[JBarnes18]

I bought this car in July of 2020 with 95k miles and right off the bat I noticed when I would try and rev it up when I was at a slow roll, any speed less than 10mph, I would get close to no throttle response. It revs up a hair no matter how far I press down on the pedal, clutch in or out, and Im only be able to rev it up to get the car going if I bring it to a complete stop. There is no other issues on the road it’s only if I’m going to a stop sign or red light and I don’t stop all the way then I don’t get any response. Once the car is in gear it has no issue either. I replaced the throttle position sensor right away and it made no difference. Cleaned the throttle body and added a k&n filter and still no difference. Please help

 

[Robardin]

Um, why did you buy this car if it "performed" like that "right off the bat"? Or were you so unfortunate as to have this happen shortly after you bought it?

Also not sure what you mean by "once the car is in gear it has no issue" - do you mean at speeds higher than 10 mph, the car feels like the engine/throttle behaves normally? Like... In second gear or higher? That would be bad. Like, are you sure you're even in first gear? (Not saying you don't know how to use a MT, more like is there something wrong where it's actually in 3rd gear when you put the stick in the 1st gear position)

 

[_Sam]

Not sure about the 1st gens, but the drive by wire in the 2nd gens are crap so it could just be that. Nothing wrong, it’s just very slow to react sometimes

 

[JBarnes18]

Um, why did you buy this car if it "performed" like that "right off the bat"? Or were you so unfortunate as to have this happen shortly after you bought it?

Also not sure what you mean by "once the car is in gear it has no issue" - do you mean at speeds higher than 10 mph, the car feels like the engine/throttle behaves normally? Like... In second gear or higher? That would be bad. Like, are you sure you're even in first gear? (Not saying you don't know how to use a MT, more like is there something wrong where it's actually in 3rd gear when you put the stick in the 1st gear position)

 

[JBarnes18]

Robardin, homie, I’m not sure you know what you’re talking about, the car runs drives perfectly fine, and idk if you’re aware but any tsx’s with manual trannys are rare here in Massachusetts so people who want a manual tsx will buy a manual tsx regardless of how minor the problems are. When the car is in neutral it has this problem but when it’s in gear it doesn’t. If I’m rolling in neutral at any speed over 10 mph it’ll rev normally but the second I slow down below 10, in neutral, the car will not rev until I put it into gear. Been driving the car every day since July so I’m pretty sure I know I’m in gear, thanks

 

[Robardin]

Robardin, homie, I’m not sure you know what you’re talking about, the car runs drives perfectly fine, and idk if you’re aware but any tsx’s with manual trannys are rare here in Massachusetts so people who want a manual tsx will buy a manual tsx regardless of how minor the problems are. When the car is in neutral it has this problem but when it’s in gear it doesn’t. If I’m rolling in neutral at any speed over 10 mph it’ll rev normally but the second I slow down below 10, in neutral, the car will not rev until I put it into gear. Been driving the car every day since July so I’m pretty sure I know I’m in gear, thanks

I do not claim to know what I'm talking about, because I didn't know what YOU were talking about and was trying to guess.

I still don't know what you're talking about. Your original post complained that "when I would try and rev it up when I was at a slow roll, any speed less than 10mph, I would get close to no throttle response" and now you say "when the car is in neutral it has this problem but when it’s in gear it doesn’t". Unless you are rolling at 0-10 MPH in neutral down a hill, I don't see how those two statements can both be true.

And in fact, you go on to say, "If I’m rolling in neutral at any speed over 10 mph it’ll rev normally but the second I slow down below 10, in neutral..." Now you're really blowing my mind. You "roll" in "neutral"? Like, intentionally coasting? You start out in gear, put the car in motion, then shift to neutral, wiggly-stick position and all? Why?

Are you talking about coasting to come to full stop at a red light? Because that was not obvious (to me, at least).

So you're basically saying the engine won't rev in neutral? What does it have to do with being in motion or not, then? Are you saying if you're completely stopped, in neutral, say with the parking brake engaged, and you step on the throttle, the engine revs; but not if you put it in neutral while in motion (what seems like a terrible idea to me, BTW, what if you have to resume acceleration suddenly)? What if you press in the clutch to coast to a stop instead, and only shift to neutral after coming to a full stop and you know you're going to be there a while (so as not to wear out the pressure plate/throw bearing or something)?

And if you're coasting to a stop, why are you revving the engine?

If that is what you're saying, let me say that doesn't sound normal; I have a 2007 TSX 6MT (as my sig says, I think) and I can definitely rev the engine in neutral while parked or with the clutch in and holding the brake. Or just to rev the engine with the clutch depressed (that's what rev matching is, right?). But I've never tried revving the engine while coasting in neutral gear. Maybe I'll try it later today to see if it doesn't, like for a safety reason or something. It's just not something I've ever thought to try doing.

