Girlfriend has a 04’ Honda CRV. Recently she’s run into an issue where she will be driving at speed when for no apparent reason the vehicle will shudder, the RPM’s will rise, and she loses acceleration; even while she has her foot on the pedal.

This can be while in cruise control, merging into traffic or passing. When it occurs, she has to let the speed drop to below 40 and then she will have accelerated again.

We’ve had a number of garages look at it (spent a ton of money) and they’ve come up with nothing.

RPM rises, but speed decreases?

04 is a K series engine, I think, so no timing belt.

How many miles?
Spark plugs done? Maybe bad coil pack?
IAC or PCV valve?

Sounds like the VTEC solenoid may be acting up. Also could be a slipping transmission. How many miles on the car?

- answers -

Miles = 175k

I don’t know if the garages have done any type of tune-up; something I’ll look into.

I was thinking Slipping Trans as well, is there a way to test for that?

I”LL look into VTEC solenoid.

If it happens in cruise condition, I wouldn't think VTEC issue.
On a K24, vtec engagement is probably around 5200 rpm.

Is there any consistency with it? If so, you could manually shift to a lower gear & see of it can be replicated.

You don’t have to be at or even near 5200RPM to have issues with the VTEC solenoid with an 18 year old CRV with that mileage.

I would also pay attention to any transmission slippage in overdrive (4th gear). Also check to make sure the transmission fluid level/condition is where it should be.

Luckily a vtec solenoid is pretty cheap & IIRC not too hard to replace.

Doing a 3x3 on the trans might not be a bad idea either.

Sounds like a transmission problem to me.

Torque converter slipping. Low fluid or wear.

Can people actually listen to the symptoms before spouting off about VTEC which is only a high RPM transition?

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
Torque converter slipping. Low fluid or wear.

Can people actually listen to the symptoms before spouting off about VTEC which is only a high RPM transition?

Your reply shows how much you DON’T know about the VTEC solenoid, how it operates/is actuated, and problems they have with high mileage/age.

quote:

Recently she’s run into an issue where she will be driving at speed when for no apparent reason the vehicle will shudder, the RPM’s will rise, and she loses acceleration; even while she has her foot on the pedal.

Transmission slipping.

I had that issue with a 2006 grand cherokee.
I was on a trip and went to out of town jeep dealer and told them I thought it was a throttle body sensor.
I was right and an hour later I was on my way.
My issue was same as you described.

Torque converter?

That sounds more like a transmission or torque converter issue. How does the fluid look and smell (clean, burned, etc)? Has the level been checked according to the owners manual?

Is the engine throwing any trouble codes while this is happening? Is the engine running rough when this happens or does it seem to be running smoothly, but just not propelling the vehicle forward?

If there's an OBD2 port, you could hook a scanner up and drive around to gather data from the various sensors and components when this occurs.

quote:

Originally posted by 45 Cal:
I had that issue with a 2006 grand cherokee.
I was on a trip and went to out of town jeep dealer and told them I thought it was a throttle body sensor.
I was right and an hour later I was on my way.
My issue was same as you described.

I'm sorry, but, like the insistence, in another thread, that increased resistance leads to increased current flow: This makes no sense whatsoever.

How can a faulty throttle body sensor result in engine RPM increasing while vehicle speed decreases?

Beginner’s Guide: what is a throttle body and what does it do?

What Is a Throttle Body and How Does It Work?

Symptoms of a Bad Throttle Position Sensor

- Update -

You guys talking about the V-V-T Solenoid are on the right track.

I started paging through her invoices and it looks like the last thing they did was replace the knock sensor, and said that the VVT solenoid was the next step if that did not work.

Any clue as to what that might cost us? Hell, if it was just a square solenoid that I could unplug from the fuse area and plug in myself I would do it!

It is not just a solenoid that you unplug from the fuse area but it is not difficult to do.

Several videos on Youtube show the removal and reinstall process.

Here is a LINK on replacing the VVT Solenoid.

Looks like $30-120 for the part from a quick Google search.
Not sure on the R&R process, but can't imagine it's too tough.

In my experience with the VTEC solenoid on that car, when it goes bad it keeps the engine from revving past ~32-3500 rpm, the opposite of what you're describing. It would also trigger the engine light. (Does it even work? I don't see in the OP where it is or has been on.) Having said that, it isn't that hard to replace, although because the engine is tilted to the rear you can't really see what you're doing; it pretty much has to be done by feel. Typical VTEC solenoid: Bing Images It is best obtained from Honda. Too many aftermarket ones (Dorman is particularly bad) have the oil pressure switch out of calibration.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,