So I had a misfire on cylinder 1 about 2 weeks ago with flashing CEL. Took it to Honda, and they replaced the coil pack on that cylinder. After they replaced it, car was running great.

Today had a flashing CEL for a few seconds, that went solid shortly after. The car started to ride rough again, just like it did when the first coil pack went. Pulled the code, and this time it was cylinder 2 misfiring. It seems like whatever is wrong is intermittent - the flashing CEL came and went solid, this happened a few more times before i could get off the road, and the car is driving the same way (sometimes rough, but sometimes normal). Any idea if this really is another bad coil pack, or potentially something else? Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

 

tell us about the vehicle - age, miles, modifications. If the car is a bit older with some miles on it then the coils likely will start to fail one by one around the same time period. If it is a newer car with low miles then it could be something else.

I'd check the plugs first, then the coil packs, followed by the injectors. My car had 55k on the original plugs and the plugs were heavily worn when I replaced them. Gaps opened up pretty big, and this will cause misfiring. In some cases it leads to crossfiring where the voltage won't jump the gap and it runs down the outside of the plug instead causing carbon tracking on the body of the plug. This carbon can sometimes damage the coil on plug as it burns through the boot.

 

2003, 97k, only mod is a k&n filter - these coil packs are the only issues I've had with the car. Brand new plugs (replaced them with the first coil pack, because that is what i suspected first too). Thanks for your help!

 

You should buy the coil pack and install it yourself. It's as easy to change as an air filter. You just remove the four 5mm allen screws for the plug cover, then remove a 10mm bolt on the second cylinder from the radiator. Pull it up an inch and then unplug it. Drop the new one in and seal 'er up. Just don't overtighten any bolts and you should be fine.

Did you only get code P0302 or did you also get P1399?

It's perfectly normal for those to fail near 100K. I wouldn't consider this to be a problem with the car, simply the failure of a wear and tear item.

 

If you've had one coil pack go bad, it is a good indicator that the others will follow. You can replace the one now and be prepared for the other two to go, or do the remaining three.

 

yeah sounds like a normal wear and tear item for that mileage, so count on them all going in the near future. Like listed above they are easy to change out yourself in the future.

 

I had the 1399 too, didn't mention it, but glad you asked.

If this fixes the problem again, I'm going to go ahead and order two more packs.

Thanks guys!

 

Check the FS section for CP's. way cheaper used than BNIB. Just make sure to ask how may miles on them.

 

You can always swap #2 coil pack with another if you want to verify it is bad before buying one.

 

I swapped and eventually replaced #2 pack, and it fixed it. Thanks for the help guys!