Engine Light (misfire)

[Java]

Hey Viper,

My engine light came on the other day. I took it by an Auto Parts store and had them read the codes. The box said misfire on all 4 cylinders. Now, I am guessing I need a tune up. I was thinking of replacing all 4 plugs and plug wires.

Is there anything else I should be looking at?

Any recommendations on type of plugs and plug wires I should pick up?

Is replacing the plug wires necessary or do you thing plugs alone are enough?

Any other thoughts?

Thanks,
Jay

[desmo4]

It does not make sense that all 4 cylinders are miss firing unless the ECU has a problem. This is a low voltage system. The high voltage to fire the spark plugs is generated in the coil on each spark plug. The timing and low voltage that charges the coils and times the spark event comes from the ECU.

Jonathan.

[Stratocaster]

We don't have plug wires. So you would be changing those.

The OEM plug we what I use. They were designed for the car and the 9K rev and no longer back out.

How many miles on the car? If the car is MY02 or less, was the spark plug recall done?

[repiv]

^ What he said.

A multiple misfire like that is an indication of something bigger. How many miles on your car? What year? The OEM plugs are supposed to be good for 100K miles or more. However, like Stratocaster said, if you have an older car, you should have had the spark plug recall done. This would apply to cars up to and including part of 2002. The old plugs were on with too little torque and the new plugs also got stainless steel crush rings.
I suppose it wouldn't hurt to change the plugs out for new ones. Just go with the OEM platinum plugs unless your car has mods you haven't told us about. Make sure they are gapped correctly and torqued down with the new 18 lb/ft. While you are at it, shuffle the coil packs around just for good measure. Then reset the ECU by pulling the "BACK UP" fuse for 1/2 a minute (engine off). See what happens. If the code comes back, I'm afraid you'll have some long and possibly arduous diagnosis to contend with. You could have bad or clogged injectors, bad Electrical Load Sensor, bad fuel pump, poor valve adjustment or ultimately, a bad ECU. You could have bad coil packs but the likelihood of all 4 being bad is quite remote.
Oh, and have you been using a poor quality of fuel lately?

[Java]

My car is an 02 and I have about 34K miles on it. No mods. I bought the car 1.5 years ago with 12K miles on it. I don't know if the previous owner had an recall work done on it. I bought the extended warranty so I guess I will bring it in on Monday and have them take a look.

Thanks for the help.:thumbup:

[repiv]

My car is an 02

Have the dealer cross reference your VIN and see if it was part of the plug recall and if it was done.

[bimdub]

again...Repiv gets the +1

I would suspect something more than just the plugs.....Fuel delivery? or Airflow delivery? either of these can cause all four cylinders to have misfire issues far easier.

[new2s2ks]

Have you over revved recently??

[Geo02s2k]

Ironically, that is almost the same situation that I faced over a year ago. Bought a 2002 with just under 24k miles on it 2 years ago. About November or December with about 34k miles, I experienced a CEL and the car started to misfire at idle. (Ran fine under power.) Dealer checked the plugs, changed the coils, checked the valves, etc. Finally, on the third trip they changed out the fuel injectors. Fixed the problem and haven't had a bit of trouble since.

If it comes to this, have your dealer contact Honda regional. There may be some issue with the injectors that they are aware of. (This might lower your repair bill substantially. ;) )

[Goku]

If the recall was done, and they poperly marked the car you should find a punch mark on the vin above the 8th to last ditgit. But only if they did that. Other wise check with your dealer to see if the reacall was done. I have a 02 and the recall was not done, but I never had the prob. I changed my plugs out at 50k and they were worn far beyond spec. I just replaced with stock NGK's at 20 bucks a pop,. but worth it. Performance in car came back, and idle was much smoother.

[repiv]

Or you could just remove a plug and note the part number stamped on it. If the dealer did the recall, they would have put in the same plug but it'll have an "S" at the end of the number. Wouldn't be a bad idea to check the torque before removing.

[Java]

Just dropped the car off at the dealer and they said that ethanol could cause the light to come on. What would ethanol do to the car? I remember being out in the middle of no where on my way back from Dallas and needing gas. The only gas station I could find had an 10% ethanol sticker on the pump. I was not sure how much further I could go so I went ahead and filled it up.

Did I screw up bad?

[Larmoe]

I just had a similar problem at 34k miles. My map sensor went out. Repalced it and I'm good to go.

I noticed it at the track more that any place else. Engine was flat at 5,000 to 6,000 with a sputter and miss then would clean out to 7,500 and sputter up to 9,000. The engine wouldn't pull like normal either and was more responsive until it heated up.

