1993 Honda Accord EX hesitates/stumbles

I would start by checking the coolant in the cooling system reservoir. If it's not between the max and min lines, then fill to the max line.

Certain engine control sensors must be immersed in coolant to work properly. If the coolant is at all low, they may not be immersed. The sensors then send the wrong signal to the fuel and air control systems.

Especially if the coolant was recently replaced, do this. It costs little and is a common cause of the problem you describe.

There are others. Start here, though.

Please confirm whether

-- OEM ignition wires and spark plugs were used

-- the air and fuel filters were replaced. If not, when were they last replaced?

-- the battery is old. This is for the slow-to-catch problem. Battery age in years and miles, please? What make of battery is now installed? Do you have a multimeter to check its voltage with the car off and on?

"Bridget" wrote

check the egr system. i think tegger has a link to the repair procedure on tegger.com.

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Big x2.

'Curly'

I happened to have changed my 91 Civic's coolant on Friday but was a tad short of distilled water to mix with my Havoline (orange anti-freeze), and so did not quite top off the system per the manual. After letting the fan come on twice, it looked like it had enough. Saturday morning driving down the highway I get the hesitation and stumbling. Then the Check Engine Light comes on. I figure it's gotta be the coolant. Temperature gage looks fine. I got to where I was going and checked. The reservoir was well below minimum. Still having no distilled water, I added 2/3 cup of pure Havoline to the reservoir. A couple hours after the car was parked (and I attended to my reason for the trip, an errand), I drove a few miles. The CEL did not recur for this short, low speed trip. At the store I bought some distilled water and added 2/3 cup to the reservoir (whose level had not changed during the short trip). I brought the reservoir back up to max, then drove the car home. It was holding steady at about max. I let the car cool and topped off the radiator. All seems fine now.

Fully supporting your claim of many a time here. :-)

A few years back, I had a related problem with a lack of coolant, but this time, it was the EACV that was starved. Plus, this instance a few years ago did not occur until at least several weeks after my coolant change.

I checked the coolant and it is okay. The battery is a Honda battery replaced by the Honda dealer in December, 2006, so I doubt that could be a problem. I've done a little research and the things that come up are: throttle body & the EGR thing and the main relay. As I said before the main relay was replaced last year. Could a dirty throttle body cause both the hesitation and the starting problem? Why would both things happen at once?

Thanks, Bridget.

are you getting a code?

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Run a bottle of Techron injector cleaner through the gas and see if your failure to start problem goes away. Read what your manual says about 'starting a flooded engine'. Next time it won't start hold the gas pedal like the manual suggests and see if it starts with a puff of black smoke. Confirmed.

'Curly'

The problem is intermittent and although it happens daily, it doesn't seem to happen for the mechanic. I guess the mechanic doesn't have the time to drive the car around for a little while. I'm nearly certain that no code showed up.

A suggestion was made to try Techron injector cleaner - should I try that? I don't want to mess anything up. The car always eventually starts..so far.

Thanks.

how many keys on your key ring? do you make sure the ignition is fully in the "run" position after you start the engine or do you just release the key? sometimes the ignition switches go, particularly under the conditions i just asked about. if yours is on the way out, you'll have intermittent running problems.

in the mean time, are you getting any engine codes? go to tegger.com for info on how to read.