No Power...

YF19pilot

YF19pilot

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2005
Messages
2,768
Location
Massillon, OH
Car(s)
2006 Honda Civic Coupe
Well, today I had to do some running around for my work. I fire up my Volvo and every thing is fine. I get down the road stop at a red light. It turns green and suddenly there's this loss of power; like I'm running on half my cylinders or something. At the next stop, she just stalls out. Start her up, and the power is back. I figure, one time thing; probably hasn't warmed up all the way.

However, on my return trip home, once again I have no power. I can't go faster than 5 mph, she stalls out half the time I stop, and only occasionally do I get a burst of power that lasts just long enough to fool myself about saving face from the queue of traffic that is behind me.

I'm wondering if this has something to do with the weather (there's about 6" of heavy wet slush and snow on the ground, and it's still snowing), and if perhaps the snow is plugging something up. Really would like to know whats going on so I can go play in the snow.
 
Any indication of something going wrong on the gauges? Check your coil or coils? Plugs? Fuel pump? Coolant temp sensor?
 
Spectre said:
Any indication of something going wrong on the gauges? Check your coil or coils? Plugs? Fuel pump? Coolant temp sensor?
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The gauges don't show anything out of the normal, and I haven't had any idiot lights come on (save for the 'check engine' when she stalls). I'll have to poke my head in at the coil, but that's high up enough and far back enough to not have an issue with the snow. Fuel pump should be okay, I'd imagine, but it'd be difficult for me to check. Otherwise she's been working fine up untill today, so I'm certain it has something to do with the snow either freezing something or getting something wet or clogging something else.
 
Ping pong balls in the fuel tank, although I might've been reading the Jalopnik Car Prank page too much. I would check that air is getting in properly, fuel is getting in properly and exhaust is getting out properly before doing anything else.
 
Couldn't it be the air-mass sensor?
 
Possible, but not likely. MAF failures tend to be consistent and constant.
 
Does it sound like it's misfiring when it has no power?

What's the idle like in a low power situation?
 
I dont know if your car has a distributor; but if there is moisture of some kind inside it it will cause it to misfire
 
FATMOUSE said:
Does it sound like it's misfiring when it has no power?

What's the idle like in a low power situation?
Click to expand...

rowd22 said:
I dont know if your car has a distributor; but if there is moisture of some kind inside it it will cause it to misfire
Click to expand...

Yeah, misfire, rough idle (yes I do have a distributor). She ran fine this morning after drying out overnight; that is until I hit a nice deep puddle left over from all the melting slush; but after that I just let her sit and run for a while and she was fine again. Friend suggested reseating the spark plug wires to make sure they're on right; but in the end I think I may have to invest in a splash pan (my car is missing one - about $30 from ipdusa).

I just think it funny because I've not had this problem when living in Florida with the wet and humid air (not that I can recall anyways).
 
Okay, that's leaning more towards an exposed wire or something similar... how old is your distributor cap and rotor?
 
Spectre said:
Okay, that's leaning more towards an exposed wire or something similar... how old is your distributor cap and rotor?
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2, going on 3 years now. Roughly somewhere between 10 and 15 thousand miles I would estimate. Replaced it, the wires, and the spark plugs all about the same time; probably about time to change the plugs at least.
 
Where's the distributor and coil located on that engine? Also, what brand/make were the replacement parts?
 
You may also want to run it in the dark with the hood open and see if there is any electricity "leaking".
 
^That's something I'd expect from Lucas electrics, along with the smoke leaking out.
 
Heh, well so far only Mazda and Ford engines have given me this problem. :p
 
Has less to do with Lucas et al and more to do with how cheap the manufacturer decided to get on the wires.
 
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I had (still sort-of have) the exact same problem. My rotor was cracked, my distributor cap was pretty worn and the wire from the cap to the coil is shot. I've fixed the first two problems but the wire still needs fixed. It was stalling, idling poorly, bogging, etc etc. But the problem was only intermittent. With the cap and rotor done now I just have a slight hesitation sometimes because of the wire.
 
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