 

[CalgaryTSX]

I think JBarnes is just referring to the worst thing on the 1st Gen TSX. The terrible drive by wire throttle (DBW) response.
A search on DBW on this forum will bring up a ton of similar threads.

At times the throttle just doesn't respond at all. Our 2006 TSX has done this since we got it. They all do it.
I'm sure the auto trans TSX's do it also, but I think that with the auto trans you don't notice it as much.
If you pull off the air intake hose and watch the throttle blade with the engine off, key on. The throttle blade seems to react perfectly with the throttle pedal.

The ECU is closely monitoring the DBW so if you don't have any DTC's, you most likely don't have a DBW hardware issue.

The Hondata Reflash on our TSX made zero difference. I drove a 2007 TSX manual trans TSX with Hondata FlashPro but the DBW still felt terrible to me. This was many years ago.

If Hondata could fix the DBW issue, I would buy a 2007-08 ECU and FlashPro in a minute.

 

[Robardin]

I think JBarnes is just referring to the worst thing on the 1st Gen TSX. The terrible drive by wire throttle (DBW) response.
A search on DBW on this forum will bring up a ton of similar threads.

At times the throttle just doesn't respond at all. Our 2006 TSX has done this since we got it. They all do it.

OK, maybe? I just thought it was odd the way he described it as going away "once he got the car into gear", as if it were not in gear before (in neutral or clutch in) but was rolling up to 10 MPH (in motion), and in his second post it seemed like he confirmed that.

My issues with the throttle sensitivity and the DBW system is that it manages both to lag and to be too sensitive, at different times. Combined with the high clutch grab, it makes smoothly coming out from a stop in first gear, or shifting from first to second gear, a bit hit-or-miss even after 6 years of driving this car. I have to ease it out and rev a bit at the same time, I always feel like I'm slightly riding the clutch just a bit more than I ought to do, for the sake of smoothness... But I've mostly gotten used to it by now.

 

[Reorge]

My 2008 auto is very responsive to throttle inputs. When I drive it in manual mode it also very responsive. I do have to downshift a gear to two to get the desired acceleration. When my daughter was driving in manual mode she complained of sluggish response. I had to teach her to downshift more often to get the acceleration she desired.

 

[Sahilah123]

Was trying to solve this issue when I had my auto.
I did the TPS, APP sensor, air filter, opened my intake manifold and cleaned out all the oil vapor recirculation gunk on the runners and the valves and redid my injector gaskets. It made a minimal difference, but overall still noticeable. I just chalked it up to a slight vacuum leak that i couldnt pinpoint and/or shitty DBW tuning from honda. Does your engine rev up like 500 rpm sometimes in neutral and take a long time to go back to normal? (1.5+ seconds), do you also notice a lot of rev hang? I was super adamant to solve this issue and never fully solved it before I wrecked my auto tsx. I have a 6spd now with the hondata reflash and ice box now with the same issue only more slight but im not driving it till the summer so I want to get to the bottom of this before then.

 

[JBarnes18]

I do not claim to know what I'm talking about, because I didn't know what YOU were talking about and was trying to guess.

I still don't know what you're talking about. Your original post complained that "when I would try and rev it up when I was at a slow roll, any speed less than 10mph, I would get close to no throttle response" and now you say "when the car is in neutral it has this problem but when it’s in gear it doesn’t". Unless you are rolling at 0-10 MPH in neutral down a hill, I don't see how those two statements can both be true.

And in fact, you go on to say, "If I’m rolling in neutral at any speed over 10 mph it’ll rev normally but the second I slow down below 10, in neutral..." Now you're really blowing my mind. You "roll" in "neutral"? Like, intentionally coasting? You start out in gear, put the car in motion, then shift to neutral, wiggly-stick position and all? Why?

Are you talking about coasting to come to full stop at a red light? Because that was not obvious (to me, at least).

So you're basically saying the engine won't rev in neutral? What does it have to do with being in motion or not, then? Are you saying if you're completely stopped, in neutral, say with the parking brake engaged, and you step on the throttle, the engine revs; but not if you put it in neutral while in motion (what seems like a terrible idea to me, BTW, what if you have to resume acceleration suddenly)? What if you press in the clutch to coast to a stop instead, and only shift to neutral after coming to a full stop and you know you're going to be there a while (so as not to wear out the pressure plate/throw bearing or something)?

And if you're coasting to a stop, why are you revving the engine?

