Lugging issues after 1 yr storage

Hi all. I've recently moved back to where my car's been stored for over a yr. It's a 92 with a 6sp. It drove beautifully when I stored it. Before I stored it,
-I filled up with fuel and added stabilizer in it.
-plugged up all the intake and exhaust openings
-hooked up batt tender
-put rat poison all around and under car (stored in warehouse)
-washed and covered
When I returned to the car, found out them rats still found their way into the front and engine compartments and chewed up a few wires and moldings. Also a few spots on my cf wing . Did all the repairs on the wires and checked if they chewed on any hoses but, couldn't find anything else visually or by feeling around.
I changed oil and filter before I started it up
Car fired right up. I let warm up for 15 or so minutes. Took a spin around the block. Right away noticed hesitation and no power what so ever so pulled back in to check for problems. Didn't see anything out of the ordinary so decided to let it idle some more by the entrance. No warning lights popped up on the dash. After a little bit of idling, I blipped it a bit and noticed it revved much smoother and had some power. The idle is a little high at 1200 warmed compared to last yr.
Took it out again and there is power until I start coasting and not semi heavy on the gas. So drove around some more to see if I could gather anymore symptoms it might have. So it drives pretty good when I'm really hard on the gas. It's when I'm still in gear and off the gas that the lugging starts. If I gradually roll on the gas after I let off, even to the floor, no power is present. If I stomp on it hard, the car seems to be normal again til I'm off the gas. It does this no matter what the rpm is. I then took it on the freeway to see if anything else might be present. Find out that I have no power in 4th, 5th, or 6th. Even the usual stomping on the pedal didn't do anything. I had to drop it in 3rd again and floored it til I get up to freeway speeds again. Once I shift to any other higher gear, the speed just gradually drops regardless of how the gas is used. If it wasn't for this, I'd be sure it's the coils or fuel pump resistor after reading up on my search.
I've since
-changed the spark plugs
-checked the coils for wear or damage
-checked the fuel injector connectors and wires
-cleaned the air filter
-rechecked all the vacuum lines
-changed PCV
-took the throttle body off to inspect.
-did the disconnecting 02 sensor test with no results
I've driven it a hand full of times to see if anything changed (plus I had to get it registered and inspected). Hasn't gotten any better and now I have the throttle body off again to clean even though it doesn't look dirty at all.
I also plan to do a vacuum leak test with carb cleaner too.
I'd appreciate if any of you pros have insight on this. Or if someone is in the Philly area that we could possibly swap some sensors with me before I go throwing parts at it. Even a known good used coil I could buy would be great as I don't want to buy 6 new ones til I know at least one is starting to go bad.
I was going to pm Larry B to see if he has time as he seems to be the closest NSX specialist to me. But, since I can't drive on the freeway it looks like I'll have to try harder myself first. TIA


Marc

Ok - Here we go:
1) disconnect your O2 sensors and if the car runs fine then replace the one that's bad
2) high idle can be caused by; a.) a bad EACV (electronic air control valve),
b.) a bad water temp sensor
3) to eliminate fuel pressure problems, jumper the fuel pump resistor to keep the fuel pressure at max.
If you haven't pulled error codes from the ECU then do so before you do any shotgunning - it can save a lot of time and $$$.
I hate rodents around my car!
Good Luck and Happy Motoring!

Thanks for the tips. I forgot to add that I did unplug the 02 test so I edited my post with that with no change. Did it make a difference because I unplug both at a time or should I do it again one at a time? I will tried to see if there is a code that didn't register even though I never had any warning light pop up. I was hoping there is a common link for the symptoms as I must have horrible luck to have so many things fail at the same time:frown:

Check the intake snorkel. Rats love to build their nests in air boxes and intake snorkels(sometimes the exhaust pipes/mufflers too). It is just like a habi-trail for them. So get a flashlight and check your intake and exhaust tubing.

