Jesus, this had me scared shitless.

99 Civic EJ6 Sedan, D16Y7. Other than a very mild and in progress wire and cruise control tuck, it's all stock under the hood, for now.

So I was changing my fuel filter in a Walmart parking lot at 1 AM, and at some point I had moved my intake pipe for better access to... something. I made sure to follow the instructions on the write-up on the stickies, and I got everything back on. But then I went to put the intake pipe back. I felt some resistance, but I thought nothing of it. I put it at the ON position to check for leaks, but I didn't start it yet. No leaks. Woo, I got that part right! I went into the Walmart, to read an issue of Dsports and calm my nerves.

I go back outside, and start the car. It runs rough for a sec, which I expect due to fuel pressure catching up. But it doesn't catch up with itself. It keeps running rough, and I go check the filter for obvious stuff. Nothing suspicious, I go try it again, and nothing from the fuel filter.

I drive 50 feet, and the CEL starts blinking. I stop, and think it over a second, wondering what I missed.I read the write up again, and I got everything on there. I drive it for a bit, then I gun it to see about power loss, and sure enough, its there. I think about how to check for a misfire, and remember to pull spark plugs one by one to see which one doesn't affect the engine. I pull into a gas station, pop the hood, reach for the distributor, and lo and behold, the problem finds me.

I see and feel a spark go straight to my thumb, and I pull back and utter expletives, and I locate the source of the spark. Turns out, the car doesn't have a problem. The resistance from when I put the intake pipe back was the top spark plug wire being accidentally pulled out. Talk about freaking user error...

Lesson learned.
Beware of thine Intake pipe, it doth cause pandemonium in the societies that are my orbital lobes.

 

Its technical related if you ask me, he was diagnosing a misfire and gives the worthwhile advice that you've gotta be careful with an intake pipe you could dislodge a spark plug.

plus he said it in a funny sounding Shakespearian manner which is marginally entertaining in itself.

 

We've all been here.

Couldn't tell you how many times I've left something a little loose or bumped something off over the years. We're human.

Still, using Shakesperian-era dialogue is always interesting.

 

Thanks guys, I like to make my OPs funny, making people laugh is my schtick.

Also, I kinda respect that guy, BSwapped, I seen his replies to other posts, he seems to know his stuff.

 

Sounds like fun but at least you weren't raped by monkeys..........just saying.

 

So the actual lesson to take away from this is "pay attention when you're working, and don't do work at 1 in the morning in shitty lighting."

 

I lol'ed.

I don't even want to begin asking why? Glad you figured it out though

 

Sounds like GDD material to me.

Great job OP, very entertaining. In reality though, i think the Honda folks in GDD would appreciate this thread.

 

This is true. Oh, the things we take for granted.


Indeed, though I had a somewhat justified reason for doing so.


Ma doesn't like when I work on the car late at night, and I had work the next day so I wanted to just get it done. Because i sure as hell knew my lazy *** wouldn't get up early.

GDD?
'preciate the props though.

 

It's crazy's favorite H-T forum:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/general-discussion-debate-40/

 

just so others know, dont ever just unplug a spark plug on these, the coils are very good at arching over internally, plug needs to be grounded, not open circuited, if it's open, the voltage in the coil will climb higher then it takes to fire the plug, and break down the coil insulation

 

Ah, that looks... fun. I'm also kinda afraid to go there, it seems like the type of place to harbor a lot of trolling. I don't wish to be ripped a new one.

Oh my... thanks for the tip, that could have been crappy.

The CEL was on, but I went to work knowing the car ran as it should. I'm a delivery driver, so I rack up mileage. Thank God I can claim them on my taxes... but I got in the car after about 5 key cycles (I thought it took like 30) and after about 100 miles. The CEL didn't turn back on after I started it (The way it normally should). It still hasn't come on.

I'm still not sure if the CEL has just been automatically cleared or if there is still a Code without the light being on. (I read somewhere that it's possible, correct me if I'm wrong.)