Have a 1996 Honda accord. Runs well - auto. However the check engine light cane on an no one can figure out whats wrong. Code says miss fire #1 and 4. Changed all the normal stuff - plugs, wires, gas cap,alternator - light goes out for a few minutes and comes on again. Have to take for emissions in a few weeks - can't afford a different car !

 

do you ever use fuel system cleaner? Could be a gummed up injector.

 

Highly unlikely to be an injector; have you had a compression test or a cylinder leak down test performed? What kind of spark plugs did you put in, and did you change the rotor and the distributor cap?

 

 

 

We also changed the rotor and cap. Put in NGK? Plugs - went out for a few seconds and came back on. Didn't have the compression test and cylinder leak done. can ask the mechanic about that. However if either of those are a problem are they very expensive to fix?

 

Compression and leak down test are exclusively diagnostic tests; they may or may not reveal an issue. The good news is if the tests are negative, your car should be relatively inexpensive to fix.

 

 

First things to check are fuel and fire. Check that each cylinder is getting good spark @ the business end of the spark plugs and that each cylinder (combustion chamber) is getting fuel. Not just fuel to the rail.

Compression and leak down tests. Compression test will tell you if your cylinder(s) down on compression and if so, then the leak down test tells you where you are loosing it. Some times it could be as simple as valves being out of adjustment, other times it's a bit more, I.E. piston rings or bent valves.

When was the last time the valves were adjusted?

 

Had the car about 1 year - don't think the mechanic has done that - shop in my neighborhood - I''ll ask but never mentioned that.

 

If the valves were out of spec could that cause a misfire scenario?

 

Yes