I have a 1999 Acura EL (a fancy 4 door Canadian Civic) with a D16Y8 V-TEC SOHC motor. Primary symptoms are 1.) LACK OF POWER 2.)PINGING and JERKING under heavy load. It is SO guttless it is pathetic. I have to gear down to hold freeway speeds in a headwind or even the slightest of upgrades. I have only had the car a year and driven it 20,000 kilometers (it has 238,000 kilometers or about 150,000 miles). It ALWAYS starts and has NEVER let me down. I have been chasing this 'ghost' for a year now. PLEASE HELP.

There are NO CODES. NONE. ZERO. NIL. never have been any

I have done MANY things ... to no avail ...
Compression - taken with all 4 spark plugs out and the throttle body held wide open
cylinder 1 first stroke 100psi maximum pressure 175psi
cylinder 2 first stroke 95 maximum pressure 165
cylinder 3 first stroke 95 maximum pressure 165
cylinder 4 first stroke 100 maximum pressure 175

These are NEW parts I have installed .....
spark plugs - I have actually tried 3 sets (ALL NGK regular, platinum, and iridium)
spark plug wires (NGK - of course)
distributor cap, rotor and even coil
I even bought a complete brand new complete distributor in desperation
air filter
fuel filter
oxygen sensors BOTH (NTK of course)
PCV valve
Timing belt (and confirmed correct alignment and key in keyway on crankshaft pulley)

Here are some other parts I have substituted ..

I have THREE ECU's (all have the same ID numbers) One out of a known good car
I have tried THREE fuel pumps (one out of a known good car)
I have swapped all four injectors (out of a known good car)
I have swapped the fuel pressure regulators - again a known good part

I have set the timing according to the shop manual I downloaded - with a proper inductive pick-up timing light (and a jumper in the ECU plug)

I set the lifters (not that they were even noisy)

The catalytic converter is clean as a whistle (I pulled the exhaust apart and looked at it)

I checked the fuel lines under the car and could see NO damage or restrictions

NOW - OF INTEREST - I bought a new knock sensor (but NOT a genuine Honda part) and installed it. The ECU immediately threw a code (P0325). I have an OBD II reader. I swapped back the original KS and the code cleared!!! I returned that KS, and bought another one from a different supplier. SAME THING. I got a KS code immediately. AND YES - I tries all three ECU's and they all threw the KS code with the NEW knock sensor, but not with the original knock sensor. I checked the KS wire - according to the manual and it is continuous and is not shorted to ground. All connections seem clean and I am sure they are all TIGHT.

I am seriously thinking about just dumping this pig and getting another???

ANY IDEAS?????? and THANKS.

 

Seafoamed the engine yet?

 

UPDATE ON THE PIG
No Seafoam. I did however buy a P28 (bone stock) ECU and a pre-made jumper harness. I plugged it in and the car SEEMS to run WAY better. No more pinging. I had to reset the timing. It has some idling issues when cold and of interest the tach cuts out when the V-Tec cuts in?? I have only driven it for a day, and will get a real test on my way to work. I am so used to the old PIG, I may be able to CONFIRM the improvement. I will keep you posted.