2000AccordFlex

Ok So i bought this car, its a STOCK 2000 Civic 2 door EX Automatic with 82k miles on it. I knew it had a problem before I got it and figured I could fix it.

In 2nd gear from about 1800-3200 rpm it hesitated. Kinda sputters a little bit and once it gets to about 3200 rpm, it takes off just fine. At first I thought it was the transmission, but today at work, one of the techs threw it on the Honda code reader and 1399 and P0302 popped up. For some reason, its only in 2nd gear at that small rmp window is when it does this, mostly noticable when going up a hill or giving it more gas then normal. I tried resetting the ECU, but it still does it. Car runs great other then this problem.

At work, another tech took a look at it, said the spark plugs were off, wires looked to be shot, and inside of the distributor coil, there was a burn type parking on the plate where it looks like the coil was grounding out on that plate. He said I should replace the distributor coil, distributor rotor, distributor cap, plug wires and plugs and this should fix the problem. Well I have been looking around at other 1399 cases and this usually doesnt fix what is happening.

Could this be some sort of ECU issue? Like would buying a new ECU maybe solve this problem. One other idea I got was, a friend of mine has a stock 1998 civic ex auto and I was thinking of just putting his distributor assembly, plugs and wires onto mine to see if that fixes everything, that way I dont go blowing $200 for nothing. What are everyones thoughts on this?

Former User

I think this tech's recommendations will fix the problem, though I would suggest that you replace the entire distributor. Once the coil goes, the ICM is soon to follow. In addition, I would worry that the arcing of the coil inside the distributor caused more damage than you currently know.