Marylander Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 My wife's 97 Honda got a CEL the other day. I borrowed an OBD scanner and got the code indicating a #3 cyl misfire. I pulled the plug and I thought it looked OK. Since the wires were from 2002 and the car probably hasn't had new plugs or wires since then, or about 60K miles, I decided to replace them. Taking the old plugs and wires out I noticed that the #3 plug was more silver where as the other three were more golden/bronzed. And the #3 wire had a white-ish discoloration to it while the other three were more rubbery and just dirty. Anyone have any idea why this might be? The car has 120K miles on it but seems to be running fine. There is also a slight knock that we can't seem to resolve, though I don't know if it's related. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-V8V Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 See what you get for not buying American :D:D :patriot: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11chevz71 Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 See what you get for not buying American :D:D :patriot: yeah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marylander Posted October 11, 2009 Author Share Posted October 11, 2009 Come on now, I'm looking for real answers here. And in my defense, she had the car before I met her, OK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11chevz71 Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Come on now, I'm looking for real answers here. And in my defense, she had the car before I met her, OK? Sorry cant help you rich, Just geting on your case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marylander Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 Sorry cant help you rich, Just geting on your case I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70'sChevyGirl Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 My husband thinks the wire might have arched somehow from heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrUcKeR Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 I'm gonna ask some of my Honda friends about this. I'll let you know what they say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMADreamer Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 maybe this will help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memphis Senior Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 They look normal to me. Hard to tell from a photo though. Looks like they might be a tad white. In which case you might be a heat range to hot. Top right photo above after the norman plug. How many miles on them? Was she having any problems? Overheating, pinging? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crowvet Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 The other 3 wires have oil residue on them. Probably from a distributor o-ring seepage or leak, or possibly a valve cover gasket or cam plug seeping oil. # 3 is just clean, probably positioned on the cap away from the oil leak source. oil will also make the wires feel more rubbery. # 3 is your normal wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrUcKeR Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Those charts are usually used to solve problems across all plugs, not just one cylinder. But I am glad you posted it. I get to refresh my memory on plug conditions now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrUcKeR Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Response #1 (from a guy who builds badass Honda engines for a hobby) You can use a noid light to see if the injector is getting a signal. You can use a multimeter to measure the resistance of the plug wire. You can throw some fresh plugs in, reset the light, and see if the code comes back. I would do a little more diag before spending $$ and throwing parts at it. Response #2 Throw a timing light on the number 3 plug wire, rev it up, and if you see the timing light flicker out of sequence or the light quits flashing you will know it's spark related. Response #3 Replace plugs and wires.... Response #4 (also a Honda guy, drag races a an Integra) Those plugs and wires look terrible. * Replace plugs and wires * Reset ECU (pull the ecu fuse and back up fuse in engine compartment or pull battery cable off for a couple min) * If CEL comes back, trying moving the injector to a different cylinder and see if the problem follows the injector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marylander Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 Thanks for all the replies so far. I did change the plugs and wires and reset the CEL. Si far it seems to be running OK. I'm not too terribly worried about it as we're going to be selling the car soon, but I'm curious as to what's causing it. The funny thing is that the threaded part of the #3 plug was so much cleaner than the other 3, making me think that cylinder wasn't/isn't operating the same as the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewy Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Those plugs looked pretty good. May be running a bit rich but not bad enough to worry about. A good set of NGK's and good silicon wires will go a long way! I always put a dab of anti-seize on my plugs threads and then use di-electric grease on the connections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDude Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 The car could have 120,000 miles on those plugs and wires, either way they look good (hard to tell sometimes about color with a picture than seeing them in person). I always put a dab of anti-seize on my plugs threads and then use di-electric grease on the connections. I do the same thing and have never had any problems with removing the plugs or plug wires. Especially if you ever have to remove them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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