carybriel

Well, I'll be checking both issues tomorrow (valve clearances, and belt timing and tensions).. And doing a compression test for sake of sanity. I'll report back what I find.. Hopefully something tangible (and obvious!)..

dtapia

sounds good.

carybriel

Actually, in this order:

Timing belt
Compression
Valve clearances

I think that order makes sense.. Not sure which order the latter two should be in.. or if it matters..

carybriel

I think the compression test is bad news.. Checked compression and this is the result:

Cyl 1 - 180
Cyl 2 - 180
Cyl 3 - 150
Cyl 4 - 70

I checked for tight valves, but at TDC on all cylinders, there is clearance between rocker arm and valve stem on all valves.

What should I do to determine the problem from here? What usually goes on these engines when cyls 3 and 4 are low? Both cyls are involved, so possibly head gasket? Valves? Worse? Or do I need to disassemble to tell?

Checked timing belt, and timing is dead on.

Thanks.

carybriel

Squirted oil into cyls 3 and 4 and reran comp test:

Cyl 3 increased to 270
Cyl 4 increased to 180

Am I screwed? Does this definitely indicate ring problems?

dtapia

sounds like a tear down and inspect.

carybriel

Right, I was thinking the same thing.

bosque

Hey man,

Did you ever get this sorted out? My wife's 2002 v4 accord just started doing this same thing. only owned it for a few months, very high miles (172k). Not sure what maintenance was done before now, but it was running fine for several months, no issues, then on an 8 hour trip it started running very rough at idle. Almost seems like it's about to quit. At normal speeds/rpms, it seems to be fine. However, at 4k rpms (trying to pass) the car starts to shake, rpms jump up and down, and no more power at that point. Have noticed a definite loss of passing power, and took it to autozone, I'm getting codes for misfire in c1, c2, and random misfire. Also a air/fuel mixture code. (Just put on a new cat and new 02 sensors when I got the car).

I'm not very mechanical myself, and don't have the tools/time, so I'll basically just have to take it to the shop. Any good issues to target? Does this need to go to the dealer?

Thanks! Any help would be AWESOME

quickster

vacuum leak or air in the coolant system?

EDIT:
read futher down. yea i would check your engine. it does sound like a mechanical problem now.

jshurak

I'm running into a similar issue. Cyl 2 is running low....like 25psi, while the rest are running >100psi.

This is as much info as I know. Is a tear down the only way to further diagnose the source of the problem? Thanks.

atvlunatic

i have a 2002 accord se 2.3 says all 4cy are misfiring just put new plugs wires cap rotor in and still misfiring all 4 when taking off.

noltian

have you found the issue?..My 2000 accord SE just started doing so.

atvlunatic

Not yet. However i ran all the tests above and still nothing. i just ordered a distributor for it my uncles car had the same problem and after hundreds of dollars thrown into it and hundreds to dealers some lil mom and pop mechanic told him to replace the distributor and all was well. so im trying it now.

02vtechjdm

((Default Re: 2002 Accord 2.3 VTEC, low/rough idle problem w/ random misfire code
Not yet. However i ran all the tests above and still nothing. i just ordered a distributor for it my uncles car had the same problem and after hundreds of dollars thrown into it and hundreds to dealers some lil mom and pop mechanic told him to replace the distributor and all was well. so im trying it now. ))

did the distributor work for you????