Odyssey 1998 Honda Auto - build thread

[benphyr]

Block heater brings -20oC exterior temperature overnight to 12oC engine coolant temperature.

A later date I forgot to turn off the circuit for the block heater so it was on all night. Morning exterior temperature was -5 to 0oC and the engine coolant temperature was 28oC.

[benphyr]

1998 Honda Odyssey 403,000km (250,000mi) and still running...barely.

Mechanics don't want to touch it.

Does the brain trust have any suggestions?

Runs, starts but has issues. Sometimes when going from idle at a stop to accelerate it will lose power so it is cough, vroom, cough vroom, but quicker and lower rpm more like cut power, catch, within one or two seconds repeat of cut power, catch, cut power, catch. This happens more when weather is warm, humid also may be a problem. It did this many times today and yesterday after it was warmed up in the afternoon, several times today it completely stalled. Bad ones sometimes can smell gasoline.

It is always worst when starting to accelerate from a stop or very slow travel and adding in a little throttle to get started or accelerate even gently. Once rpm are higher it goes away or once it has gotten enough momentum it smooths out and decreases. It still feels a little rough to me but that could be my imagination too.

Information that may be extraneous or helpful:
-gas tank, brake pads and rotors, lines as needed, were replaced just over a year ago.
-I have a complete Parts van, same year, same vehicle, even same colour.
-EGR valve throws MIL since several years ago - we ignoring it - mechanic said it is not crucial but would cost to replace, may be a pain to track down fully, and the parts one didn't seem to solve the MIL.
-I have a ScanGauge II so I scan the codes frequently and ignore the EGR code while checking for others.
-One of the events today resulted in the oil pressure light flashing (I assume due to low rpm but not quite complete stall - correct me if I am wrong).
-I believe this issue has grown slowly for years and has been at an "unreliable vehicle lose-power-when-accelerating-from-low-rpm" stage for a year.
-distributor, cap, rotor, wires have all been replaced within the last year with new aftermarket parts or ones from the Parts van
-valve gasket has been replaced due to a very minor leak at a bolt.
-PCV valve from Parts van
-MAP sensor from Parts van tonight - didn't seem to make a difference
-topped up coolant and engine oil today just in case

If you have suggestions of relatively easy things I can try that are not too hard for a not confident but reasonably mechanically inclined owner...

Cheers,

Ben.

[Gasoline Fumes]

I assume you tried new spark plugs, but I don't see it mentioned. Kinda sounds like an ignition issue to me. Looks like you've replaced the rest.

Try swapping injectors? Crank it with the fuel pump relay or fuse pulled out to relieve pressure first.

Try swapping the ECM? If it's accessible and doesn't contain an immobilizer, it might be an easy thing to try. Honda ECMs rarely go bad, but it's possible.

Engine grounds good?

Check fuel pressure?

[Piotrsko]

Back in the day type 3 from 1970's EFI would start having random firing issues, ditto for toyotas a decade later. The fix was finding all the ground points and cleaning then, then make sure the contacts snugly fitted the connector. Was all low voltage stuff, couple or three volts signal very sensitive to a different sense voltage.

My son's 1990 toyota will fail smog on a dirty engine, passes with a clean one.

[benphyr]

@metrompg
@daox
The ICE on the 1998 Honda Odyssey is significantly tired.
Is there anyone in the Hamilton Ontario area that does our kind of EV conversions. Ie. on the cheap? I would love to buy a few years worth of short distance functionality out of this machine.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Is an engine overhaul, or even replacing engine and transmission with the ones of a wrecked C-RV or Accord for instance, totally out of question?