times witnessed and fell victim to hondas running crappy from sensors that have never once thrown a code. this is from 02 sensors to map sensors all going bad without the cel going off. the cel is somewhat a diagnostics tool but the ecu does miss things here and there.

to end this whole thing....we need to find out more about what the car is doing