HELP PLEASE -- Replaced TPS and rough idle has returned!

[N3RD_CB7]

Hey everyone! Been skimming through this website for months but this is my first ever post. Im still fairly new when it comes to anything under the hood of a car so bare with me. Before I dive into details of my issue, let me give you some background of my vehicle:

-Purchased Jan 2021 (Car had been sitting up for over a year before I purchased)
-1993 Accord EX - 4 door sedan
-F22 Engine
-Everything else on the car is stock (as far as I know)

Now on to my ongoing issue:
When I first bought the vehicle it ran fine. A few days after making a 3.5 hour road trip in it, I noticed a rough idling. my rpm would bounce between 1000 and 2000 consistently while the car was warming up. I also noticed that when I went to drive, I started to experience this weird sputter, hesitation while accelerating. The feeling was like their was a delay when pressing on the gas pedal and the car's speed actually increasing. This is when I started surfing through cb7tuner website for solutions. So things I did were as followed:

1)bled coolant system (doing this stopped the weird bounce idling while in park but when attempting to accelerate during a drive, my RPMs would go high--over 3k-- but car was still sluggish like it didnt want to pick up speed)
1b) While bleeding the coolant system, I did notice that my radiator reservoir was bone dry and their was this dark colored gunk in the bottom of the reservoir. I cleaned the reservoir out as best I could to get as much gunk out as possible -- my initial thought was if that gunk floating through my coolant system had any impact on the idle issue I was starting to experience...
1c) my CEL has came on for first time
2)added a can of Berryman B-12 fuel system cleaner in gas tank (it helped a little bit with the sputtering while accelerating but overall car still have that weird bogging/hesitation while trying to accelerate or just cruising)
3) cleaned IACV and EGR valve with carb cleaner (car still does weird jerking/hesistation when attempting to accelerate or while cruising)
4) checked CEL stored code on car and it is code 7
5) replaced TPS and properly calibrated it (once I replaced the TPS, the jerking/hesistation/sputtering while accelerating went away and I didnt experience any of the idle bouncing or anything) -- this was done March 2021

A month later....

Car started to sputter and hesitate again while attempting to accelerate on a drive. It even started the weird idle bounce again while car is warming up in park. My CEL is not on at this moment when I start to experience the same issues as before. So I went came back to troubleshoot again and did the following:

6) took metal plate off of FIV to adjust the white plastic thingy inside (it was screwed in all the way so I just bolted the metal plate back on). I also noticed that one of my spark plug wires wasn't securely fastened to the valve cover. I proceeded with placing the spark plug wire back onto the valve cover securely.

Another month later....

Im still experiencing the sputter/hesitation while accelerating and the idle bounce while car is warming up but it does this randomly now. My CEL came back on and it is throwing code 7 again! Now I am at a lost as to what to do next to fix this issue. Please any help or suggestions on what to look for next and/or how to tackle this issue will be greatly appreciated. If there is any other info you may need that I failed to disclose in this post just let me know.


Sincerely,

New Kid Under the Hood

[Grumpys93]

Did you check your spark plugs? Any oil on them? Also you say you calibrated the TPS properly. Did you follow the DIY on the site and use a mulimeter?

[N3RD_CB7]

So I just checked my spark plugs. Spark plug well 1 was dry, well 2 was drenched in oil, wells 3 and 4 also had oil on spark plugs but not as much as well 2. And to answer your 2nd question: yes I calibrated the TPS using the DIY on this website with the multimeter. Could the cause of this jerking be related to the oil in the spark plugs? Im thinking maybe I need to replace gasket maybe?

[Grumpys93]

Did you check your spark plugs? Any oil on them? Also you say you calibrated the TPS properly. Did you follow the DIY on the site and use a multimeter?

[wagon.spec]

I’m going to shotgun sometime things that I have experienced in my 12 years of owning CB7/CB9s.
Where did you source the TPS? I’ve had every single aftermarket tps fail prematurely on my car. In fact, most of them are impossible to actually get in the appropriate range in my experience.

It isn’t impossible that the wiring to the tps has issues, but if you’re using an auto parts store tps, I’d be inclined to believe that it is the issue.

I was at the race track (road racing) with my accord this past weekend. My buddy had issues with a sputter under WOT and we threw an aftermarket tps on his car to check to see if that would resolve the issue. The TPS we put on was under voltage at every position no matter what. And then Sunday my aftermarket tps with 160 miles on it failed as well, as it developed a dead spot at WOT and was no longer going to the appropriate voltage at closed throttle so the injectors never were shutting off during engine braking.

[N3RD_CB7]

I got the replacement TPS from auto parts store. What would you suggest in this scenario? Finding a TPS from a junkyard or completed replacement of throttle body?

[Grumpys93]

Yes oil on the spark plug could cause jerking along with other things. You will have to replace the spark plug tube seals. Not the ones under the valve cover. But the ones under the rocker assembly.

[N3RD_CB7]

Ok I gotcha. I'm going to attempt that repair hopefully sometime this weekend. Would it be suggested to replace spark plugs as well since all but one are covered in oil? I bought them brand new about 4 months ago (they are NGKs btw). Not sure if I should just clean them up or just replace them.

[Grumpys93]

Cleaning them should be fine. Hit them with some carb cleaner and a wire brush.

[N3RD_CB7]

Grumpys93 UPDATE ON ISSUE: So I finally got around to changing the Lower spark plug seals as suggested and I am still experiencing the weird slight hesitation/jerking while driving regularly. It was suggested by someone else to replace my 02 sensor, which I did (replaced with NGK 02 sensor) but to no avail. Could I possibly have an electrical issue going on? Any and all suggestions are welcomed.

[Size9zombie]

Bad parts happen, recheck the tps to see if it has failed. As stated already, aftermarket replacements are often sub-par and fail prematurely. Grabbing an entire tb from a junkyard isn't a bad idea, but if that vehicle has had the tps replaced at some point, then you may be just getting a used aftermarket sensor. You should be able to take it back to the store and have them warranty it for you. Out of curiosity, what brand did you get?

[N3RD_CB7]

Thanks for the insight, I may just look for an entire tb from a junkyard. The brand I got was Dorman. Is that a bad brand? Someone else I spoke with mentioned that Denso brand would be the best to replace the TPS with. Any thoughts on that?

[Size9zombie]

Denso is an OEM part supplier for many automotive manufactures, and that includes Honda. Dorman is an aftermarket part supplier. I have never had any luck with Dorman, every single time I have used a Dorman part, It has failed within a year. Denso is hands down a better brand from my experience.

[N3RD_CB7]

Hey everyone I am back. I have attached a video of what happens on my dash when my car spits and sputters while at cruising speed. Any additional thoughts or suggestions on the cause?


P.S. - Excuse the music playing in the background.

[N3RD_CB7]

This link should work...