Newbie here - I was on a road trip with my rock solid, well (self)maintained low mileage (56k) 2008 Accord V6 when all of a sudden while speeding up on the highway going about 60 MPH to about 70MPH the car jerked and the CEL came on and flashed but otherwise the car ran fine

I had about 30 miles to go until my exit. I got to my exit and then the car ran like it was going to stall on local roads. I rerouted to a nearby (11 miles away) auto parts chain. They pulled the code(s)

P0300
P0303
P0306

I bought a full set of 6 new plugs and tools to replace them since I was 170 miles away from home.

#3 was beyond foul, it had burnt oil crud and was drenched in oil. There was also oil in the coil.

#6 seemed normal for 56k miles.

#2 had a little bit of oil on the plug but otherwise looked fine.

The rest looked fine (consistent with #6)

This is my daily driver (short trips around town and to and from the train station). Only recently Have I been going on highway trips as I bring the kids to their after school activities which is getting further and further away each year. And this is the first 150+ mile trip of mostly highway driving in years when the mis-fire happened.

I replaced the plugs and the car ran fine and the CEL went away after a few cycles. It has been running fine but I pulled #3 when I got home and it’s already very black and is starting to have oil crud build up on it and was soaked in oil. A misfire is only a few 100 or 1000 miles away at this point.

I am the the original owner and I was never notified of the extended warranty though I don’t know if that would have been relevant as I did not have this issue until now which is 2 years past the extended 8 years.

I called American Honda and got a case number but they are not willing to cover 100% of the cost even as they were aware of my history with Honda vehicles (I have owned 6 to date), they did say they may partially cover it but I have to bring it to a Honda service center for a diagnostic first (at my expense)

I am assuming the worst and I suspect I am looking at a very costly repair. I’ve read several strings on this and my issue is not for a lack of maintenance- I over maintain, frequently changing oil with Mobile 1 5-20 and Honda oil filter (until they switched to Fram) I now use Wix. I change the transmission fluid every 3rd oil change along with the engine air and cabin filter.

Right now I have it parked on a slope, on ramps, on a jack to get the cylinders as level as I can get it and put about a shot of Marvel Mystery Oil in 1-3 for a soak (plugs removed) It’s been soaking for over 24 hours. I have the S-VCM controller on order.

Am am I wasting my time and money? Can the Soak and S-VCM controller resolve this issue or because I have oil in 2 of my cylinders I too late for that?

Do do I have any recourse on this because of my low miles? I am getting the sense that the best I may get is a 25% discount off. Which is still very expensive. Or nothing at all and I am out the diagnostic cost and I labeled my vehicle as an engine issue which will affect trade in. I was hoping to pass this car down to my Son when he becomes of age. I never talked about selling or trading it in.

It kills me to have to pay anything for a flaw like this and I feel am being penalized for my low mile usage.


I am just trying to prepare myself for the worst. Let me have it?

Thanks all.