I have a 2001 GSR and I got a engine code shows misfiring. Need some help on how to fix the problem. Thanks

 

How many miles you got? Is it stock? Check your plugs.

 

have a 98 that had the same problem. changed the cap, rotor, plugs, and wires . problem went away. the problem is usually the wires. if you see what looks like rust on the wire in the head, change your wires.

 

just do a complete tune up cap rotor wires and plugs .... also check your compression just to make sure ....

 

I just did a swap of a 2001 gsr engine with 32,000. The wires are new and the rotor are new. But I went through the flood last 2 weeks in LA. The water was high, up all the way to the hood. Lucy the car still runs. Now the idle speed has been high(at about 1500 rpm). The idle speed goes up and down and also when it running, the car jerks. Need some suggestion. Thanks

 

pull your spark plug wires out and see if you have water sitting in the 4 holes where the spark plugs go into the head and get a spray bottle and spray your wires and distributor cap(misting) and watch em arc if you have an open

 

yea that worked 4 me

 

I don't understand what u mean to use a spray bottle. Please help me to understand what to do. Thanks

 

When the insulation breaks down, you get arcing along the surface of the cap or wires. Let it get completely cold, after dark, turn out all the lights, take off the sparkplug cover. Start the car & look for a dull blue glow around the cap & wires. Spraying a mist of water from a windex bottle makes it easier to see.

 

if your car was in a flood, i wonder if either the throttle body or intake manifold gasket didn't get soggy or something and develop a leak. an intake air vacuum leak can cause misfiring an unsteady idle like you described.

 

How do I check the intake air vacuum leak? thanks

 

if you have some sort of carb cleaner or extremely flammable stuff, you can spray that around your intake system/vacuum lines and if your idle goes up you're getting close. Try not to spray too much or you wont be able to isolate it well enough. Good luck

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dayaftertomorrow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How do I check the intake air vacuum leak? thanks </TD></TR></TABLE>

well, first off, visually inspect all your hoses. this is easy and won't take long. next, do what dannyboy said, and concentrate around the intake manifold-to-head gasket and the throttle body-to-intake manifold gasket. it's probably one of those gaskets if i had to take a guess. anyways, if you find that a gasket is leaking, i'm sure you can find a how-to here on honda-tech about how to change it. if you can't, just PM me and i'll wall you through it personally.

 

what about a car that misfires and blows white smoke?
it ONLY does it after coming of the freeway and goes away
after sitting for about an hour. the coolant and oil are fine and no overheating...
any ideas?

 

you mean if you get off the freeway, turn it off, let it set, and start it? i'm not sure what you mean, but you are burning something. you may be able to see a slight bluish hue in the smoke which would indicate oil burning, even though it may be too little to see a difference on your dipstick, although you should be able to tell if you check once then check again in 1000+ miles. if it has NO blue in it, it's water/coolant burning. in fact, it could be an intake vacuum leak with water leaking near it and going into the hole, but that's kinda far-fetched. if you have crappy idle and shoddy power, and it smokes sometimes, you may have the beginnings of a head gasket failure. or your cylinder head may be really old and getting out of spec/tolerance. need more info. though.

 

thanks for the reply 95lstegman.
i dont let the car sit. after i get off the freeway the car starts acting up with the rough idleness, like its misfiring. this only happens after i get off the freeway. it stops and goes away after i let the car sit. then it happens again after another freeway trip.
it most likely could be the beginning of a head gasket failure. i thought that they just BLOW. but would that also explain the misfiring?

oh yeah, i got 11:1 arias pistons in there installed by the previous owner...if that makes any difference..

 

threadjacker lol j/k

 

Where are the vacuum hoses? Do you have any pics. Thanks

 

oh hell yeah that makes a difference! well, bad tuning makes high compression engines misfire, and 11:1 is high enough that it would need competent tuning. but i doubt that's the case. on the highway is when your engine will run the coolest, since it gets the best flow of the radiator, but whatever. in any case, yes, a head gasket failure will cause white smoke AND misfiring. think about it. water is getting into your engine, and coming out as steam. but water will not compress, and it doesn't power the piston downwards, it just takes up space and gets in the way of flame propegation(sp?).

and to answer dayaftertomorrow, the vacuum hoses are black hoses leading to and from the intake manifold (the big metal thing on the side of the engine farthest from the front license plate) and they lead to little sensors in that general area, mostly. check them for leaks, as vacuum leaks can cause the computer to be funny (since it relies heavily on vacuum readings), such as idle up and down all the time and also cause misfiring, since it's getting too much air, not enough fuel. this condition is especially bad b/c your engine will run extra hot, and that's a no-no.

 

thanks man. didnt meant to jack the thread.
what you said makes sense. i might get started
on the head gasket this weekend along with the
timing belt and water pump...thanks again!

 

no problem. my pleasure to help out. just trying to give somethig back to the auto world that raised me. hehe.