My wife's '97 accord EX has been having some rough ignition problems of late. The car has been shaking mildly during driving (being felt most at the steering wheel, but coming from engine dilemma, NOT unbalanced tires, etc...) for about 3 weeks now. Today was the worst it has ever been for her, and the check engine light came on. We took the car to Advanced Auto, scanned the code, and came up with codes P0302 "Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected", and P1399 "Manfacurer Contrl. : Ignition System or Misfire". It sounded like a simple fix to me: needed a new spark plug and/or wire for cylinder #2, and perhaps a new distributer cap and button. However, the guy at Advanced seemed to think it was a bit more complicated than that. He checked to make sure that no oil had leeked into the spark plug cylinders, to block sparking, and he said that all the cylinders looked fine (no oil in where spark plugs were sitting). When you pop the hood, the engine is shaking quite a bit at idle, much more than it usually would. You can see it. Any thoughts as to what could be the dillema here? Would a new plug/wire, etc.. fix it, or is there something else that could be preventing the spark?
I'm not an expert mechanic by any means. However, I was able to assemble the entire Lego hospital without the instructional manual by myself when I was about 8. There were several pieces left over. Anyway, I can figure out how to replace any needed parts, I just don't have enough knowledge/experience with cars to properly diagnose the problem.
Also, the guy at Advanced mentioned a national recall that was placed on these Accords back in the late 90's, that allowed all of them to be able to come back to the dealer for new plugs, wires, a cap and a rotor button. Has anyone heard about this, and can shed some light on whether they are still doing this?
Again, the tires aren't the problem. That was my first thought. So, we had a new set of tires put on the car, and properly balanced. They ride fine, but the shaking problem is obviously coming from under the hood. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
- Dan T.