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Are these ignition coils cooked? Sorry if the pics are huge (pics at the bottom).
I've been having problems recently on my 2012 Civic (150,000 miles):
Weak acceleration, lack of power when accelerating, car shaking when idle / stopped, slightly louder engine noise.. sometimes when starting the ignition it sounds like it's not gonna start but does.. but 90% of the time it starts right up.. never had a "no start" condition.
Never had a check engine light and no codes are stored at all.
I found a tear in my air intake boot directly after the MAF and replaced it thinking this could be causing some problems. The problems seemed to get better for a day but they're back now.
I replaced all four spark plugs with brand new ones, no luck. But when doing this I noticed all four ignition coils had this identical appearance.. brown soot all over them. Obviously it doesn't look good but is it really cause for concern?
I did a spark test using a spark tester (AutoCraft Ignition Tester) and all four coils had the same result-- there was a spark although it looked weak. Very very thin, thinner than a strand of hair, and white. The spark wasn't consistent though, sometimes it would seem like 4-5 sparks per second, then 3-4, then back to 4-5.
Any ideas? Is it worth replacing coils or should I check elsewhere first?
I heard it could be my battery (need to replace it soon anyway) not sending enough voltage to the alternator, which could be creating a weak spark? Thus why there is no CEL, because it's a spark but very weak..?
P.S. it looks like oil all around the dipstick but it's just dirt, pics are deceiving.
That's a lot of miles for a 3yr car. Try replacing them it can't hurt it.
Thanks just ordered four new ones from Majestic Honda site. I'm thinking those little white specks are burn marks indicating a failing coil but not 100% sure. Either way it's time to replace.
I don't think the battery is bad unless he was in extreme cold or heat. The average battery last 5 years. Again that's a lot of miles. I think a tune up should help him. Make sure you filters are changed also.
Pretty impressed you did that many miles in that short amount of time. My car is a 06 and I just hit 161k today.