dwm231

1999 Honda CRV 225,000Miles

Recent history

Air filter, plugs, distr cap, rotor and wires were changed at 206,000 miles on June 10, 2010 so these items are now 19,000 miles old.

Engine always ran perfectly until Mar. 23/11 when check engine light came on with code P0420 (Catalyst System Efficiency below threshhold - Bank 1)

Cleared code, added toluene-based cleaner to Gas tank but code keeps coming back.

Ignored this code and drove car with no problems until Aug.17/11 when I stupidly decided to pressure wash the (cold) engine. Afterward car started OK (no missing) and I drove 1.5 miles to work and parked car for 5 minutes. Then I re-started with no problems but noticed random misfiring under load especially climbing hills or accelerating hard. The misfire clears when backing off of the throttle and engine "jumps" back to all cylinders until throttle is pressed hard again or load is increased by climbing a hill. There might have been the slightest misfire at idle but I'm not sure.

I drove the car like this on 3 more occasions (short trips). I figured I got water in the distributor and it would evaporate but the 3 day wait did not solve the misfire. I decided to fix the problem. I surmised that some water must have got into the distributor from the high pressure wash. I removed the distributor cap. It was bone dry and clean inside and the rotor looked fine. I reassembled the distributor. Next I pulled the plug wires off the plugs and pulled the plugs. No water was noticed anywhere and I re-gapped the plugs and re-installed. When I tried to start the engine, it bucked and kicked as I had reversed some plug wires at the distributor cap. I changed wires around twice more with same results so decided to find a proper diagram online. I did and corrected the wiring. Now the car would not kick at all. I pulled a plug and grounded it to check for spark but no spark. I removed the dist. cap and checked for a spark directly from the coil but again no spark. I disconnected the battery for one hour to reset the ECU, but no change. I changed the coil and the car started and idled perfectly. Is this coil failure from hooking up the plugs wrong or is this coincidence? I drove the 1.5 miles to work and the car ran perfectly. When I went to drive the car about 15 minutes later (it was still warm) the misfiring began again and the check engine light came on. It flashed whenever I induced misfire by pressing the throttle harder during the ride or going up hill. I stopped the car after a mile or so and hooked up my OBD2 reader. I had a code 1399. I continued on for about 5 more miles to home and when I parked, read additional codes 300, 302, and 304. These are Random Multiple Misfire Detected, Cyl #2 Misfire Detected and Cylinder # 4 misfire detected. I heard that code 1399 usually comes up at the same time as these.

I decided to check the vacuum at idle to try and rule out a valve problem but got steady vacuum readings. I opened the radiator tank to see if I was getting bubbles or overflow when revving the engine to try and rule out a bad cylinder head or gasket. but that test was OK. I am now at a total loss and ready to bring the car to a mechanic. Car has never had it's valves adjusted. Some have posted that the foregoing might be symptoms of tight valve train but I find this too coincidental with having washed the engine. Any brilliance out there?

boostedteg909

ok so u say ur ign system is fine. id start wit a comp. test to rule out valves, hg, nd check condition of the rings. another possibility is a clogged catalytic converter. that could cause misfire under load

exb18c1

Check the output of ignition coil! It has to give you at least 25KV!It might be working with no load but no fire at loaded state.

dude_123

Check for dirty injectors, the heat range of spark plug, and a clogged CAT will cause misfire issues.