I got two 25 minute track sessions on a tank of gas, but still got 325 out of a tank driving home. It was sputtering from too much fuel going through the engine.

Check the map sensor. I understand from S2WOOOW that you can bang on it a little and get a short term fix. Naturally he told me after I replaced it.

[WestSideBilly]

Just dropped the car off at the dealer and they said that ethanol could cause the light to come on. What would ethanol do to the car? I remember being out in the middle of no where on my way back from Dallas and needing gas. The only gas station I could find had an 10% ethanol sticker on the pump. I was not sure how much further I could go so I went ahead and filled it up.

Did I screw up bad?

E10 won't hurt your car. E85 will. The 10% ethanol is used as a replacement for MTBE, both of which are oxygenators which help combustion (and lower emissions).


I had a string of random misfires that were injector related but they were strung out. If you got all 4 at once at idle, that sounds like a fuel pressure problem. Bad fuel pump, perhaps.

[desmo4]

Exactly, the addition of Ethyl or Methyl alcohol actually raises the octane rating of gasoline. I ran 15% Methanol and regular gas during the phony 1973 gas crisis with no ill effects. It produced slightly more power and better mileage. The car normally need Hi test.

Jonathan

[joe_s2k]

I had a string of random misfires that were injector related but they were strung out. If you got all 4 at once at idle, that sounds like a fuel pressure problem. Bad fuel pump, perhaps.

I had this exact problem happen (all 4 cylinders misfiring) during my first year of ownership (2001) around 36k miles. After a month of troubleshooting at the dealer, honda master techs flown in from California, removing the head to perform a compression/leakdown test, they decided to start swapping parts to figure out the problem. To make a long story short, they replaced all of the fuel injectors and that cleared it up. They were all fouled due to bad gas shortly after the Tropical Storm Allison flooded the Houston area.

They concluded that a "drying agent" was added to the gasoline tanks that may have been submerged during the massive flooding, which caused the injectors to get clogged.

Good luck!

[Java]

Dealer just called and said that it looks like an injector problem. They tested compression on all cylinders and it came out OK. They are going to replace all the injectors. Fortunately, I bought the extended warranty and it is covered. They are going to give me a rental for a couple of days while they wait for the injectors to come in.

[joe_s2k]

Excellent news!

[valentine]

Dealer just called and said that it looks like an injector problem. They tested compression on all cylinders and it came out OK. They are going to replace all the injectors. Fortunately, I bought the extended warranty and it is covered. They are going to give me a rental for a couple of days while they wait for the injectors to come in.

:thumbup: :thumbup:

[nomex]

My car is an 02 and I have about 34K miles on it. No mods. I bought the car 1.5 years ago with 12K miles on it. I don't know if the previous owner had an recall work done on it. I bought the extended warranty so I guess I will bring it in on Monday and have them take a look.

Thanks for the help.:thumbup:

Hey Jay, mine is similar to yours timeline wise.2 months after I bought mine, I heard about the recall and got all new plugs at Classic Honda for free. Not bad on a, at the time, 4 year old car with 45K on her. Def. make sure you don't have a free set coming your way :rockon:

[Geo02s2k]

Hopefully you will like your new injectors as much as I like mine! :D :thumbup:

[S2WOOOW]

I was getting codes for misfire on 2 cylinders. New plugs and valve adjustment fixed the problem.

[WestSideBilly]

I had this exact problem happen (all 4 cylinders misfiring) during my first year of ownership (2001) around 36k miles. After a month of troubleshooting at the dealer, honda master techs flown in from California, removing the head to perform a compression/leakdown test, they decided to start swapping parts to figure out the problem. To make a long story short, they replaced all of the fuel injectors and that cleared it up. They were all fouled due to bad gas shortly after the Tropical Storm Allison flooded the Houston area.

They concluded that a "drying agent" was added to the gasoline tanks that may have been submerged during the massive flooding, which caused the injectors to get clogged.

Good luck!

Thanks to you (I suspect) there's a nice, official procedure for determining bad injectors. Saved me a few hundred bucks. Thanks Joe! :LOL:

[Java]

Picked up the car today and runs great! Injectors seems to have fixed the issue.

WooHooo

[joe_s2k]

Thanks to you (I suspect) there's a nice, official procedure for determining bad injectors. Saved me a few hundred bucks. Thanks Joe! :LOL:
I pioneered the way for Honda to troubleshoot what everybody else would run into in the years to come. It's the price I pay for buying an AP1 and driving it like a madman!

It still VTECs after 6 years and 146k miles later. :rockon: