Hesistation at acceleration and eventual engine stall(1990 Honda EX)

[SkylineWalkrGTR]

so my dad drove the car to work, and while on the high way the engine started shuddering and such. And while at intersections, when he accelerates the car hesitates until it catches itself. So at this point he turns around to go back, and while on his way back it gets worse, and when he gets to the last light to get to our house the engine stalls. Long story short he had to do a series of actions to get to move forward and across the intersection.

My suspicions are the fuel pump, fuel filter, or something with the fuel system, possibly the after market air filter I put in, or something with the distributor.

this happened before and we took it to a mechanic, he says he switched out the spark plugs, and cleaned the fuel injectors and other components. and the car got better from that point until yesterday.


if you guys have any input on what could be going on or if this happened to you, any guidence on the subject is much appreciated.

[Dabsfordaze]

Did he by chance notice the battery light come on? This happened to me when my alternator went out. Car started loosing power and hesitating until it finally drained the battery and died. Check your battery with a multimeter if you can.
If not id take a look at the main relay as i believe it also controls the fuel pump

[lbus9168]

Id suggest o2 sensor.

[CornDog]

Check out your EGR system. It could be getting stuck open, which will act as a vacuum leak.

I believe a main relay could cause those symptoms as well, possibly a cracked solder joint inside which may cause the fuel pump to have intermittent power. With their age they are super bad about cracking. Wouldn't hurt to take a look at it.

[SkylineWalkrGTR]

nah its not the alternator or anything electrical i just replaced the alternator and the battery is new, and i replaced the batter positive and negative connectors.

[SkylineWalkrGTR]

alright will definetly take that into consideration, thank you. ill let you know how it turns out.

[SkylineWalkrGTR]

will for sure diagnose and see if this is what is boils down to. thank you.

[Kev1990]

You should never say a brand new part isn't bad even though it's brand new. Certain things fail right out of the box and alternators is one of them. Where did you get the alternator from?

[deevergote]

I agree fully... I've had brand new parts fail, and I've seen it happen numerous times on here. Stuff like alternators, starters, distributors... those are often remanufactured, and even more likely to fail!

If the alternator was the problem, though, the battery would be completely drained by the time the car shut off. If the battery still has a charge, it's not the alternator. A bad battery wouldn't cause the car to buck and cut off, as the alternator provides the electrical current while the engine is running. The battery is really only for starting, after which it's not much more than a link in the circuit.

The struggling to accelerate also makes me think o2 sensor, but I've never known a bad o2 sensor to cause a car to shut off. I'd suggest replacing the sensor (NTK or Denso... NO BOSCH!!! They don't work.) It's not expensive, and if it hasn't been replaced recently, it wouldn't hurt. It's possible that there are a number of problems all manifesting at once.

Has the Check Engine Light come on? That should have been the first thing anyone asked. If the CEL came on, that will point you to the problem. The o2 sensor will often throw one or two different error codes. The EGR system would also throw a code.

[SkylineWalkrGTR]

I guess I won't rule out the fact it's the alternator being new, but the symptoms of what happened don't show anything electrical in that sense but I'll check it out. As for the check engine light being on I don't know cuase I wasn't there this is just what my dad told me. But the o2 senser is what slot of people are pointing to so that will be the second thing I check after I check the ignition system

[deevergote]

Definitely check for codes. Even if the light is off, as long as the battery hasn't been disconnected the codes will remain. Instructions are found in the "READ HERE FIRST" thread at the top of this section.

The o2 sensor is the most likely culprit for the hesitation, as that's a common symptom. EGR isn't unlikely either. Check the condition of the spark plugs, distributor cap, distributor rotor button, and ignition wires. Check all grounds as well (starter, fender wall, and thermostat housing especially.) Pull on the wires, since the thicker ones can be broken and still look intact (I had that happen to my fender ground.)
If the battery isn't dead, your alternator is probably fine.

[F22Chris]

Check the intake air temp sensor, coolant temp sensor, grounds, and oil in the distributor housing. Oil will cause the wire insulation inside the distributor to become brittle and fall apart. This will also ruin the igniter.

Also, check for cracks in the ignition coil.

Hopefully it's simple like the o2 sensor.

[deevergote]

^all also very good possibilities.

A failing igniter will often (but not always) cause the tachometer to go crazy. That would also cause hesitation and stalling. When the weather gets hot, stuff like the igniter, ignition coil, and main relay (not a likely culprit here) tend to fail.

[SkylineWalkrGTR]

Taking all this into consideration, I have a lot of work to do when I get back home lol. But thank you all for the feedback and help that I really needed. Thank you guys again.

[deevergote]

It might take a good bit of digging to figure out the problem, and you might end up replacing parts that don't end up fixing it. Just remember pretty much every part mentioned here is a wear item, so think of any "unnecessary" repair as preventative maintenance!
We'll help you get to the bottom of it.