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Q: Car hesitation while accelerating/highway speeds

asked by on October 19, 2017

Hello, I have a 1999 Honda Civic lx 4 cylinder manual transmission.

About 4 months ago my vehicle started to hesitate while accelerating. It started to get worse over time. Therefore, I replaced the spark plugs (2×), spark plug wires, the rotor(2×) the igniter,(2×) the distributor, the distributor cap(2×), fuel filter, fuel pump, the throttle body, engine coolant temperature sensor, and idle air control valve sensor, and even did a compression test. Car is still not healed.

Diagnostics obviously say misfire, but I believe a sensor is going bad since the symptoms relate so much to possible parts. Also, the hesitation is intermittent. One day it'll be fine or It would do it when I first drive it then the hesitation will disappear and then come back. That is why I think it is a sensor.

What I have not done is replace the 02 sensor, throttle position sensor or the crankshaft position sensor. Basically, I've replaced 90 percent of possible problem parts. What do you suggest?

My car has 183000 miles and a manual transmission.

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Hi Miko. Thanks for contacting us today. The first thing I would do is download any stored OBD-II trouble codes in the ECU. This might lead you to your random misfire issue. I wouldn’t suggest replacing any sensors until you’ve found the one that is faulty or the electrical harness connected to the sensor that is frayed, damaged or not connected correctly. Since this issue is completely random, I would not recommend replacing any parts until the root issue triggers an OBD-II trouble code - as you’re literally guessing at possible sources and chasing repairs. This typically never works. You might want to have a professional mechanic come help you locate the root issue as it’s quite possible the root issue is the ECU itself.

Honda
Civic
1999
L4-1.6L
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