Ok, short and sweet: Got a call from my brother, his car is "no bueno"

1996 Honda Accord EX
120,XXX miles
Timing Belt and W/P have not been changed (85% positive on that)
Absolutely no mods to car at all


CEL light has been on for a o2 sensor for a while, thought thats all it was...well yesterday it started blinking at him. He said car felt a little sluggish. On highway it was fine but in city driving it was struggling. No white smoke, def not head gasket.

The CEL's hes throwing:

P0304 - Cylinder 4 misfire
P0302 - Cylinder 2 misfire
P0401 - Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) insufficient flow
P1300 - Manufacturer Control Ignition System or Random Misfire


He said today it got worse. Seemed "awfully sluggish and hesitant" as he described it. Which is when i told him its cause your running on 2 cylinders ***....


Ive read a couple of other posts and found a WHOLE SLEW of different answers....

some said they changed plugs....all good....
some said they changed plugs, distributor, injectors, wires, coils.....still no good...same codes....


I need to figure out what the hell to do before i drive 130 miles since he knows about as much as my grandma about cars....thanks for any help guys...

Dc2

 

please help....anyone?

 

ummm...yea

maybe a clogged Catalytic Converter. also try replacing the EGR valve.

thats all i got

 

meh dont replace the EGR. its doing its job. but yea look into that clogged catalytic converter. and replace the O2 sensor...unless its not plugged in.

 

I'm pretty sure the sluggish part and random miss fires Is the distributor. change it out that or the spark plug wires. has to be one of those 2 things.

 

a clogged catalytic converter can cause major problems. like tooo much exhaust back-pressure, causing exhaust to leak back into the cylinders and mis-fires, even burnt exhaust valves. i wouldnt advise driving it till you fix these problems

 

do ignition tuneup (plugs, wires, cap, rotor etc..)

and as others said check o2 sensors and make sure CAT isn't clogged.

I know it's probably not related to the problem but that timing belt needs to be changed ASAP, my bro. in law never changed his timing belt on his integra and it snapped a little over 120k. Actually, it might be a good idea just to check to make sure the timing is still ok. The belt is so old it might have skipped a tooth. Either way it's just another thing to rule out if you can verify it is timed correctly.

 

The EGR system problem may be causing all the other codes. Here's how to troubleshoot:

 

yes the EGR code is prolly being pulled bc the exhaust gas is clogged inside the pipe bc of the CAT. but yes it may be a good idea to clean the EGR valve too.

 

I think that a clogged cat is unlikely to be causing the four CEL codes.

 

so i should spray carburetor cleaner into the EGR port off the intake manifold? Or clean the valve? im confused? this would make the cylinders misfire? how from back pressure? im confused....

 

As stated in the diagram, clean both the IM port leading to the EGR and the internal EGR passage way.

 

if you are going to change the distributor and so on... make sure you get a rotor button. a burn't up rotor button will make your s*** go crazy
good luck!

 

this could seriously be causing both cylinders to misfire? should i change the plugs as well?

 

and the best way to clean the internal EGR passageway?

 

Yes

 

So im going to head out to him on Saturday morning....im going to change:

- Spark Plugs (what size deep socket do i need?)
- Ignition Wires
- Dizzy Cap
- Rotor Button (any tricks involved here?)
- Clean EGR Valve

A place quoted him $300 to do the work at a local shop...i found all the parts for under $100 so im gonna be a good brother i guess and go do it for him....

im hoping this fixes the problem....any other advice or things i should look out for while im there?

 

Sounds like a very logical plan. I would recommend that you clean the EGR port and passage first, as you may find that this solves all the problems.

 

should i remove it from the intake manifold to clean it? or clean it in place and clean the ports on the manifold?

 

I believe the EGR port and passage can be cleaned in place. Just remove the lift sensor and valve. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

thanks Ron...what size deep socket do i need to get the spark plugs out....and when im removing the rotor on the dizzy, i just crank it until i can get to the screw, and them remove screw, take off rotor, and put new one on in exact position...correct? same thing with dizzy cap...i just need to label which wires go to which port on the cap....

 

5/8" deep socket for the spark plugs. The socket must be thin walled to get into and out of the spark plug tube.

All other points seem correct. Just flick the ignition switch minimally when turning the rotor. Extensive cranking can blow the coil when the cap is off.

 

thanks Ron!

 

Update us whenever you head out there and work on it. We need to know what fixes the problem for future readers!

 

Thanks for all of your help guys.....you would not believe me if i told you how clogged all of those ports were....holy ****....3 of the 4 ports were completely clogged...i cleaned all ports in the EGR valve, i also took off the EGR Plate that was underneath the fuel rail, bolted to the top of the manifold....all CEL's are gone, and car seems to be MUCH MUCH better...i also changed the spark plugs. Thanks for all of your help guys.. If anyone has any questions about how or what i did just shoot me a PM and ill give you all of the details....