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have you checked for a signal from the ignition switch to the starter? could have a bad ignition switch. have you looked over the wiring for anything that would cause high resistance? im not sure if that has a relay for the starting system or not but if it did it would either be under the hood or there is a relay cluster under the dash forward and slightly to the left of the shifter. theres a cover that goes across the bottom of the dash thats held in with some phillips screws. it should be right behind that.
is the cel currently on? any current codes? the fuel trims look acceptable. have you tried cleaning the maf sensor (if it has one)? you could try an injector cleaning. could have one or 2 that are slightly sticky maybe staying open just hair too long. another thing that gets over looked sometimes is the cooling system. very important. it may go into closed loop but if the t-stat isnt reaching the temp its supposed to, or if the coolant temp sensor isnt working properly, the computer might think the car isnt up to temp and will add more fuel to bring the engine up to temp. intake air temp sensor can sometimes do the same thing. you mentioned a short sudden drop out from the tps causing a rich condition at the same moment. its also a possibility. it could also be the o2 sensor itself.
there is a wheel speed sensor ring inside that you have to be careful about. you dont have to do anything with it just dont knock it around while youre working. pull the dust cap and nut of and pull the bearing assembly out. put the new one on, spindle nut (should get a new one) tighten to 173 ft-lbs and install dust cap.
ive never used “motor quiet” but i have put 1/4-1/2 quart atf in with a fresh oil change and run it till then next oil change. ive seen some pretty decent results with that. it all depends on what’s causing the noise, how bad the problem is and so on. it may be something that an oil additive wont do anything about, like worn parts.
there are 4 seals that go around the plugs, 1 for each plug. they work with the main valve cover gasket to keep oil inside the valve cover. you would have to pull the valve cover off which, if i remember right, isnt too bad of a job (im assuming 2.3L?) to replace the main valve cover gasket and the 4 smaller gaskets for the plugs.
you probly shouldnt try stretching it with a floor jack cause if something were to happen youre stuck with a useless piece of rubber and have to buy a new one. a lot of times newer belts ride slightly higher on the pulley due to the ribs being taller, but by a very small amount. as the belt gets older the ribs wear down making it ride lower. kind of like tire tread. make sure the belt is routed correctly and the alternator is tipped back all the way. hold the 2 belts together and stretch them out horizontally in front of you. if the old belt sags more than an inch below the new belt, its probly the wrong belt.
fuel pump- there is a relay in under the hood that powers the fuel pump for 2 seconds with key on engine off, and is powered all times with engine running. that relay may not be switching properly. try swapping it with a similar relay next to it like a horn relay. if it works properly replace the relay, if not then what ever is supposed to tell the relay to shut off isnt doing its job.
the code are both cylinder position codes. check the connections at the distributor. if the connection is tight and clean, youre more than likely gonna need a distributor. the position sensors are built into the distributor and cant be replaced by themselves.
atf- no tranny fluid should look brown. it should be a bright clean red/pink color. use honda atf or atf that meets honda specs.
power steering- honda’s are very picky about the fluid you put in. use ONLY honda fluid or fluid that is made specifically for honda. have the system flushed and filled the proper fluid. the pump may already be toast so thatll need to be replaced along with the flush.
if the code that shows up is just a misfire code and not specifically a coil code, then you could be dealing with many different things. i was thinking that the code that was coming up was an ign coil fault code like a p0351. if you dont have access to a scanner. just start with the basics. visually inspect plugs, connections, hoses, clean the mass air flow sensor with MAF cleaner, make sure all the intake duct work is tight and sealed up, inspect and clean idle air control valve and its path through the throttle body, and clean the throttle plates. if you have access to a scanner, get the latest codes (if there are any) and check out some of the data like fuel trim, o2 sensors, and idle air control counts. it can sometimes be pretty tricky to diagnose a misfire without a scanner and some experience especially when it doesnt occur all the time.
