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Sometimes It Does That:

11K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  daveb91 
#1 ·
I have a 1994 VTEC 2.2 L 4 Cylinder EX Wagon Automatic.

I don't know much about the car history but it could have been cared for better. The original tires were 7 years old. Also, the original battery was a marine battery with four connection posts. (two positive, and two negative) Because of those two shocking discoveries I assume it has not even been tuned for 7 years. I am about to do a tune up. But this means that the symptoms could be from many problems.

When I take my foot off accelerator, or turn off the cruise control, the car quickly slows to a stop by itself without even needing to apply the brake pedal. :eek2 Out of curiosity, shift into neutral (instead of reverse) on a steep hill or slope does not make it go backwards. I have researched and this seems to be called Anchoring, usually because of sticky brakes. I don't think it is sticky brakes because this issue only occurs sometimes.

Later, car engine is being sluggish occasionally. Sometimes, when accelerating, the engine sounds like it has a sore throat. It just does not want to accelerate properly. :eek2 Cruise control works, temperature is below half, no D4 light, no Check Engine light. :confused

Is my car going to explode? :bomb Why does to the symptoms only occur sometimes? Are the two symptoms connected to each other? Do Honda Accords have an Anchoring behaviour whenever there is engine trouble?
 
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#4 ·
Update:

Perhaps this new information is useful.

JUST DOWN THE STREET:

When driving it just down the street I will shift into reverse, or drive. (D4) I have not tried the lower gears. After shifting I hear the tiny click sound when the gears engage. Usually the car moves by itself, but when it acts up it will not move unless pressing on accelerator. If I wait before accelerating I hear the quiet sound of metal groaning. :confused I have heard this sound before. It sounds similar to whenever I partially take my foot off the brake petal but then decide to put foot on brake again. (Example: when stopped at traffic light.)

This is even more confusing but the car is much more likely to move when shift into a gear (and it moves quickly also.) approximately 10 seconds after I start car. :confused If I let it warm up, and it idles (the engine is quieter) The car is much more likely to act up. :confused But if I just shift it about ten seconds after starting it, it does not seem to act up.

HIGHWAY:

I use the cruise control when driving on highway. I noticed that whenever it acts up while driving it on highway with the cruise control the RPM stays at "3" for several minutes before shifting again. :eek2 If I turn off cruise control car will slow itself rapidly. (feet are not on brake) These behaviors seems to only happens once while driving it someplace. Otherwise it is fine. But when it acts up there is no blinking D4 light and there is no Check Engine Light. (the light does not come on and the light does not blink.) :confused

AFTER TURNING IT OFF:

during the "down the street" test, whenever it acted up, after turning off the car I noticed that metallic brake sound described in the "down the street" paragraphs. It is shifted into park. The emergency brake is not activated. My foot is not on the brake petal. And the car is not parked on a slope. I was outside listening for noises so the car is obviously not moving. So why the metallic brake sound? :confused

Will it explode? :bomb
 
#5 ·
Problem Solved!

Perhaps this new information is useful.

JUST DOWN THE STREET:

When driving it just down the street I will shift into reverse, or drive. (D4) I have not tried the lower gears. After shifting I hear the tiny click sound when the gears engage. Usually the car moves by itself, but when it acts up it will not move unless pressing on accelerator. If I wait before accelerating I hear the quiet sound of metal groaning. :confused I have heard this sound before. It sounds similar to whenever I partially take my foot off the brake petal but then decide to put foot on brake again. (Example: when stopped at traffic light.)

This is even more confusing but the car is much more likely to move when shift into a gear (and it moves quickly also.) approximately 10 seconds after I start car. :confused If I let it warm up, and it idles (the engine is quieter) The car is much more likely to act up. :confused But if I just shift it about ten seconds after starting it, it does not seem to act up.

HIGHWAY:

I use the cruise control when driving on highway. I noticed that whenever it acts up while driving it on highway with the cruise control the RPM stays at "3" for several minutes before shifting again. :eek2 If I turn off cruise control car will slow itself rapidly. (feet are not on brake) These behaviors seems to only happens once while driving it someplace. Otherwise it is fine. But when it acts up there is no blinking D4 light and there is no Check Engine Light. (the light does not come on and the light does not blink.) :confused

AFTER TURNING IT OFF:

during the "down the street" test, whenever it acted up, after turning off the car I noticed that metallic brake sound described in the "down the street" paragraphs. It is shifted into park. The emergency brake is not activated. My foot is not on the brake petal. And the car is not parked on a slope. I was outside listening for noises so the car is obviously not moving. So why the metallic brake sound? :confused

Will it explode? :bomb
I had taken Car to mechanic and finally they had found the issue. I felt it was most likely a brake issue. But the mechanics did not believe me :rolleyes because the rims were not hot. I was able to get them to test drive themselves whenever I found it acting up, this time (for the first time) acting up when travelling to garage, minutes before arriving.

They confirmed the brake problem. They said all the brakes on all the wheels were applied. They then replaced the Brake Booster and car has not acted up since. If I shift into neutral now it rolls away. :D Before, when I shift into neutral, it almost never rolled away. Instead, it held in place with that metal brake sound, even though I did not even use the brake pedal at all. But now it rolls away.

I also had the transmission fluid change as well as oil change and oil filter. :) Also, there are several other new parts, such as new radiator fan. Much more work must be done. But now the transmission is not longer acting up any more either. :D
 
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