1999 honda accord 5-speed manual, 160k 2.3L 4 cycl

Worked with my buddy on the car tonight. I really stumped him because he works on cars a lot. We redid all the spark plugs, wires, tighten cam shaft bolts to 16 ft/lbs spec. He sanded the contacts in the distrubeter cap and rotor, and tightened the valve cover bolts to spec. We retightened the camshaft bolts, 8 of them, because there was a piece of metal that prevented one of rockers from moving,that was the valve sound in the first video below. He said since the rocker didn't break the car should not be damaged. Once all put back together we tried starting the car. The car won't turn over by itself but by manually opening up the throttle the car engine won't stall.

We are hoping you guys can provide us with any advice based on these new video because we are dumb founded.

Here's right after I installed all the new parts 3 days ago, before the paragraph above. Car is running roughly, idling high, and rpm bobbing, 3 days ago.

Here tonight right after doing all the re-installs with my buddy.



no CEL at all

 

Starting problem sounds like mis-routed spark plug wires. Check your routing.

If wire routing OK, then time for compression check for all cylinders.

good luck

 

Here's picture of the before and after

before



after


Looks to be the same. Do you hear anything else in the video?

 

Wire routing looks OK.

I hear loud tapping sound that I heard in first series; timing belt component, exhaust leak, valve noise. Doesn't sound like rod/main bearing.

good luck

 

Tonight I cleaned out the IAC , it appeared to be stuck. Car appears to be running better but still won't start on its own and will only stay running with the gas pedal engaged. CEL light finally came on after a minute of running the car. Misfire in cylinder 4.



Checking for exaust leaks is on my list of things to test. I bought the carb cleaner today from autozone. I also plan to put a new distributor and rotor in. Any recommendations or should I go with honda OEM?

Does anyone have any new ideas, or refined ideas from the new videos?
Thanks!!!

 

Check compression on No. 4 cylinder. Check No 4 spark plug.

Low coolant temperature for fully warmed engine in closed loop. Should be at least 190F. Was engine not fully warm when Check Engine came on? Possible faulty thermostat or ECT sensor.

Not sure what to make of high negative Short Term Fuel Trim (-27%), and zero LTFT. Did CEL occur shortly after startup? Normally, high neg STFT would lead to some permanent negative LTFT.

good luck

 

Before I did my valve cover, spark plugs, and spark plugs wires. My old spark plugs, upon coming out, came out looking beat up - but with white rings under the electrodes.

Now whatever I did I got enough of something [oil maybe], that every time I change the spark plugs the white ring comes out black after running them in the engine for a few minutes. I then use break cleaner to clean the spark plug, put them back in, run the engine for another minute and they are black tipped again. Can anyone guess the source of my problem and to resolve it? [I suspect this is why the engine doesn't sound so well.. like it's misfiring and puttering]

Thanks!!!

old spark plugs after 30,000 miles



new spark plugs after 2 minutes of idle

 

Oil accumulates in the spark plug tubes because the tube/valve cover seals are worn/hard. Were they replaced? If yes, they may have been installed upside down. New seals installed correctly should eliminate problem.

Oil in spark plug tubes is a common problem and ignition seems to tolerate this problem well, but a poor boot or wire might cause a short and missing.

good luck