2000 Honda Accord Loss of power after sitting.

2000 HONDA ACCORD
125,000 MILES • 6 CYL • FWD • AUTOMATIC
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LAMAR56
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When my 2000 Honda Accord sits over night I have a problem when I first start to drive it. It will start off ok, but after a few feet loses power. It doesn't do anything no matter how much gas you give it. Then after a short period everything is fine. It will do this two or three times until the engine warms up
May 25, 2010 at 3:38 AM
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KHLOW2008
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Hi Lamar56,

Thank you for the donation.

Is the Check Engine Light indicating?

Have you ever tried to retrieve for trouble codes?

From the symptoms described, it could either be the ignition coils, spark plugs or fuel pressure. Get them checked first.
May 25, 2010 at 11:14 AM
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LAMAR56
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No check engine light and no trouble codes.
May 25, 2010 at 3:03 PM
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KHLOW2008
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Check the spark plugs and let me know if they are sooty or not.

Do you need to crank the engine for prolonged periods when starting from cold?
May 25, 2010 at 3:08 PM
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LAMAR56
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The spark plugs look good. It had a tuneup less than three months ago. It has no problem starting up when cold.
May 26, 2010 at 3:03 PM
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KHLOW2008
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Without any codes it is never easy to trouble shoot such problems.

The best way to go about is to use a scanner to read the data while the problem is occurring and try to find out which component is working out of specs.
May 27, 2010 at 1:34 PM
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LAMAR56
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If I leave a scanner plugged into the data port will it pick up the problem. Also is one scanner better than another for my problem.
May 27, 2010 at 2:18 PM
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KHLOW2008
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Not every scanner can do it. You must have a scanner that is capable of capturing the freeze frame data and since no codes are triggerred, you would have to capture the data while the problem is occurring and then you can read through the data to check which is not within specs or maybe at the exreme of specs.

For such symptoms, the items that you should pay attention to would be the O2 sensors operations.
May 27, 2010 at 2:33 PM
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LAMAR56
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I would like to get a pc based scanner. Is one any better than the next?
May 28, 2010 at 8:14 PM
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KHLOW2008
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PC based scanners would be a better option than others as the program can be updated and it can be programmed for the various OBD II standards.

Problem would be to get the updats and it is more costly than normal scanners.
May 29, 2010 at 8:47 AM
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LAMAR56
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Turns out there was an air bubble in the coolant system. It was causing the fast idle control valve to mess up. (at least that's what I think it's called) After I removed the radiator cap and got rid of the bubble there's been no problem.
Jun 1, 2010 at 3:15 AM
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KHLOW2008
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Yes, lack of coolant can cause the IAC to work erratically but it is surprising that it would cause power loss.

Since problem has not resurfaced it should be ok and glad that you have managed to fix it.

Have a nice day.
Jun 1, 2010 at 7:11 AM