plokivos

2002, 93k miles. No mods whatsoever to the engine or exhaust. Pretty much stock (LOVE THIS CAR). Always maintained at good honda dealership its entire life. All major services done at Honda dealerships. Not raced for 4 years, because it's my daily driver.

So, coming home from work, stuck in DC traffic, it happens. I notice that throttle dumb down and can't accelerate. Check Engine light is blinking (uh oh, bad), and I can smell gas burning from exhaust and interior. I pull over, visually inspect the car. There are no leaks, no loose sensors. Rev up a bit, sounds like not all cylinders are firing (that intermittent engine sound that sounds like an old truck). Listen for knock, and no knock. At this point, I know something has either happened to the spark plugs or coil pack or 02 sensor. Get on good ole S2ki for a minute, and yep, spark plugs or coil pack. All signs are similar.

Limp mode to the worst Honda dealership in tri state area, because it's closest. Mind you, it's the DC traffic, so nobody notice how slow I'm going. No autozone or pepboys nearby to pull the code also.

They test the spark plugs, and coil pack. They feed me some bull, then I show them I'm not some idiot that will hand them my card for easy repair. They go retest. First it was cylinder 1, 2, 3, but second time it was 2, 3, 4. Can't believe what they're saying. I ask for codes, and they say it's P0302, 303, 304. I ask them, "is that all the codes?". Service guy says, "yes", which I know it's not true, since when this happens it usually throws some other codes along with it. I don't care, because those are the important ones, and other codes are bi-product from misfire.

They quoted me something like $500 for just replacing one coil pack. I've done coil packs before, and it takes 10 minutes, along with changing out spark plugs. I drive home on limp mode, since it's not that far.

Question:

1. Would having bad #3 coil effect #2, and #4 as well? I think that's feasible. They said they tested it, but don't know what they did.
2. What is that online place that sells good OEM parts for cheap?
3. Any alternative to OEM coil pack?

This is for 2002. I know they have different ones for different years. I found OEM pack for $89 each on Amazon, which I can overnight it tomorrow along with the spark plugs (mind as well, although it was changed out at around 14k miles), and replace it out. But I'm not 100%, if I should replace all 4 out or not, just to be on the safe side.

Thanks for your help!


UPDATE: Thanks to all your curiosity regarding coil packs, S2ki community as whole, I was able to save $280 by buying K20 coil pack by reading one of the older threads on this forum.

Few things to contribute from me:

1. It was #3 pack. It was brown at the end tip of the coil pack where it touched the spark plugs.

2. The other ones were about to go as well, from looks of it, so I was glad I changed them out

3. Having one coil pack going bad can effect the other coil packs around it. This is because the engine starts to shake a lot, which makes those around it not spark correctly or the ECU thinks the engine is about to blow, so it'll pull timing, and do whatever it can to retard it. This is what I read online from different cars, different forums, and same problems. I don't know if it's true, but I think it's a good safety feature, nevertheless.

4. Tip: make sure you take a silver Sharpi to write down what is what, so you don't get coil packs confused.

5. It took 10 minutes to change all four packs. Piece of cake. Spark plugs are coming in monday, so I will change them.

6. The Check Engine light is still on. I will pull code tomorrow, and clear. It's probably nothign.

7. Engine did knock slightly at cold start with bad coil pack. Not bad, but not good either. Will probably do a compression check, just to make sure. This engine will be rebuilt anyways, but I know it's pretty strong.

Honda dealer charged me $65 to diagnose the problem. Estimated $600 for 1x oem coil pack replacement. They charged additional $32 per spark plugs, not including labor.

That's probably close to $800, including labor at the dealership.

I paid $80 for 4x K20 coil pack used with low miles. 4x OEM spark plugs for $8 each ($32 + free shipping), and did the work myself (10 minutes- so far). Total: $112

Savings: $688 (est.)


After installing the new coil pack, everything was smooth. Took it out for a quick, slow drive, and everything is all back to normal.

Thanks guys,

plokivos

also, found a set of 4 for $150

http://www.1aauto.com/2000-03-honda-...FUMF7AodL2UAsg

Thoughts? Info? Advice?

Mike21

a bad coil in one cylinder won't affect the other cylinders. any other codes it threw might help narrow down the cause.

plokivos

Probably go to autozone tomorrow morning and pull the code. I was going to do that anyway, since I don't really trust this particular dealership.

Just ordered one coil pack, and 4 OEM spark plugs. It'll be here Thursday, so let's see what happens after I change #3. Then if it doesn't work, I'll let you know which dealer told me this.

plokivos

Just one more: https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/844...fo-coil-packs/

So, I cancelled my AP1 coilover for $89 each plus shipping, and went got a K20 set of 4 coilover (used) for $70.

Just hope this helps someone else out. I'll post results. But that above thread is very helpful.

PanteraKitty

Majestic Honda shows coil packs at $98.81 each.

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...=IGNITION+COIL

plokivos

Bought k20 coilpack (4) for $80 shipped. This is same as ap2.


Bought ngk spark plugs for $8 each on amazon. Got tools, will take 10min to change them all out.

I use to change copper plugs on evo every 3000 miles.

plokivos

Will update with pix, this weekend. Plus maybe coilover install

MR.T

Hey buddy, I think you mean coil pack.. Coilover is a suspension part.

MR.T

Reset the ecu

Run the car, hopefully it continues to run like crap

Pull each coil pack, one at a time. If no change in running condition, it's likely that you may have found the problem.

Turn engine off

From that point, pull out the corresponding spark plug and inspect, also compare the bad cyl plug to the rest.


If your coil packs check out ok and you've installed new plugs(get the ngk's from the dealer, the gap is exact in those) and you're still running bad, I'd move on to a compression test.

Comp test ok,
Leak down test ok,
Then Do a valve adjustment.

Still misfiring, look at injectors.

If you haven't done a valve job or changed the spark plugs in a while, those are both things that you need to do anyways.