Under load, the car seems to be "spitting" at higher rpm's. this occurs under full throttle. I checked the plugs and they seem to be burning a little lean- white-ish tip with #3 & #4 having increased black soot on the plug lip(for lack of a better word).

The car sat for over three months. I've burned through enough gas now to rule that out. Additionally, it dyno'd very low Friday(291rwhp/181 ftlbs). Granted, I drove two hours to the dyno shop and only let it sit for an hour. Perhaps those are truer real-world numbers, but she doesn't quite feel the same since the accident.

I'm concerned about the source of the problem. Any help would be great. I'll provide as much info as I can. I'm not an expert by any stretch. Thanks.

 

Skip, give us some more info. I know your're Sc'd, but what other mods?

What kind of plugs are you using?

Just a noise, or is the car misfiring?

 

Comptech w/ AC, 7lbs pulley. The VAFC-II is provided feedback(rpm's, throttle %), but it is disconnected from using its settings. Other mods are PS2, navigation, amps, spe.... oh, you didn't mean those mods!

Plugs are regular copper plugs. They have 1.75 track days on them and about 600 street miles. They were put in right before my October dyno with the understanding that they would have to be replaced about every 2k-3k miles. Additionally, the ceramic part of the plugs had some rust-colored spots on them, but that wiped off. The spot where the ceramic meets the threads is slightly discolored and cannot be rubbed off- heat related, I'm sure. It doesn't seem scorched badly. I was going to replace plugs first, however, I had to take the car back in the shop this morning for the body shop to finish some things up.

I'm not sure if it's misfiring or not(I don't know exactly what one would sound like). If I did hazard a guess, I would say that it is. It feels like it's laboring hard and the sound is cyclical... it does not seem random. It definitely has to do with the engine and not something like my heatshield being loose.

 

wack that MAP sensor ...........

 

What heat range of plug are you using and what did you gap them at? If you're using too cold a heat range and/or if you have them gapped too narrow (or too wide), they may not perform well for the "presumed" service life.
I used the NGK "V-Power" plugs, one heat range colder and gapped to 0.034". I felt no difference from when I was using the stock Platinum plug or my current IK-24s. The one thing I noticed after about 1500 miles or so on the copper plugs was that they didn't look as "fresh" as the others did after 4 times that many miles. I realize that this is purely a subjective interpretation, but take it for what's it's worth.

 

.....too cold a plug would probably not look like he describes ....... wouldn't be as easy to get that "maybe too lean" look and shouldn't be giving him "i think it's missing" symptoms until it got the fouled out look.

 

I won't have the car back tomorrow, but I'm tempted to throw in my IK-24's and see if that's the ticket. Before pulling them again, I will gladly smack dat a$$, I mean MAP sensor. Trying to laugh to keep from crying.

All things combined are beginning to make me doubt that I should be making the trip cross-country. I hope things work out quickly. :keepschinup:

 

How did the curves look on the dyno plot, especially in VTEC since that is where you are experiencing the problem?

 

I'm thinking you got this all sortted out. What was the cause?

 

I STILL don't have my car back! As a result, I haven't tried anything yet.