JRZ said:

Thanks for the tips. I forgot to add that I did unplug the 02 test so I edited my post with that with no change. Did it make a difference because I unplug both at a time or should I do it again one at a time? I will tried to see if there is a code that didn't register even though I never had any warning light pop up. I was hoping there is a common link for the symptoms as I must have horrible luck to have so many things fail at the same time:frown:

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-No need to do the O2 sensors one at a time unless it cures the problem and only then to see which one is bad.
-Usually the coils go bad because of arcing usually due to moisture. You can look at the tops of the plugs and inside the coil with a flashlight and see if there's any burning or rust.
-To tell if you're getting good gas flow you can disconnect the return line from the fuel rail and put the open end (from the rail) into a bottle. Have someone briefly turn on the ignition key (no need to start the engine and be ready to turn the key off ASAP). The fuel should come out clean and fairly forcefully. Check the fuel in the bottle for moisture and contaminants. Your problem could be a partially blocked fuel filter.
Good Luck and Happy Motoring!

I want to add: Your fuel system holds pressure for about 1 hour after turning off the ignition key. So if you're going to disconnect your fuel line, wait at least 2 hours after turning off your key to make sure there is no pressure in the line or fuel will spray everywhere 0 !

I've had the same issue with boat storage and found it to be bad gas even though I used fuel tratment. My boat would start and idle fine but had no power under heavy throttle. Just another posssibility.

Intake and exhaust tubing is fine as I had all the openings stuffed and was not touched when I went to remove them. Also have checked the contact inside the coils and they are very clean looking silver. Bad gas is a possibility. I only have used a quarter tank so far. Think it's too soon to go fill up again? I usually try to stop by the warehouse and tinker with it for a couple hours every other day so I will try to mess with the gas tomorrow for pressure and return. Thanks

I am going to put some money on the gas being OLD even with the stabilizer. I would probably put some money on a chewed wire that may have been missed causing an intermittent connection too.

I have stored my car twice now for 17 and 14 months with no problems. I mix stabilizer into the gas, run it to get it mixed well and through the fuel system, then DRAIN the fuel out of the tank COMPLETELY.

Did the fuel that you filled the tank with have any ETHANOL in it?

Brad

I would find a way to get more than 1/4 tank gone before I refuel. If it's a bad fuel issue you need to get most of the fuel out to make a difference. I'm by no means an expert just speaking from experience. I'm not much for fuel additives but a water removal additive might be in order. I've never used one anyone have experience with those?

Unfortunately this weather we've been having is effecting me working on the car. Mainly the snow for not having help find time to finish installing the power to a new lift that I have recently intall and the salt left on the road preventing me from driving/ testing . Wouldn't hurt to burn a lil more fuel so I could put some new mix in. With a new blanket of snow forcasted for tomorrow, looks like another week at least before I get a couple hrs for it. At this rate, I might forget how to drive stick . Meanwhile, I'll keep researching and checking back for tips. Thanks

My money's on old gas with stabilizer in it. Drain that puppy and get some fresh Premium in there. Believe I'd also run a bottle of Techron or BG-44K at the same time.

If you are going to go with the thought that the fuel is the problem, don't keep mixing new gas with the old stuff. Drain out the old stuff and then start with new fresh fuel. All it takes is about 1 gal of bad gas to kill 10 gal of good gas.
Brad

New gas will be the first thing I do when the roads around here are clean/clear enough. I'll drain most of it out. Still not sure if high idle and other things is linked to gas but, I'm going to start with fresh gas and slowly check things off from there. Thanks y'all

P.s. I filled up at a Shell's around October '09 so not 100% sure how much or if the winter mix of ethanol was in it

JRZ said:

New gas will be the first thing I do when the roads around here are clean/clear enough. I'll drain most of it out. Still not sure if high idle and other things is linked to gas but, I'm going to start with fresh gas and slowly check things off from there. Thanks y'all

P.s. I filled up at a Shell's around October '09 so not 100% sure how much or if the winter mix of ethanol was in it

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+1000 on the gas. Todays fuels even with stablizer does'nt last long enough. Ethanol sucks. We recently started get it in our fuel here.

