mk, Ron, you both have been a great help. Thanks so much!

Tonight I installed a cooler thermostat (180) and new rad cap. jacked the front of the car up, even removed the upper rad support and lifted the rad up just to make sure the neck of the rad was the highest point in the cooling system. Bled it (had a heck of a time getting the air out this time. And no, my car does NOT have a bleeder screw/bolt. Long story short, Rad fan now cycles happily. YAY

AC? that works too! First place I decided to start poking around was behind the glovebox. First thing I noticed was a 3 wire connector that wasn't plugged in. It was sitting right in plain view. So I figured, if I plug this in - likely worst case is AC still doesn't work and I blow a fuse. Well its my lucky day... AC works like a charm now.

Bad news? I still have problems with a bog/hesitation. It happens when the car is at operating temp, and has been idling for a while. It happened tonight in the shop, and seems to happen in stop and go traffic.

There is no CEL, and according to the shop's OBDII scanner, no stored codes either. Sadly because the shop I work at deals with heavy-duty trucks (highway rigs, etc) we don't have specific Honda software loaded. I'm limited to general OBDII scanning only.

I did notice tonight that while it was running (bleeding the cooling system) it smelled gassy, but I just assumed that was due to the cracked exhaust manifold that I can't afford to replace.

wires/cap/rotor are about 18 months old. I've done plugs since then I just dont' remember how long ago... I think last summer.

It SEEMS to be running rich, but I'm not familiar enough with the OBDII to know what to look for in that area. If you think I should start a new thread for this issue I certainly can. Any ideas where I should start looking/checking?

 

1) Inspect the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor, and also check the ignition timing.

2) Unplug the primary O2 sensor to see whether this eliminates the bogging.

 

Sounds good (pretty logical places to start come to think of it!)

now, the BIG question is... this is a 97 EX (Canadian spec). As far as I know its a USDM DX for all intents and purposes. Where is the connector I need to jump when checking the timing? I looked for it last night behind the glovebox (where most people say it is) but couldn't find it. Is there another way to get the ECU into "timing" mode?

(BTW, according to the OBDII scanner last night, timing is @ 10 degrees - without the jumper. Seems Hondas should be 12 right?

(another random thought - when I did the T-belt/waterpump in Feb, is it possible/likely that the belt jumped a tooth?)

 

The 2P service connector is located behind the passenger kick panel. It's above the ECU. You need to manually check the ignition timing by verifying that the red mark on the crank pulley aligns with the pointer.

 

Whether you can afford to replace it or not, the cracked manifold is probably why your car doesn't run right. The air leaking into the crack fools the oxygen sensor and causes the ECU to run the wrong fuel mixture. Like Ron said, try unplugging the sensor and the ECU will go to a default mixture which may be better.

Timing must be set with a light. Anything you read out of the ECU is meaningless as far as base timing goes. The ECU depends on the distributor being manually set to proper mechanical position so it can determine the crank angle.

 

ok a couple things. hope to track down a timing light in the next day or 2. In the meantime, I have unplugged the primary O2 sensor. On the (short) commute home, there seemed to be a slight improvement, but it could just be my wishful thinking/hoping.

Picked up a fuel filter as well - don't even recall if I've ever changed it so I probably should! I'll put that in when I check on the cap/rotor/wires/plugs....

And if I recall from when I did my T-belt and waterpump, I didn't see any paint markings on the crank pulley. I >>THINK<< I need to keep an eye out for the middle of the 3 marks (correct?). The small grooves/marks were there I remember that much.... just don't remember them having any color.

Again, thanks for the tips and info. Its really helped alot. Once I get this taken care of the car should run happily for quite some time (currently showing 214,xxx kms on the odo)

 

Yes, middle mark in group of three.

 

The paint always comes off after a few years. You can repaint them if you want. At least rub some chalk into the grooves it will make them much easier to see under the light.

 

 

tonight's report: Cap/rotor look good. took some emery cloth and cleaned them up a bit since I had it apart. Replaced fuel filter. Inspected plugs, which need replacing.

The fuel filter did seem to help. I also re-connected the O2 sensor I had unplugged earlier.

Took it for a bit of a test drive, here's what seems to happen pretty consistently. if the RPMs are held steady, at lower speeds (city driving for example), then accelerated:

below 3500-4000 range it will bog. (normally I try to keep RPMS between 2000-3000 for better economy). if the RPMs are held steady closer to that 3500-4000 mark and accelerated, it doesn't bog (or if it does its not nearly as bad)

Highway speed (4th gear, about 80km/h) and accelerating seems fine (a bit labored but no bog)

Highway speed (5th gear, 100km/h) same as above

3 gear pull from 2500 to 5000 - seems to perk up right around 4000RPM and beyond.

I'm thinking new plugs and timing will help a lot, but probably going to have to take care of that exhaust. Speaking of plugs - I've always used NGK V-Groove. So far they seem decent plugs for the money. Is there "better" options? Keep in mind its a daily commuter, not a performance machine (unless I win the lotto...)

I did disconnect the battery to swap the fuel filter and also to clear any codes from memory. I'm curious to see if/when the CEL comes back.