I had the classic shaking/stalling syndrome when car was cold. Had valves checked and adjusted by mechanic and that problem solved completely. Can start right up and take off in the coldest of weather. However I still have issues where at times the engine will skip accompanied by a shake, typically while idling at a light or stalled traffic.

Could it still be maybe the valves weren't adjusted quite right or something else? Mechanic said all intake valves were in spec but outlet valves were nearly closed. I hope there is not other secondary damage to the engine. For kicks and grins I ran a couple of Lucas fuel injection cleaners thru the system but to no avail. If it was due to an unrelated issue such as bad coils, wouldn't it throw an engine code?

I'm pretty dismayed by this all. Hope the engine doesn't have a serious issue. It's pretty unnerving now. Thinking maybe of bringing back to the dealer (where service manager first told me the valves were self-adjusting) and have them recheck the valve clearance in case independent mechanic didn't set them right.

 

Do you have your own basic socket set, hammer, and some PB Blaster (spray on rusted bolts to loosen)

I think a good place to start would be the exhaust system.

Have someone rev it while you have your hand in front of your muffler tip. Should feel smooth and strong with increasing revs.

Then look at your hand. Is it covered in crap? Time to go fill teh tank up with QUALITY gas. This does not mean 93 octane. QUALITY means from a reputable station.

If its clean, or feels WEAK, I would take the catalytic converter off. It will have a tightly installed O2 sensor in it that needs either removal, or unclip the wiring if there is room to do so.

Check and see if its clogged up

 

Coilpacks with problems don't always throw a code. How many miles on the car?

 

This morning after starting the car and again after arriving at work, I held a white piece of paper in front of the exhaust. It seems to be coming up clean. I did fill the tank up with 93 octane but it was at the local Getty where I usually get gas. I'll try at the local Shell instead. "Maybe" it was not quite as bad when I had the higher octane gas but the problem appears episodic in nature. When I had the valve adjustment issue, the problem was worse when car was cold and got better once warmed up. This periodic stutter appears to happen more when the car is warm. Also sometimes the stutter/car shaking is very slight and at other times, the car gives a much stronger shake like it got hit with a gust of wind.

Could it possibly be a valve that's sticking (do cars still have that issue)? As mentioned when mechanic adjusted valves, he mentioned outlet valves were pretty much closed.

The car has 77K miles on it. I'm not feeling too good right now about the engine reaching old age like my Toyota Corolla did (220K miles).

 

This is exactly where my thoughts went.

I JUST rolled 75K on my '08 and have adjusted my valves twice. I also PUSH my Fit and have the redline up 1.5K over stock.

I have had an occasional judder and shake at hot or cold idle. This last Sat, coming off the freeway, the idle became incredibly rough and the CEL began to flash. I tried to pull any codes via scan gauge, and then my Flash Pro. NOTHING. I already had a new set of Denso IK-22 plugs ready to go in, but at this point I am 99.9% sure that it is the coil packs giving up the ghost. It's the only thing that explains the intermittent, and both hot and cold idle issues. I will be replacing all 4 at the same time with the OE manufacturer new items. Sucks to drop $200 or so, but it's a well documented and discussed issue here on the boards and I am confident it is my issue.

 

I'm thinking I might as well wing it and replace the coil packs. I'm not a mechanic but have a friend who will help me out so I assume replacing them is a pretty straight forward process? Is Bernardi Honda probably a decent place to purchase them?

Funny coming home from work tonight, I'm in stop and go traffic for five or ten minutes at a red light and car behaved fine. Then I'm at a stop light for 30 seconds and the car puts out two quick little shutters.

 

As long as you can get 4 for around $200 then its a decent deal. There is a DIY on here for replacement and it only takes basic hand tools and maybe an hour of your time.

Mine does EXACTLY that. 30 min of traffic no problem. 30sec at idle at a stop light and its blinking the CEL

 

May I ask for a link to the DIY? I just did a search and can't find it. I found a DIY on valve clearance adjustment but nothing on replacing the coil packs.

 

Look for a spark plug DIY. Have to remove the coilpacks to do those

 

Wifes 08' still on origonal coil pac's @ 140,000. Lucky I suppose and runs like a top.

 

Very simple locate them behind the engine.

Disconnect the wires leading to them by pushing in on the tab.

Take out one 10 mm wrench sized bolt from each.

Wiggle and turn them off the plugs.

Re-install. Can be put back in any order they are not position specific.

 

I didn't catch how many miles on your Fit but if its at least 40k I'll bet on the plugs and coil packs needing replacement. I'd start with new plugs first though.

 

Interesting the coil pack has been replaced. Does this indicate Honda recognized a problem with the originals?

Honda Part: COIL ASSY., PLUG TOP

Part NO.: 30520-PWC-003
Replaced By:
30520-PWC-S01

 

Food for thought too, should I just buy one or two at a time and swap out until I find the problem or with 77K miles on the car is better just to bite the bullet and replace all four at once?

 

Replace them all. I had the problem crop up at 42k and the replacement coils I got from rock auto took care of it.

 

I would probably do what mahout suggested, get a set of plugs and try those first, then replace the whole set of coil packs.

 

I should have mentioned that I replaced the plugs back when I was first troubleshooting the valve clearance issue.

I just ordered four coils from Bernardi Honda. They are local to where I am and have a good reputation and good prices. I first called the guy to ensure they were in stock. He stated to order quick as they had limited stock and they sell a lot of these. He was knowledgeable on the part and knew that it had been replaced due to issues with factory original.

Now it's nice they were replaced but why wouldn't Honda offer a recall or offer to pay for replacement? I had a Subaru of which had a known wheel bearing issue and I ended up having replaced three times. I believe the problem is fixed on the newer models but it put a sour taste in my mouth and makes me not so willing to buy another Subaru.

 

I was looking at the DIY on replacing the spark plugs. The author uses a bunch of dielectric grease on head of the coil pack where it attaches to the top of the plug. Is this necessary? Likewise do I need to use any special lube when re-attaching the 10mm bolts that hold the coil pack in place?

 

A Little dab will do ya. Just like brylcream.

If you have some a bit of anti-seize on the bolts wouldn't hurt. But more important they are small bolts and don't need a ton of torque to hold them in easy does it.

 

Sounds like new coilpacks should fix this.