acceleration problem

I've got a '92 accord EX and every once in a while when i try to accelerate the car will accelerate very slowly and shake like hell. it starts when i start the car and stops a few minutes after it warms up (like 3-5 minutes after the car is warm).

so when i start i'll only be able to use half throttle or less in low rpms, and at about 2800rpm it'll let me use about 3/4 throttle. i can use full throttle after about 3000rpm.

any ideas about what could cause this?

might wanna look at the coolant temp sensor, or in the far fetched category... a sticking valve

what would the coolant temp sensor have to do with this?

if the pcm is seeing the wrong coolant temp input it will deliver the wrong amount of fuel. ive seen it only on a handfull of cars but its one of those great "test questions"

what would the coolant temp sensor have to do with this?


It's a known problem with honda's made between '88 and '00, the ECU thinks the car is still cold when it isn't.

However, it could also be a more common ignition problem, especialy given the age of the car.
I would check all the usual suspects, leads, dizy cap, rotor, coil etc.

i've had the cap and coil replaced within the last year or so (trying to fix another problem, turns out that these didn't fix it) so i doubt it's those.

so if the ecu's telling the engine to inject more fuel than it needs i know i'd have a lack of power but would it make the whole thing shake? and this isn't like a little shake, the whole car feels like it's going to fall apart when it happens.

What's happening is that you have a misfire, so it's most likely a lean mixture because it's violent. Rich misfires are generally not as violent. If you have a scanner, then it would be pretty obvious to eliminate the coolant temp scanner. However, if you don't, you can try disconnecting it and seeing what happens. Other than that, you might have a clogged injector? Try disconnecting spark wires one at a time to see if it changes the problem.