if it was a coil code like a P0351, it trips when the computer sees a fault in the circuit for the coil such as a driver circuit short to ground, a completely open circuit, bad connection or a bad coil. it shouldnt come on from a vacuum leak. usually with unmetered air causing a miss youll see a misfire code P0300 sometimes paired with a mass air flow code and maybe some others depending on the situation. its possible that you have a vacuum problem causing a rough idle but i dont think it would be related. the best way to tell is too look at the fuel trims while the problem is occurring (if you have the ability). if you have a high positive value, you may have a vacuum leak but if theyre within a reasonable tolerance, id keep looking into the ignition system. otherwise without a scan tool, youre pretty much guessing.
the rough idle shouldnt do damage to the coils. im thinking your problem is within the ignition system. the plugs may have been replaced before but sometimes youll see people throw in the cheapest plugs they can find just to be able to say they put new plugs in, and on a few awesome occasions its the wrong plug completely so id definitely look into those since theyre easy to get to. as for the air fuel ratio, the only way to tell is with a scan tool. if you have access to one youd have to look at the short term and long term fuel trim while the problem is occuring. a good value should be slight fluctuation between + and – numbers very close to 0. the closer the percentage is to 0 the better but anything within 10% +/- is pretty acceptable. it would also be a good time to see if there are any codes stored in the pcm.
these cars are no strangers to coil issues. when you say you went through the coils i assume you mean you replaced them. have you looked at the plugs at all? theyre more than likely not the direct cause of the rough idle but bad plugs can cause the new coil packs to fail prematurely, especially since theyre known for coil issues to begin with. also im not sure of the brand of coils you installed but cheap coil sets usually dont agree in these cars. i would recommend installing high quality aftermarket coils if you haven’t already. these cars also dont use plug wires, they use a coil over plug design and arcing is not as common with these as they are with regular plug wires. however if they do fail and you happen to find arcing (most likely from the lower part of the boot) you would wind up replacing the coils anyway since in most case they are a part of the coil.
One last thing to mention is using dielectric grease inside the coil boots. moisture likes to build up in the plug valleys and can also screw with the coils. using the grease keeps moisture away from the connection and keeps it from corroding.
if you are just a diy’er right now, id probably pass on a leak detector. a good one runs pretty high price wise. you wont get your money out of it. you can diagnose just about every a/c leak with a black light and some dye. if you plan on making a career out of wrenching, then its probably worth it to buy one since you’ll use it more often and with the time it will save you in a shop, it wont take long to get your moneys worth out of it. mine has paid for itself with the amount of time its saved me. i own a Robinair infrared leak detector and it works nice. it was on the spendy side (i think i paid 350). i don’t usually use it as a stand alone tool, i use it with other a/c diagnostic tools like my black light. i found it most useful in areas like under the dash where a black light is hard to use. in my opinion i don’t think its worth buying a cheap one. cheaper ones tend not to be as sensitive to leaks that are extremely small. if you want to get one, spend a good chunk of money on one.
if you are just a diy’er right now, id probably pass on a leak detector. a good one runs pretty high price wise. you wont get your money out of it. you can diagnose just about every a/c leak with a black light and some dye. if you plan on making a career out of wrenching, then its probably worth it to buy one since you’ll use it more often and with the time it will save you in a shop, it wont take long to get your moneys worth out of it. mine has paid for itself with the amount of time its saved me. i own a Robinair infrared leak detector and it works nice. it was on the spendy side (i think i paid 350). i don’t usually use it as a stand alone tool, i use it with other a/c diagnostic tools like my black light. i found it most useful in areas like under the dash where a black light is hard to use. in my opinion i don’t think its worth buying a cheap one. cheaper ones tend not to be as sensitive to leaks that are extremely small. if you want to get one, spend a good chunk of money on one.
i finally got a chance to look at it yesterday. it was the brake switch. the first thing i had him do was hit the brake to see if the lights came on but they were all out. im not sure why it was making the cruise light flicker but i put a new one in and now it works fine. thanks for the replies and the link.
i finally got a chance to look at it yesterday. it was the brake switch. the first thing i had him do was hit the brake to see if the lights came on but they were all out. im not sure why it was making the cruise light flicker but i put a new one in and now it works fine. thanks for the replies and the link.