Recently bought my s2k. Ive been debating on changing the top out but my check engine light went off so everything else is on hold. First it went off for misfire in all cylinders got it cleared and the light came back after a day or two. I havent gotten the code pulled the second time.

I have New NGk plugs, mobile 75w90, and honda mtf ready to go. Im hoping the plugs will solve my misfire but I might need some help tracking down the issue if it doesnt work.

Anyone have spare coils so i can swap? Also any stories or hints would help. Ive been researching the issue and some even had to go to the length of rebuilding the head/motor and I def. want to knock out all other possibities before even thinking about going that route.

Thanks
Abdul!

 

Was the car sitting for a period of time before you bought it? Bad/old gas (especially with water from condensation) can cause an intermittent misfire.

 

Here's what I went through.

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/781...#entry18522360

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/739.../page__hl__cel


Mine ended up being injectors. Good luck, it can be frustrating.

 

The car has been daily driving for a very long time. It hasnt even been spared the winters. When i first bought the car I put 87octane then burned thru half the tank and refilled with 93. then burned thru the entire tank and refilled with 93. The misfire started the day i put in the 87.. FIlled hte night before, drove in the mourning, and light came on when i was warming up the car after work.

Since then the lights been on. Previous owner never told me about a light coming on so I guess blames on my stupidity.

 

Is it running/idling smooth??

 

You can "rent" a code reader from pretty much any parts store, Pep Boys, etc for free. Use it to check the code. If you are misfiring on a particular cylindar, change the coil pack with another one and see of the error follows the coil or stays with the same cylindar. Of course, I'd do that after replacing the plugs. Just make sure they are gapped properly before installing them. And I really would use a torque wrench ot install them.

 

The idle blimps every couple of seconds when it comes down from a cold start. So starts at 2k and when it comes down to 1.3-1.2k itll start blimp/gulp/pop whatever you want to call it. Both times the code came on it was when I was idling to warm her up.

As far as the code reader. I usually just drop by an advanced auto parts on my way home from work and the guy usually reads/clears it for me.

has anyone ever done a valve adjustment and can help me? Chicago area.
Im pretty sure the valves have never been adjusted for the life of the car.

Ive been reading about hte injectors and itll will probably be next on the list after an adjustment since it looks to be an issue. espically with 110k on mine. Hopefully if everything goes well. change the top and never have a problem with the car ever again.(crossing my fingers)

 

I reccomended renting the code reader so you could have it long enough to swap the coil packs around to test if the problem is in the cylindar (injector) or follows the coil pack (then it's the coil pack.)

 

Many things can cause a misfire on the s2k. Definitely start with the plugs since you already have them on hand. The next things to try that are free to do are to clean the iac and map wack. A quick search will return hours worth of reading. I would next try a can of injector cleaner. Clear the code. If it comes back, get the valves adjusted. If you're willing to wait 2 months it can be done at the tech day and you can learn how to do it yourself at the same time. But if you wait, keep a close eye and ear on that misfire. Don't let it get worse. If that doesn't cure the misfire have the compression tested and perform a leakdown test. These can be done at the upcomming techday as well. These tests will either tell you wether you have larger issues at hand or not. After all this and compression/leak down tests comes back good, return back to the injectors. You can replace them or send them out for cleaning. There is a good place in the chicagoland area that's good for that. An injector cleaning cured a nagging misfire on a fellow members car I was working on. I forgot how much it costed for the cleaning but the turnaround time for it was about 2 days. Maybe that member can chime in with the cost of the cleaning if he sees this thread.

Do not take my advice as written law. I am only human and only supplying advice in an attemp to help. The advice I have given is what I would do if my car were in the same situation ( actually I would sign the title over to a guy named Phong first ) and the order flows from easiest/least expensive to hard/costly. I hope this helps. A misfire on this car and be a major PITA.

 

That's pretty much the same thing mine was doing, at idle you could hear the misfire, but it ran fine under load. New injectors solved my issue, try some fuel cleaner first as jeggy suggested.