New To Me Car

[BrendanC]

Update: i ordered a $130 bolt in Cat as a proof of concept. if this fixes the issue (it does have O2 spacers on it due to efficiency codes) i will run that cat until it dies and shell out a little more for a nicer unit.

this stems from a read off of driveaccord forums. a commenter there basically said their car around 320k miles started to lose power, and have to wind out gears to go anywhere. They said by replacing the cat with a bolt in walker unit, the car drove like new. the concern is exactly what my car feels like and idle vacuum is 1 PSI higher than the 03 accord in my signature. this leads me to believe a plugged cat. this will be the last money i throw at this engine to try and get the power back.

 

[BrendanC]

Replaced the cat and no change other than being able to remove the O2 sensor spacers. used 3/8"x2 stainless bolts with washers and a lock washer against the nut.

Also replaced the front main seal as it was weeping. Figured while i was in there i would throw on a new $40 Dorman harmonic balancer. the entire job took under 10 minutes including removing and re-installing the passenger front tire. Spent some time to clean up the timing cover aswell.

the car isnt misfiring but when the "lag" in power occurs between 2-2.5k rpm the car is pulling 9.5-10 deg of timing as knock retard and the car is running with basically no timing until after 2500 rpm when it starts to pull like a freight train.

 

[IndyIan]

Anything loose or rattling on the engine block, setting off the knock sensor? Or check the wiring for the knock sensor? That is an odd one.

 

[BrendanC]

Anything loose or rattling on the engine block, setting off the knock sensor? Or check the wiring for the knock sensor? That is an odd one.

i cant hear anything loose and the wiring looked great when i changed the knock sensor. i have no idea what is causing it. i dont hear knocking, it just looses power after 2k and it comes back in at 2500. It sucks because at 65-75 mph it has to downhift at any hill because it has no timing in it.

 

[BrendanC]

update: almost 5k miles on it since i bought it. purchased with 152,288 on it IIRC. Transmission is NOT happy when cold but acts 100% normal after the first run up through the gears. like to neutral out going into third the first time. also takes forever to engage into drive. after the morning it acts perfect the rest of the day.

 

[BrendanC]

update: almost 5k miles on it since i bought it. purchased with 152,288 on it IIRC. Transmission is NOT happy when cold but acts 100% normal after the first run up through the gears. like to neutral out going into third the first time. also takes forever to engage into drive. after the morning it acts perfect the rest of the day.

View attachment 239740

after changing the CQ Premium 85515 to an OG Fram XG8a the cold delay into drive/shift to 3rd is gone 100%. my only guess is the CQ was loaded up for being the first filter on it at over 400k miles. i have the same CQ Premium on my other accord with ZERO issues.