Teawins21

I have a 97 accord that only misfires at idle. As soon as you give it any gas, the engine runs smooth.


I'm pretty sure its cylinder 1. This is because when pulling out plug wire 1 with the engine running, nothing changes.

I've changed plugs, wires and coil packs. What should I try next?

Thanks

91gst

have you tried a power balance test while you give it some gas?

First thing that comes to mind is an injector that isn't spraying fuel at low rpms and as you give it gas the duty cycle changes and the misfire clears up. Check your plugs to see if they are saturated with gas in cylinder number 1. Also, check for vaccum leaks. Hope this helps.

Teawins21

Thanks. I'll check those out and see how it goes. btw, what's a power balance test?

accord_raffi

what do you mean by coil packs? our cars don't use those.

bobinator5000

Cylinder power test basically makes sure the cylinders are producing even power. In all honesty, it's a pointless test really. Pressure test will tell you if the rings aren't sealing; the other three things; fuel, air, and spark; are pretty self-explanatory. Unless you're doing a brand new engine and want to make sure everything is kosher, the others work fine.

Pull your plugs, check them out:
http://www.aa1car.com/library/reading_spark_plugs.jpg

If you haven't done a rotor/cap/wires/plugs in awhile, now is the time.

nus_dogg

Yeah, could be the injector not working correctly. You can lightly tap it to see if it'll stop mis-firing.

Teawins21

Sorry, I mean the distributor, not coil packs. As stated, I changed out all the simple things already... distributor rotor/caps, wires and plugs.

I'm going to try swapping out injectors tomorrow. My friend has a complete spare engine I can play around with.

Also, sometimes at idle and in Drive (automatic), it seems like the car is jerking foward very slighty.

accord_raffi

your car should move forward in drive without any gas anyway.

Teawins21

Yes... i know that. however, its not suppose when my foot is on the brake pedal. It's not really moving though... it kind of just jerks.

hometheaterman

Did you get this figured out? I have the exact same issue. Cylinder 1 misfiring only at idle. With any gas it runs fine. I've changed the dist cap, rotor, plugs, wires, o2 sensors, and am at a loss. I have had a leak down test done, compression test, and checked the injectors. All are good. The compression test showed great psi when done normally. When doing a running compression test it did show the psi lower on the number 1 cylinder at idle. Any idea's wtf is going on here? Sounds like we have the exact same problem.

Coasterphreak

Check your timing?

hometheaterman

Timing seems good.

phootbag

I would check valve adjustment.

Teawins21

No, I haven't. It's my beater. So honestly, I'm just waiting for it to die. I've been driving it like this for atleast 30k. I still need to try the injectors. This really is a testament to how well this engine holds up. (knock on wood)


It has 275,000 miles, misfiring and blinking CEL! Also, a friend borrowed it and changed the oil but left the old oil filter's O ring on the car and put on the new filter. Drove it 15 miles leaking oil and came back with barely any oil left in the engine. The car starts everytime with no hesitation and drives fine.

I do noticed the exhaust fumes are more noticable. It doesn't quite smell like my s2000 with a test pipe but it definitely has a stronger odor. Not sure what this means, though.

hometheaterman

Man, I hoped you had figured it out as it sounds like we have exactly the same problem. I see you said you change the distributor. Did you change the whole distributor or just the cap and rotor in it? I'm going to try changing the whole distributor on mine and if that doesn't fix it I think I will just drive it like you are doing. Mine has 269k miles on it now and like you said about yours it's just a beater and it's great for a beater. I don't want to dump a ton into it trying to fix it. I'm going to try this distributor and I think that will be it for a while unless it gets worse. BTW on mine it doesn't seem to be the injectors either.

hometheaterman

This has been done too. Valves are adjusted within spec. We thought it might be one too tight but they were all fine.

Teawins21

I wish i could of figured it out... It definitely seems like we have the same problem. Do you have a blinking CEL as well?

I've changed the complete distributor, all the wires and plugs with no luck. How do you know it's not your injectors? I have a feeling that could but it. I'll be trying my o2 sensor, too.

Coasterphreak

Another thought: have you changed your fuel pump/filter? With that many miles, your fuel filter is probably clogged up, making the engine run lean.

hometheaterman

I do have the blinking CEL. I was told that means that it's going to melt the catalytic converter but I don't know. Every symptom I have is identical to yours it seems. I tried changing the whole distributor today too and it didn't fix mine either.

As for the injectors I checked them with a multi meter myself to make sure they were getting power like they should. Then the mechanic I took it to checked them too. I forgot exactly what he told me. He said he did something like put a scope on them or something to see how it was flowing. He said it was working just as well as the other 3. He is convinced it's something wrong in the engine but I'm not sure if I'm ready to believe that or not.

I haven't changed the fuel pump filter. Is the fuel filter in the gas tank on this car? Or is it somewhere else?

hometheaterman

Oh btw on mine I also changed the o2 sensors both front and rear and it didn't help me out at all with this problem.

phootbag

Whatever it is it is specific to cylinder 1.

Fuel filter will affect all cylinders. So will fuel pump.

hometheaterman

Well, we decided to just drive it with the check engine light on and low and behold it fixed it self. I don't know what the heck was going on I'm just glad it's fixed. A friend drove it yesterday and said while it did it that it didn't seem quite as bad as it had been. Then today the friend drove it about 30-40 miles back to my house and informed me it didn't do it at all and the check engine light had gone off by itself. I got in it and drove it about 240 miles this afternoon and tonight and the light never came back on and it never missed at all. It ran perfect even at idle. I'm wondering now if I didn't either have something stuck in the fuel filter, or fuel line, or even have bad fuel with water in it or something. I just can't figure it out. It was about 1/4th of a tank left when this started. I filled it up and we drove it until it was down to about 1/4th of a tank again before this problem stopped. I've since filled it up again and put some fuel system cleaner in the gas and it's ran fine ever since. So about 240-280 miles on it today without it missing at all and no check engine light. I'm still not sure what it was I'm just super glad it's fixed.

Teawins21

That's awesome that your car is back to normal! I wish I had the same luck. As suggested, I'm going to change my fuel pump and filter soon and see if that helps. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Teawins21

Do you guys know if a fuel filter for a 92 will fit on my 97?

PTVDesign

you can make movie with sound?