ogtripleog

99 civic dx hb. 270,000 km on the odometer.

The engine miss fires for a short period of time after a cold start. Just for six or seven seconds. If i press the accelerator, it seems to stop miss firing more quickly (I have to test it some more to be certain). This doesn't happen during a warm start. The engine does burn some oil between oil changes. Otherwise the engine still runs like a top - even after the miss firing that occurs after cold start up stops. This just recently began happening.

The cap/rotor are 30,000 km old. The plugs and wires are less than 10,000 km old.

The engine does throw a CEL. The codes are P0300, P0301, P0302.

Are these symptoms of a failing coil, or Ignition control module (igniter?)? I'd appreciate any advice.

Former User

Clean the contact points in the distributor cap and on the rotor.

Also check whether the EGR valve, chamber and ports are clogged with carbon.

ogtripleog

The engine is a D16Y7.

The problem looks like it may be intermittent. It didn't miss fire on start up this morning.

I'll pick up a new cap/rotor/plugs just to be sure.

I'm trying to figure out where the EGR valve even is on my engine.

Former User

It's shown in the diagram I posted, but a D16Y7 does not have an EGR system. I thought you had a D16Y5 engine, which does have an EGR system.

Definitely start with a tune up. When was the fuel filter last replaced?

Here's how to test the coil:

ogtripleog

The fuel filter was replaced about 55,000km ago.

The prongs inside of the distributor cap that correspond to the spark plug wires from cylinders 1 & 2 were very visibly worn down. The cap was definitely in need of replacement.

It starts up much better when cold now. Hopefully that was the only problem.

I'm still going to pull the coil and test it when I have a chance.

Thanks for posting the testing procedure.

I'll be back if I have any more problems.

ogtripleog

Back to this subject.

I got a CEL blink(misfire) and a stored code P0302(cylinder 2 misfire) again. The misfire wasn't anywhere near as bad as it was before.

As an addition, the car has been consuming coolant very slowly for slightly less than a year or so. It's been something that I've been keeping an eye on.

The coolant was flushed and replaced along with the rad cap, at the dealership summer 2009 and ran hot shortly after. I figured the tech may not have bled it correctly, so I added coolant and bled the air out. It happened again maybe six months ago - and then again tonight. The coolant is still clear and not contaminated. The oil isn't contaminated either. No coolant leaks that I can see.

I'm wondering now if the loss of coolant could be related to the misfire. I'm thinking maybe a blown head gasket - exacerbated by the worn out ignition parts?

When I pulled the cap to add coolant this time around, I was looking for air bubbles. It looks as though there are some there. Buy I'm not sure if that was just regular splashing of the coolant.

I'm thinking about getting a radiator pressure tester, but I'm wondering if I'd be better off doing a leak down test. Any suggestions appreciated

ogtripleog

Bump.

I just did a compression check & the compression is very even at 150 across the board.

I don't have the tools to do a leakdown test, or a rad pressure test at home. So, I'm thinking about just picking up a head gasket and spending the time to swap it out.

I'm thinking it's either the head gasket, crack in block/head, or an external coolant leak that I can't see - as far as diagnosis goes.

What are my odds that it is the head gasket? The car has run hot a few times and been run with advanced ignition timing as well. There's no mixing of coolant/oil in the crank case or the radiator.

Former User

I think pressure testing the cooling system and doing a leak down test are what's needed next. You may be able to rent the necessary tools from an auto parts store.

ogtripleog

I had a shop perform a leakdown test for me this afternoon. Cylinder one did have a small leak. I had them pull the head as well - too much to do in a condo parking garage.

Here are the results. According to the tech, there are signs of leaking around cylinders one and two of the head gasket.

Cylinder two looks to be the most washed of all of them. Any input on the condition of the headgasket?

ogtripleog

More pictures:

ogtripleog

More Pictures:

ogtripleog

Last of the pictures:

jlowens76

Bringing this back from the dead to find out...Did the headgasket fix the cold start misfire issues? I'm having cold start misfire issues and have checked everything, adjusted valves and still misfiring for 10-20 seconds when cold. Searched all over, up and down, and only finding people with similar problems but abandoned threads