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Car not pulling, feels slow and sluggish

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211
Hi guys,
For a while now my cars not being doing too well. It used to be explosive on the rev range and now it feels very sluggish. It was decatted for 2 years and it was fine. i recently put the cat back on and there are no CEL lights at all. In fact after putting the cat back on the car felt even worse!The oil level is fine and I change the oil regularly. i have recently stuck in there Motul 5w-30 oil. I have changed the spark plugs and that did not improve things. I took it to honda for a full diagnosis and they could not find any faults. The person at honda said he took my car for a test drive and it feels really sluggish but it is engaging vtec and going all the way to 8300 revs. I am stumped on this one and do not know what else to check. Can you guys advise me?
 
Nosmans CTR was also down on power, turned out to be the backbox failing and possibily the b pipe.
 
Check the throttle cable adjustment.

Could be as simple as the throttle not opening to WOT.
 
well it was Decatted and it was still down on power. I put the cat back on after two years and its about the same.... feels VERY slow.... How do I check if the throttle body is not opening properly?
 
well it was Decatted and it was still down on power. I put the cat back on after two years and its about the same.... feels VERY slow.... How do I check if the throttle body is not opening properly?

Not sure where you are located but try and get to a rolling road day to see roughtly how much power its got.
 
You will need to have a look at your throttle body and cable assembly...

You will find a threaded adjustment screw which runs through a little steel bracket. There are two nuts on the screw - one for adjustment, the other is a lock-off nut (the one on the right as you stand towards engine).

There is a good pic here (nicked from another forum ;)) :

http://h.imagehost.org/view/0082/08112009085

Unscrew the locking nut and pull the cable up out of the bracket. Wind the adjustment nut a bit further down the thread, slot it back into the bracket and tighten the locking nut back up. You need to get as much slack out of the cable as possible without going too far. If you over-do it you can easily correct it by backing it off again.
 
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All you need to do is take the slack out of the cable. If you gently press your finger down on it you will be able to feel how much tension is in the cable. Press your finger down until you can feel the throttle beginning to open. If there is too much slack, the engine wont be able to either respond as quickly or open as far. I just tightened it bit by bit until all the slack was gone and it took just a small amount of pressure on the cable to open then throttle. Instant improvement in power.

That is just one thing to look into however...

When was the engine and tranny oil last changed? Tyre pressures, blocked injectors, dirty air/fuel filters, worn batteries and poor sparks are also a few things which will reduce performance. Although there will always be slight differences from one car to the next, honda hold pretty tight tolerances on their engines. For this reason, any significant differences in power and performance are more likely to be down to a poor setup or a combination of things which need replacing or servicing. Poorer performing examples from the factory will always be a possibility but very rare these days and the differences will be quite small.
 
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Ok here's the deal. There was a lot of slack on my throttle cable like an inch on the adjustment nut. I sorted this out and the cars response has changed dramatically. HOWEVER, it still does not pull right. The response off the pedal is a huge improvement granted. But the actual car does not feel quite right. I have friends with type Rs and their general power in their cars are hell of a lot more than mine especially in the vtec range which is more pronounced. I feel like my car engages vtec but it hasnt engaged properly or fully. It revs all the way to 8300 RPM but its still not quite right. I will try using injector cleaner like someone suggested but I do not know what the problem could be. And if Honda themselves coudnt find a problem I do not know who can!
 
Also, the oil was changed 1000 miles ago, tyre pressure i check weekly, I do admit that my battery is charged to 44%. Honda told me this was fine and should not cause any problems with the cars performance.
 
Unfortunately matey problems like this are a matter of process of elimination. Change something or try something new and if that doesn't work, move onto the next thing. The key to doing it at the minimum expense is to try the obvious, easier and cheaper options first.

In respect to the battery's health, if you have a multimeter it is worth checking the voltage running between the terminals with the engine running (or take it to somewhere like KwikFit who will do it for free). If your system is running at 13-14V with the engine running, your alternator is fine and it'll be your battery which is on its way out. Replacing the battery is something which usually has to be done after ~8yrs or so. There have been threads on here or CTRO where people have seen improvements in performance when they have done this, although my CTR had a new one fitted before I bought it so I can't really comment.

More importantly however, if the car is running significantly lower than 13V it could be the alternator which is getting tired - in which case, this will almost certainly affect your cars performance. The same could be said for the coil packs which plug onto the spark plugs. To get a good spark, the coils convert 12V into 50,000-100,000 Volts. If that voltage drops you end up with a weaker spark. The plugs voltage requirement is directly proportional the the spark plug gap - the bigger the gap, the more voltage is needed to arc between the electrodes. If the voltage trails away and the gaps remain the same, the spark will become weaker and weaker.
 
if Honda themselves coudnt find a problem I do not know who can!

Lots of people.

I wouldn't trust honda as far I could throw them! If you book your car in for a new gear box or engine rebuild you'll probably get a half decent mechanic but if you go in saying "it doesn't feel right", "its slower than it should be", "its not pulling" etc they'll give it to the work experience boy to look at for five minutes. Then when its not something very obvious they'll say its spark plugs or something and ask you to give them £250 to have a look.

I'd say if you don't have lots of experience in dealing/tuning performance cars then go to a specialist, TGM, TDI North etc and as Lottie said get it rolling road tested so when you go there you can show them for sure that there's a power loss.

Tom over at TGM kept my car for over a month testing it and making sure it was right before I picked it up, I was only charged for actual labor and not a penny for the miles he out in road testing it.

Good luck solving the problem buddy.
 
I've just changed both O2 sensors on mine thinking that was what it was. But basically it feels like being in a 1.6 litre golf rather than type R. No engine management lights. Had the battery checked and it reads out 14V so Im stumped.
 
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