Hello all,
My little brother recently purchased the above car. It was a decent purchase(hopefully) w/ 156,000 miles.
It's throwing a cylinder 2 misfire code. Today, the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor were replaced. Upon startup, it ran good and CEL went off. However, on the test drive, the car started shaking and quit. CEL back on, same code.
I was thinking about pulling the injectors to clean them as the next move. Any other suggestions? Car seems solid otherwise.
'97 Honda Civic- Cylinder 2 Misfire
- Thread starter panthermike
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JHZR2
Staff member
I'm sorry, but buying a 156k car throwing codes seems like a poor purchase. I'd spend a little time but be prepared for a big $$$ repair that's probably not worth it.
Because it quit, I'm scared. A bad injector I think would just cause real poor running.
You need to get it on a real scanner and see everything that is going on. Might even be the ecu.
If fixing the ignition system fixed it, then either it went faulty again, or more likely a plug was fouled.
Fuel , oil, or anti freeze from a bad head gasket come to mind.
Agreed. Check the plugs again see if they are fouled . Could be a valve cover leak to. The seal around the spark plug holes if its leaking badly it could be fooling the plug. If spark plugs are all clean. Swap the one missing with one from another cylinder and see if the missfire code changes to that cylinder. It is possible to be a fuel injector so checking that is probably not a bad idea. But start with what you have already done and see. Let us know whatcha find
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I'm sorry, but buying a 156k car throwing codes seems like a poor purchase. I'd spend a little time but be prepared for a big $$$ repair that's probably not worth it.
Because it quit, I'm scared. A bad injector I think would just cause real poor running.
You need to get it on a real scanner and see everything that is going on. Might even be the ecu.
You can rent a compression checker at oreillys its easy to do. Take 15 mins to do it.
If I manually clean the injectors, what should I use to clean them?
Well honestly if it is a fuel injector its probably bad. I've never cleaned any however I would probably try some sea foam and whatever else I could get my hands on for fuel stuff anyway. Also use car cleaner and spray them. But like I said I'd bet they need replacing if they're bad enough to cause the problem your speaking of.
I had the same thing happen to my Civic. My issue turned out to be the spark plugs....you have to use the specified NGK plugs.
Even plugs that were supposedly cross referenced to be the same would give me random misfires in #3 cylinder. After I put new NGK's back in it ran perfectly.
Good luck.
Which engine does this Civic have ?
DL/LX, EX or HX ?
The fuel injectors are very easy to change on these earlier Hondas. I would just scope for a used OEM set on eBay and throw them in with new o-rings... if you're retentive about this kind of thing, spend $75 and have them cleaned and balanced by WitchHunter.
LT4, the engine is the 1.6L non-vtec.
Bigdreama, we used NGK resistors. The guy said that's what it called for, is that right?
If its a miss fire change the plugs, simple to do. Maybe add some fuel injector cleaner. If the code comes back buy a inexpensive code reader so you can do your own trouble shooting.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: panthermike
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I'm sorry, but buying a 156k car throwing codes seems like a poor purchase. I'd spend a little time but be prepared for a big $$$ repair that's probably not worth it.
Because it quit, I'm scared. A bad injector I think would just cause real poor running.
You need to get it on a real scanner and see everything that is going on. Might even be the ecu.
Well, let me clear up a mistake I made in the first post. My sister's boyfriend actually changed the plugs and apparently the CEL has NOT come back on.
Tonight we cleaned the throttle body and made some "adjustments". Seems to run better but still stumbles. We also noticed that one of the motor mounts is completely shot.
Here's a short list of to do's:
-Regane in tank
-Manually clean injectors
-Replace bad motor mount
-New Fuel filter
-Change ATF
This stuff will have to wait until next week, we're all busy for the next few days. Will update as we work on it though.
Any luck yet?
Well, we did some "tuning" and changed the motor mount, as well as the fuel filter. Car is running pretty good, then today the light came back on. This time, the code was "Fuel system too rich, bank 1". We cleaned the injectors and cleared the code tonight, so we'll see.
After some investigating, it seems the car's motor isn't original, perhaps new? The internals are spotless, which is a good sign. I think that the motor possibly wasn't put back together correctly, who knows?
Not sure if the light will return, we'll see. Now we want to check the timing belt, adjust the valves, and go from there. Any other suggestions while we're in there. It will have to wait a bit, funds are getting tight for him.
Oxygen sensors also "look" original.
Originally Posted By: bigdreama
I had the same thing happen to my Civic. My issue turned out to be the spark plugs....you have to use the specified NGK plugs.
Even plugs that were supposedly cross referenced to be the same would give me random misfires in #3 cylinder. After I put new NGK's back in it ran perfectly.
Good luck.
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MAF has been cleaned. CEL came back on today, "Cylinder misfire 1/2/3/4". Car runs ok, finally drove it today. There is a distinct noise under acceleration, which I think is pretty bad "ping".
Don't know if this may narrow it down? I'm thinking timing could be an issue. When you shut the car off, it seems like it almost wants to run-on as well.
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