If that is what you're saying, let me say that doesn't sound normal; I have a 2007 TSX 6MT (as my sig says, I think) and I can definitely rev the engine in neutral while parked or with the clutch in and holding the brake. Or just to rev the engine with the clutch depressed (that's what rev matching is, right?). But I've never tried revving the engine while coasting in neutral gear. Maybe I'll try it later today to see if it doesn't, like for a safety reason or something. It's just not something I've ever thought to try doing.
[/QUOTE

I do not claim to know what I'm talking about, because I didn't know what YOU were talking about and was trying to guess.

I still don't know what you're talking about. Your original post complained that "when I would try and rev it up when I was at a slow roll, any speed less than 10mph, I would get close to no throttle response" and now you say "when the car is in neutral it has this problem but when it’s in gear it doesn’t". Unless you are rolling at 0-10 MPH in neutral down a hill, I don't see how those two statements can both be true.

And in fact, you go on to say, "If I’m rolling in neutral at any speed over 10 mph it’ll rev normally but the second I slow down below 10, in neutral..." Now you're really blowing my mind. You "roll" in "neutral"? Like, intentionally coasting? You start out in gear, put the car in motion, then shift to neutral, wiggly-stick position and all? Why?

Are you talking about coasting to come to full stop at a red light? Because that was not obvious (to me, at least).

So you're basically saying the engine won't rev in neutral? What does it have to do with being in motion or not, then? Are you saying if you're completely stopped, in neutral, say with the parking brake engaged, and you step on the throttle, the engine revs; but not if you put it in neutral while in motion (what seems like a terrible idea to me, BTW, what if you have to resume acceleration suddenly)? What if you press in the clutch to coast to a stop instead, and only shift to neutral after coming to a full stop and you know you're going to be there a while (so as not to wear out the pressure plate/throw bearing or something)?

And if you're coasting to a stop, why are you revving the engine?

If that is what you're saying, let me say that doesn't sound normal; I have a 2007 TSX 6MT (as my sig says, I think) and I can definitely rev the engine in neutral while parked or with the clutch in and holding the brake. Or just to rev the engine with the clutch depressed (that's what rev matching is, right?). But I've never tried revving the engine while coasting in neutral gear. Maybe I'll try it later today to see if it doesn't, like for a safety reason or something. It's just not something I've ever thought to try doing.

You must not have a lot of experience with driving manual in the city. When you drive around here you’re pretty much only driving in first or second gear. We have to constantly stop our cars for ungodly large sinkholes, crackheads running in the street, animals, garbage scattered across the street, other cars because people don’t know how to drive here, and then it’s a whole different story when it snows because all of a sudden everyone forgets how to drive. So when driving in the inner city you’re constantly stopping and going, so if I see a child run in front of me I shift out of second gear into neutral and brake, until the child is out of the way, then having to come to a complete stop to get a throttle response is not normal. Also if I’m rolling past my boys and I want to rev my shit I can’t because of this. Now I could’ve worded it better at first, but I came to this website looking for advice and the first response I get is your criticism. But others gave much better, more intelligent responses that were actually helpful to me. Maybe re think your responses and try to give include some helpful advice instead of immediately criticizing.

 

[Robardin]

You must not have a lot of experience with driving manual in the city. When you drive around here you’re pretty much only driving in first or second gear. We have to constantly stop our cars for ungodly large sinkholes, crackheads running in the street, animals, garbage scattered across the street, other cars because people don’t know how to drive here, and then it’s a whole different story when it snows because all of a sudden everyone forgets how to drive. So when driving in the inner city you’re constantly stopping and going, so if I see a child run in front of me I shift out of second gear into neutral and brake, until the child is out of the way, then having to come to a complete stop to get a throttle response is not normal. Also if I’m rolling past my boys and I want to rev my shit I can’t because of this. Now I could’ve worded it better at first, but I came to this website looking for advice and the first response I get is your criticism. But others gave much better, more intelligent responses that were actually helpful to me. Maybe re think your responses and try to give include some helpful advice instead of immediately criticizing.

Dude -

First, I was not "criticizing", I honestly did not get what you were talking about.

Second, I do have plenty of experience driving manual in the city, this TSX is my daily driver and I live in NYC (Queens) where I've lived all my life and have driven for over 30 years.

I never "shift from second gear into neutral to brake" to avoid children, I press in the clutch. You should pretty much never shift into neutral while already in motion, that is what I was taught quite firmly, in both a car and a motorcycle (which I have also ridden for 15+ years in the city). There is no benefit and only a downside.

Nor do I ever "roll past my boys and rev my shit" in neutral, which I will let go without comment.

But again, I was not and am not judging you (though telling you what I was taught and why is not putting you down but trying to educate you - or to learn something I didn't know if you can tell me why this is in any way a good idea), simply trying to understand your question because it is so very foreign to my experience.

And, long story short, to answer your question, no it is not normal for your engine not to rev if you shift from 2nd gear to neutral while in motion, but to do so if you clutch in. I went out and tried it. My engine revs both ways.