I have a 2000 Honda Accord, vortech 4 cylinder with the "check engine" light on. I took it to 2 different shops to have the codes read and it came up as "random misfire", so I changed the plugs (with OEM plugs), wires, rotor, and distributor cap hoping it would solve the problem. After changing the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor the car still idles rough and the "check engine" light is still on. I took it to get the state inspection done and it failed. The failure was for "randon misfires" "cylinder #1 & #2" when I went to the parts store to price a coil pack and distributor, the guy at Orielly's told me that the 2000 Accord only has two coil packs (each coil pack controls 2 cylinders each). If the codes call out #1 & #2 cylinder and both cylinders are controlled by the same coil pack I'm suspecting the coil pack controlling #1 & #2 cylinder is bad. Does anyone have any other ideas of what the issue could be? Any help will be greatly appreciated. I'm on an extremely tight budget right now and I can not afford to change parts that do not fix the problem! LOL when the car first started idling rough and the "check engine" light came on I thought it could be the IAC sensor, but I don't believe the IAC would cause the car to be misfiring on cylinder #1 & #2. Any suggestions????

 

If you have a distributor, you should only have one coil. Can you post up the code numbers? They start with the letter P and have 4 numbers, like P1234.

 

The codes are P0300: Random Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected, P0302: Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected, P0301: Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected.

Orielly's didn't have the Hytachi Coil pack in stock, so they ordered it for me yesterday. One of the mechanic's that I took the car to said that the most common reason for this issue is oil leaking from the valve cover gasket into the distributor, and that I probably need to replace the distributor. When I changed the rotor there was a little film of oil inside the distributor, but not on any of the cap contacts, or coil so I don't think that is the problem. The strange part is the car idles rough as if it has a misfire, but driving down the road it doesn't hesitate or act like the cylinders are misfiring, nothing real noticable anyway. I thought the IAC needed replaced at first, before I had the codes read, because it was only noticable at idle. Could another part or sensor cause a false reading like "cylinder misfire" if it went bad besides the obvious like: cap, rotor, plugs, and wires which I've already replaced? I'm only asking because the car runs fairly well except during idle. If it is misfiring and only running on 2 cylinders it sure runs good for a 2 cylinder. LOL The only two parts that I haven't changed in the ignition system is the coil pack and the distributor. I'm replacing the coil today after work. Hopefully that will solve the issue. I hope I don't wind up replacing the distributor. Am I going in the right direction with my troubleshooting, or should I be looking at other sensors or parts before I start looking at the coil pack and distributor? Any help will be appreciated! Thanks!

 

I would definitely stop throwing parts at the car, and do some diagnosis. If you aren't getting error codes for the distributor, then I wouldn't replace it. The same goes for the coil, I wouldn't replace it just yet.

This may be a long shot, but you might want to clean the EGR port. This would involve removing the upper part of the intake manifold. Did old spark plugs for cylinders 1 and 2 look any different than the plugs that were in 3 and 4?

 

Actually Cylinder #2 and #3 plug wires were definately bad. When I replaced the plugs all 4 looked bad, and when I went to Orielly's I brought my old receipt from the last tune-up. When the guy at the counter looked at my old receipt he told me that who ever sold me the plugs for the tune-up they sold me the wrong plugs. I really thought that changing the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor would clear the fault after removing the bad plugs and wires. I did pick up the new coil pack on Friday. When I replaced it, I removed the positive battery cable. There was a large amount of corrosion on the post, so I also cleaned that thinking a bad connection could be contributing to the fault also. After replacing the coil pack the car does run a little better, but the check engine light came back on. I haven't taken it to be read and cleared but I'm assuming it will result in the same fault reading. I was going to ask about cleaning the EGR. I priced a replacement but a new EGR will cost quite a bit of money, so I am planning to clean it next. I also poured some Lucas fuel cleaner in the gas tank on Friday when I picked up the new coil pack. I'm suspecting the fault code is incorrect. The car idles a little rough but it runs too good to be misfiring I think. Today I am going to do what I should have done in the first place. I'm going to remove the plug wires from cylinders #1 & #2 and use a screw driver to check if the cylinders are actually misfiring or not. I have been using the lowest octane fuel for a while. My wife accidentally filled the car with a higher octane grade of fuel a few weeks ago and the car idled a lot better, so I'm going to try cleaning the fuel system and EGR after I verify the misfire fault with the screw driver. If the cylinders are actually firing correctly, what else could be causing this fault? I have read all the other posts on this topic and I kept seeing the EGR cleaning being recommended. Can a dirty EGR cause a "random misfire" fault code? What exactly does the EGR control or what purpose does it serve? Any other suggestions?

 

you know the manual recommends 91 octane or better. in texas here most stations only carry 87, 89, and 93

i run 93 every fill up

if you use lower octane the ecu retards ignition timing and during super hot summers you can get pinging and misfiring