Hey all, long time…
I have a 99 Accord, 158,000 miles, properly maintained…
Today I started my car after it had been sitting for an hour and when I pulled up to a stoplight I felt the car jerk and it looked like the RPM of the engine dropped to 0 for a split second, then continued to run, poorly. The amber “Maintenance Required” light clicked on, then off. I’m certain 100% it wasn’t the CEL.
I saw that my fuel gauge was on it’s peg and even though I suspected I had at least 2 gallons left (which proved to be correct), there was a gas station across the street so I elected to haul ass there and fill up as a precaution.
When I accelerated through the light, it was as if the car was stuck in second gear and lacked power…at this point I let off the gas and let the thing coast to the gas pump, the engine was running the whole time, though.
When I got to the pump, the engine continued to run, normally.
Long story short, I filled up the fuel tank and drove home uneventfully.
At first I thought I was on the brink of running my car out of fuel, but I pumped 15.1 gallons into a 17.1 gallon tank, so I can rule that out.
Then I thought perhaps the transmission had gone into limp mode, but again, no CEL and when I drove home it shifted fine, etc.
I can also rule out something with the engine itself so that leaves the fuel system and electronic ignition:
Distributor on the way out?
Fuel pump " " ?
Clogged fuel filter? (I haven’t had the filter(s) replaced since I bought the car, it had 118,000 miles when I bought it over 2 yrs ago)
Is it plausible that the 90+ degree temps and being out in the sun caused fuel to boil and create vapor problems? Fuel injected aircraft have this issue, but it mainly affects starting a hot engine…
Junk / water in the fuel tank / contaminated fuel issue?
What do you PROS think? I’m curious more than alarmed…I’m wondering if i’m likely to have this happen again?
jmw