mustang66dude

There may already be a post for this, but I just did a head job and want to list the details..

2000 Honda CR-V, 4 Cyl, 2.0, DOHC, 97K miles, AWD. Just did the following this past weekend (3/12/11 & 3/13/11)

- Had all 16 valves replaced & seated with new ones by machine shop (cylinder 1 had a cracked valve). Also shaved & cleaned the head

- New timing belt, water pump, spark plugs & thermostat

- New gaskets all the way around

- New seals (cams & valve cover)
- someone didn't install the seals on the valve cover, so drove the car about 2 hrs, got home and noticed i had oil in the spark plug wells. just installed the seals, dried the brand new spark plugs and reused

So when we first finished there was an idle problem and the check engine light came on (solid) once we got everything put back together, but we didnt know there was oil in the spark plug wells. I drove it home, checked the error code and said "cylinder 2 misfire", then fixed the problem (added the seals & new spark plugs), car drove MUCH better, but im still having an idle problem after i rev the gas & the engine light comes on (i drove car for about 10-20 min, then noticed the idling problem, got home & engine light came on). I can let the car sit and idle, and it does just fine (around 1,000), but once you rev the gas, it drops, then dies. and now i have a little bit of smoke coming from somewhere. Maybe: throttle sensor, distributor, spark plug wires or bad spark plugs? Appreciate your help!

fleabag

take it back to the shop? what does the check engine code say? Are you still leaking oil in that cylinder? Are you sure you put everything back? Also 1,000 rpm is a fast idle if the car is already warmed up..

mustang66dude

- im not a full blown mechanic, i'd say novice/beginner. i had help in a city about 2 hrs away and had to tow the car down there. the machine shop is there too, so i may be able to take it off myself to and take it back, but that'd be last resort

- i gotta take the car to autozone tomorrow to get the code, im pretty positive it cant be saying cylinder misfire again.

- i don't know if the cylinder is still leaking oil, i doub it, but how would i tell for sure?

- we were sure until i noticed the spark plug tube seals weren't in, so not 100% sure, but can't notice anything missing

- 1,000 is high, would like it be around 800-900. we adjusted the timing at the time there was oil in the spark plug wells. so maybe good idea to adjust distributor again?

the mechanic who helped me keeps mentioning the throttle sensor and/or distributor being dirty. i just feel like it may be something else.

fleabag

you shouldn't have any oil on the spark plugs, something very wrong there. Serious mechanical issue if you have that. Idle I think should be around 700rpm, maybe less when warmed up and the way to check for leakage is to do a leak-down or at least a compression test with a compressor.

mustang66dude

Yeah, the only reason there was oil on the spark plugs was beause the seals weren't put in on the bottom of the valve cover, but that's all good now.

Are you talking about when you take the spark plug out, use an air compressor to blow air thru the cyclinder and feel if it comes out the tail pipe? I'll have to read up on how to do the leak-down.

Appreciate the advice.

mustang66dude

Any other suggestions? I have a family trip from Denver, CO to Orlando, FL in mid May. Really need to get this fixed and can't afford another diagnostic from the dealership.

fleabag

If you're unable to read the diagnostic codes, then you can't really fix this problem yourself.

mustang66dude

The code says "Random Cylinder Misfire" when I used the ODB2 reader.

ARMED

are the sparkplug wires dry? from the oil that went inside where the sparkplugs are mounted?

mustang66dude

I did buy new spark plugs & tried cleaning inside the spark plug wires (where they mount). So I'm not positive they're 100% dry

Another question. I'm currently trying to do a compression check and the book is telling me to disconnect the primary cables from the distributor, but it doesn't say what or where they are (pos book). Anyways, there's a censor on the outside obviously, and nothing inside the distributor that looks like a cable. Is there another one besides the censor on the outside???

Mykemc

On my 2004 E, I changed my spark plugs two weeks ago, then the serpentine belt today after 151264 miles. The E would not stay in idle. and it would not start. I changed the battery (+4 yrs and lots of road trips), because of what the alternator may have done to the battery. Nope the new battery did not work. My E idled a few times at 500rpm then died. I adjusted the gas pedal cable. Bingo, the E purrs.