My symptoms match what's reported. Dropping cylinders, and rough idle that would cause a surge and kick the tranny. Replaced the plugs because some thing was obviously "missing", and it greatly helped, but engine speed still bounces around at idle a bit, kicking in the tranny for a moment.

So I want to do the coils... Is there a cheap way to find out which cylinder has the problem? Honda service is outside my price range, and I don't need tea and a cookie. I suppose I could buy one, and swap it into the cylinders one at a time...

Any advice? I'm seriously cash strapped...

 

When were the valves adjusted? CEL on?

 

Make sure that your mass air flow sensor is clean and your engine air filter is clean.

the MAF sensor will cause these issues - clean only with MAF sensor cleaner

 

There is no MAF sensor on GD3

 

Junk yard is your friend.
I do have a spare "brand new" coil to swap one by one until intermittent problem disappears. Typically the #4 cylinder coil fails first

 

The cheap stuff first...

Then you may have a MAP sensor that is tied in with your oxygen sensors. Either way the way the control scheme works to calculate the correct fuel to air ratio may not be working well. Either your O2 sensor or MAP sensor or connections are suspect. Since your car is older, is your voltage stable (typically wha tI see if the grounding points on the engine rust and you lose ground or neutral return and the voltage to the ECU and coils are suspect).

So check the O2/MAP sensor, ensure you don't have any vacuum leaks, ensure your battery and connections are good (3+ yo aftermarket battery - toss and get new and clean those connections), check for vacuum leaks, and then check your grounding points.

- Jazu

 

What codes on the OBD ][ sensor are thrown when you have this issue? Even my old 2002 CRV had a sensitive ECU checks/balances that O2 sensors and misfires threw OBD codes. Please list all codes.

For giggles, warm up the car then reset the ECU by taking out the FI fuse or take your negative (-) battery cable off for 3 minutes, reconnect, and run car. See if the issue goes away but if not list all codes that show up.

 

I afraid that OP cannot afford this at the moment...

 

I was stumped. Now I have things to try.

Codes when I floored it on the highway were:
all for miss-fires. One for each cylinder, and one for all cylinders:
P0300, P0301, P0302, P0303, P0304.

Do failed coils sometimes show more of a problem when the engine warms up?

I'll try the ECU reset...

 

Yes failing coils have more issues as they warm up. Misfires are not good for your car causing severe knock and burning of fuel in the catalyst

 

Running great now... Had my sister order some Hitachi coils from eBay for $140, but they were the wrong P/N (too long), so I went for the $45 set on Amazon. Got 'em. They wouldn't seat, so I exchanged the rubber tips with the one on the original, and they fit snug on new Autolite plugs (gapped and treated with anti-seize compound. All problems gone, and more smooth power than I ever remember. All that's left is resetting the ECU. Did some research, and I found a video on valve adjustment. Looks like a good idea too. Not bad for 12 years old and 120K miles.

I can get back to work driving Lyft.

Thanks fo all the good advice. I only spent $82. Imagine what a dealer trip would have cost.

The Hitachi coils and my clones are disgusting inside. The resistor is connected on one end, but the other end makes contact through spring pressure, and the spring is about one gauge heavier than what you'd find in a retractable pen. The spark plugs contact is equally unimpressive, and the spring lives inside the engine. On disassembly, my old coils had heavily oxidized contacts. If your engine starts missing, change the plugs and coils. Your ECU probably won't report the problem.

 

The longest life I ever had on the coil on plug setup was my CRV - 14 years and 132K miles. The shortest was the 30K miles on the offset coils used on the Mazda RX-8 (due to the rotary engine heat and high coil voltage difference). I knew this going in (it is a sports car with sports car maintenance schedules).

 

Yeah, but you didn't get any Tea and Cookies.