Pulling my hair out....with frustration

[Afopto]

2005 Element. Starts great, within 2 minutes down 2-3 cylinders. Will NOT idle until completely warmed up. If I try to restart while cold, cranks and cranks with slowly increasing 'try to start chugs" until it fires up. If it sits, even for 2 minutes udring this phase, it starts right up again. If I try to drive during this phase, gas to the floor, barely accelerates, again until warmed up and then when warmed up, pretty sluggish overall, kicks down into third way to early on small hills, etc.

Need some thoughts, going to check valve adjustment tomorrow evening as I purchased used and it has never been done while I have owned it. Could this be the problem? What are the symptoms of burned valve? Live 4 hours from Honda dealer (or any import repair) so difficult to get looked at.

[Afopto]

Coils and plugs have been replaced with no change.

[Rick92040]

I think your on the right track with the valve adjustment

[Audiophyle]

Check engine ever come on? If so, have you had it scanned yet to see what problems the computer is seeing?

How long have you had the E? Did it just start doing this? Or have you just recently purchased it? How many miles does it have?

If the issue came up suddenly, I doubt its due to the valve clearances.
I would start with fuel and spark, have you checked if the cylinders are getting fuel?

[Afopto]

191,000 codes are "misfires" on various cylinders, that is what led to the coil replacement. Was 1 and 3 swapped coils and misfires moved to 2 and 4. Checj engine is on, codes were read. Looking back it probably was a subtle onset, aggravated recently by our -25 temps. :)

[Jersey Steve]

Crank position sensor perhaps?

sm

[Afopto]

HMMMMMM Tell me about this "crank position sensor" of which you speak.... -30 this am brrrr

[jesbecause]

-30 degrees ........ sometimes the misses gets cold , but damn !

I would agree with the valve adjustment first , but I would also clean the throttle body , inside and out . You'd be surprised at the carbon built up . Use only throttle body cleaner / carb-choke cleaner can harm the T.B.
And it's not throwing any codes ??????
Crank position sensor ..... you would get a NO start problem more then anything

Good luck

[Afopto]

It is throwing codes. But just "misfire" codes. Well, duh! Anyway, the codes have not been overly helpful because they have simply stated what I already knew. I am checking again before I tear into just in case something new showed up.

Not -30 all the time, thankfully, but will go a week or so at a time, then we get pretty regular +5 to -5

Thank fro the throttle body tip.

[Audiophyle]

With a burnt valve or valve adjustment needed, the misfires would not switch with swapping the coils.

I think the issue probably lies within the ignition electrical system.
Have you checked your engine grounds and battery connections?
Severe cold weather can be a nightmare for even slightly corroded/loose connections.


Reminds me why I moved south. Tues it was 60* & I was out at the bike park in shorts. lol