Why does my car sputter when I try to accelerate while moving but is fine when parked reving the engine?

SOURCE: Engine Rattling

Try checking the heat shield on your exhaust system. You should have one over the manifold and one over your cat converter under the car.

SOURCE: 1994 Honda Civic Ex (5 speed)

I have the same issue, but have a 1990 Honda Civic Automatic DX Hatchback. Periodically, the issue occurs when going from 2nd to 3rd gear. I'll hear a slight "click," the Check Engine light will come on and the car will start sputtering even with the accelerator pressed to the floor. What I normally do is pull over, turn the engine off and restart it and the system seems to reset itself. I've taken it to several different mechanics and none of them could figure out what the problem was since it wouldn't give any codes for the diagnostic machine. Any information on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

SOURCE: Rough idle, Car shakes, sputters and misfires upon acceleration

It sounds like you may have a problem feeding the fuel to your engine, I had the same problem with my 89 RS. All the 1989 model's fuel systems were recalled. I think you may need a new fuel pump. The fuel pump is located inside the gas tank in the rear of the car right under the rear axle. The fuel pump itself isn't too expensive, but with other small parts such as the electrical harness upgrade and fuel filter and the labor you should be looking somewhere in the $500 range. I hope this helps.

Marvin

• 85242 Answers
• Posted on Oct 13, 2009

SOURCE: Describe your service engine soon light blinking

you have a missfire that is why the light blinks, it also will have a trouble code stored showing which cylinder is causing the problem, but this sounds like a plug or plug wire issue.

SOURCE: my check engine light comes on and my car will not

This sounds like a problem with the throttle position sensor. Take the car to an autoparts store and have them scan the computer for fault codes stored. Most parts stores will do the scan for free. Getting the codes will narrow down the cause of the problem and should eliminate the need for speculation. Sorry for your trouble and I hope this helped. Best wishes.