BTW, once the gas has been replaced, I'd add 2 bottles {yes 2} of Chevron Techron to a full tank of super. This will clean any gummed up gas thats accumalated in your system. 2 bottles sounds like alot but it works well.

Just ordered an fuel filter and fuel treatment additives. Thanks

Minor update:
-Drained out all fuel
-installed new fuel filter
-put in 20 oz of Chevron fuel system cleaner
-put in a few gallons of new 93 Sonoco gas (hope it isn't too little for mixing with 20 oz of the fuel cleaner)
Since the road here is still snow/salt covered, I only started it up and did not drive it. While I was waiting for the engine to warm up, I blipped the throttle a lil now and then which sounded normal. But, I noticed an odd behavior when I hold at a steady rpm. I would hold to 1500 rpm and about 2-3 seconds later it will drop 200 rpm for a second or two and bounce back to where I had it. Then it would start to go down 100 rpm and back up slowly constantly. The symptom is less pronounced the higher the rpm range and seems to be not noticeable anymore after the upper 3k rpm range. It still idles high around 1150-1200 rpm fully warmed.
When I searched around, seems like it didn't really fit the normal vacuum leak, fast idle valve, EACV, or TPS problems. I figure I'll ask you pros who might had experienced my exact description before. Meanwhile, while I'm waiting for the road to clear for testing, I'm going to order a fuel pressure gauge.

If your work so far doesn't fix the problem.....

....what about gummed up injectors producing an irregular fuel spray or a sticking throttle body?

JRZ said:

I was going to pm Larry B to see if he has time as he seems to be the closest NSX specialist to me.

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Doesn't Bernie still work at Davis Acura in Langhorne? (I know there's a cost difference, just sayin' he's closer if he's still there.)

Injectors seems like a possibility too. Just not comfortable messing with it. I keep forgetting to do a vacuum leak check with the carb cleaner which I will go do in a couple hrs. The way the symptoms are so consistent makes me lean more toward vacuum or electrical.
As for finding a pro to fix after I give up, I will probably just get a tow truck and flat bed it to Larry B unless there are more recommendations for Bernie in Langhorne which I'm sad to say that in my brief readings don't remember hearing much about.

Updated: nothing found on vacuum leak test.

JRZ said:

Thanks for the tips. I forgot to add that I did unplug the 02 test so I edited my post with that with no change. Did it make a difference because I unplug both at a time or should I do it again one at a time? I will tried to see if there is a code that didn't register even though I never had any warning light pop up. I was hoping there is a common link for the symptoms as I must have horrible luck to have so many things fail at the same time:frown:

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Not sure what you disconnected but there is no way you would not get a check light if the ECU system is working properly and you disconnected the 02 sensors. Please describe which connectors for the 0o2 sensors you removed.

Regards,
LarryB

Hi Larry. If it wasn't for all this snow, I'd talk to you by now:smile:. Anyways, I'm positive that I did unplug the O2's as I had it on the lift and followed the wires to both valve covers on the passenger side. Now that you brought it up, I can't remember if I saw a check engine light during the O2 test all of a sudden. I do remember that I didn't have to reset it. I will go do this test again within a few days to confirm. Thanks

Just remembered that the check engine light was on when I unplugged the 02s. I remembered because I also was making sure that it wasn't burnt out since it wasn't present when the problem occurred.

Oh and I think I didn't state clear enough that there was no warning lights on when I firsts noticed the problems. Thanks

After hrs and hrs of checking and testing, finally found the culprit. It's the TPS sensor. Thanks to all that offered their help and I hope my description was clear enough for future readers who might run into the same problem to save some headache.
Waiting for the new sensor to arrive and enjoy driving the "reliable" Honda again:smile:.

JRZ said:

After hrs and hrs of checking and testing, finally found the culprit. It's the TPS sensor. Thanks to all that offered their help and I hope my description was clear enough for future readers who might run into the same problem to save some headache.
Waiting for the new sensor to arrive and enjoy driving the "reliable" Honda again:smile:.

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Great that you found the problem. If you don't mind, what lead you to check the TPS sensor?