I bought a 2002 new and now has just over 50,000 mi. I

 

Misfires in our car are usually caused by: 1) plugs ; 2) coil packs; 3) injectors.

Replacement plugs should be OEM unless you are turbo/SC...what kind of platinum plugs did they put in?

Rarely, you will get a misfire with a bent valve. Usually it is very hard to bend a valve just barely enough for the car to still run...but it's happened before so it can't be ruled out. Best way to tell is with a compression or leak down test. Which is what your dealer did. I doubt that 80% leak down in 1 cyl would impact all the rest...so I'm skeptical.

Personally, I would post in your regional s2ki forum to ask for a reputable shop recommendation in your area.

Ask them to do the following:
1) a valve adjustment ($100) & examine retainers for cracks
2) a leak down test after the valve adj ($50 or min shop rate)
3) check the plugs to verify they are NGK Laser Platinum PFR7G-11S (free...they have to pull the plugs to do the leak down)

If they find no problems when they do the valve adj and the leak down is normal, then you will have to bite the bullet and try changing either the injectors or coil packs. The parts for both cost about the same ~$500...expect the labor for installing coilpacks to be cheap or free if the shop supplies the coilpacks...installing the injectors will be more (maybe $100). Either one may solve the problem, so it is a crap shoot since all 4 of your cyl are misfiring.

If the leak down still shows a loss, then the shop should be able to tell if the loss is from valves or rings. Pray it is valves as that will only cost $2000-3000. If it is rings, you will need an engine rebuild.

 

My invoice lists the plugs as
06122-PCX-306 KIT, SPARK PLUG PF --- $129.09
According to the service bulliten 02-042 that seems to be right. He showed them to me before putting them in. The old ones didn't look that bad actually although one of them showed a little discoloration on the insulator.

I guess I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and let them go at it but I'll ask about the coilpacks and injectors.

I'll also check with the local forum.
thanks..

 

Your choice...but based on the dealer telling you that an issue with one cyl shown in the leak down is causing all 4 cyl to misfire makes me suspicious that they are an honest dealer. They may rebuild your head chariging you $3400 when you only need $500 of new coil packs and a $100 valve adjustment.

I would get a recommendation from your local s2ki forum of a reputable shop in your area.

 

Sorry, I didn't mention the valves were adjusted at the time the plugs were installed. I've asked for recomendations in the so. cal. forum and am waiting for a response.

thanks again.

 

Is it possible when one cylinder has a dead misfire(coil pack completely dead) that it throws the other out of sync?

I've seen that on V6 where one dead coil pack throw all 6 misfire codes + random misfire code. I'm not sure this apply to S2K tho

 

Good question. I have no idea.

Still waiting for a recommendation from the SoCal forum for a good place to take it.

 

See:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...&f=22&t=631618

for end results.