2007 Honda Fit Sport Misfire Issues
 

Hey peeps,

So I was wondering if anyone would be able to give me some direction to the issue I am having. I have been having misfires for a while now and have been trying to get them fixed on my own. I had been driving my car during that time and I know that can be pretty damaging to the catalytic converter if I'm not careful. And I wasn't... anyways:

I read that this stuttering and misfiring was probably from bad ignition coils, so I replaced those (using aftermarket parts not OEM) Figured that would fix it. But after installing them today, my car was still as shaky as ever, spitting out pretty strong fumes from the exhaust, and a visible cloud was being puffed out too. My Check engine light almost immediately started flashing again. (not a new sight for me at this point :mad: ) So what should I try fixing?

Side note: my car also drops really low RPM when first starting up and sometimes shuts off when Im pulling out of the driveway or at the first stop sign on my daily commute. Not sure if that is related but most likely.

Has anyone heard or have had these same issues, and know a fix? I really don't feel like spending hundreds at the shop to get this looked at, and I can figure my way around a car pretty well if I do my research. So I'd like to fix it on my own with anyones help!

Take it to Autozone and get them to read the code, or any national chain parts place. I think most of them offer an engine code scan and can point you directly to whats causing the issue, along with getting the parts needed to fix it.

Did you change your plugs along with the coils? Also if you have access to a temp gun(you point it at your exhaust manifold, and it tells you the temps, I can't think of the correct name) Check to make sure all cylinders are reading within 5-10 degrees of each other. Could just have a bad spark plug or dirty one causing misfires. Which causes the engine to run on 3 out of the 4 cylinders.
If you don't have the temp reader gun, just poke a small hole in the top of a water bottle. Run the engine for a little bit, squeeze the bottle and hit each of the 4 exhaust manifold tubes. If one doesn't act like the rest, issue solved. It's your plugs.

Also, what color is the puff of smoke? Does it smell like anything in particular?
Was there any issues leading up to this, or did this happen all of a sudden?
Whats the current mileage? Is there a solid amount of pressure coming from the tail pipe? hold your hand over it while it's running and if you don't feel anything, you could have a clogged catalytic converter.

The more info we have, the better we can provide help.

First of all I hope you have the necessary tools, you wont be able to solve your problems without the tools.

Next is how many miles do you have ?

I had almost the same problem that you got , I have a code reader and it help me figured out whats wrong , it was spark plug No. 2 and the coil pack .

I changed it and had the valve adjusted and now the car is running great.

I now have 120,000 miles and the car runs like a champ. :thumbups:

Definately need more info to help you.

Did you change the plugs with the coils?

What brand and part number if you did change them?

Did you notice any difference between any single plug and another?

If so which cylinder did it come from?

Is there any difference after you installed your parts?

Did you firmly click the wire harness back onto the coils?

Did you notice anything odd about any of the parts you changed?

Was there oil on any of the plugs or coils?

Now for some basics to think about: A misfire will be felt when one or more cylinders isnt contributing an equal amout of power to the engine.

That can be caused by:
A weak coil as you mentioned
Weak spark due to the electrode wearing and too wide of a gap
Weak spark due to oil coating the electrode and not allowing spark to jump the gap at the electrode
Weak spark due to oil leaking from a gasket and wetting the outside of the plug which can cause the spark to short out to the cylinder head and not get to the electrode
A loose spark plug which causes loss of compression
Improper fuel to a cylinder from dirty or electrically shorted injectors
A vacuum leak which changes the fuel mixture
Weak compression from faulty valves, rings, cylinder head gaskets, etc

Seems like a long list but those are just the basics. Electrical problems to an injector or coil pack can also cause a misfire.

Dont be discouraged from the list. Just check out what you can from the list. Look for the condition of the plugs, oil leaks onto the plugs or anythng else that is different for one cylinder. Post pics of anything you think doesnt look right and someone will help you figure out what you might be seeing.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the feedback guys! A little more information to those curious... maybe it'll help those with similar issues.

I originally changed my own spark plugs maybe 2 months ago to E3's, while still using the OEM coils. I was at maybe 105,000 mi. After that I seemed to get pretty solid performance for about a month. Then a few weeks ago, I started to feel some really bad stuttering at idle. Like at stop signs and lights. I rode on it a little while thinking it would go away (why that thought occurred I have no idea) But then on my way home from work a few days later my check engine light started flashing and my car significantly lost strength. I barely could accelerate up a hill. I DID take it to Autozone and found that cylinders 2&3 were giving me misfires, so I went home and swapped out 1&4 for 2&3, then took it back to Autozone and got a second readout. now I was getting misfires on 1&4.

That right there gave me a pretty big hint it was the coils.

So after a long while researching I decided to get aftermarket coils from AMautoParts. They had a 4 pack for really cheap compared to replacing the exact part and looked to be an exact fit. I took the gamble.

After replacing the first 3, I was at the home stretch and rushing the 4th! I pushed really hard on the clip and collapsed a metal terminal on the coil side into the tip so that the clip wouldn't go in all the way. I was pretty ticked at that point. So I grabbed one of my old OEM coils and put that back in (one that wasn't giving issues) and tried to drive on that for a little while. It surprisingly held up around the neighborhood. I thought I was in the clear. But LO! I took it to the highway and BAM the same issues came back, Check Engine light was going off, stuttering, loss of acceleration, high RPM's before shifting.

It sucked.

So I began to run out of ideas really fast. I bought 1 more aftermarket coil from "AM" again thinking it would be the old OEM one that was giving me issues. It came in after a week and I installed it right away. This is where you all read my first post. After having ALL 4 coils replaced I instantly was receiving check engine warnings, even in Park. My exhaust was smelling really bad, like burnt gasoline or something. And it was making a coughing sound as well.

I finally gave in and scheduled an appointment at the local mechanic this past Monday because I couldn't think of anything else that I would be able to do fairly quickly or fix without messing my car up even more.

So here I am after getting my car back tonight, with some information on what they did:

They found that one of my coils had a hole burned through the wall. I have the actual part for proof. It then caused arcing and misfires. HOW that happened so fast I have no idea. Maybe it happened during the time I had my single OEM installed and when that one failed it caused a chain reaction to the other new pieces when they were taking on the extra load.

They bought 2 new OEM coils and had them installed, while leaving 2 aftermarket ones. AND installed all 4 spark plugs (saying the E3's were not that great and using a different brand, I didn't get confirmation but OEM's are usually NGK for the 07 Fit)

I would say IF you have similar issues as I have suggested to go with the OEM parts, you can google around for the cheapest price on them, I think 65 is about the lowest I found. But I was pretty bummed that they did the EXACT same thing that I tried and got it fixed while my efforts were futile. So I just payed about triple for them to do it, rather than what I paid for parts and did on my own.

The strange thing is, I was still getting SOME stuttering after driving it off the lot and idling after a fresh engine turn on. I wasn't getting a check engine warning but it still had a little rumble going. After driving it a bit, everything smoothed out and I never felt it again. But I'm wondering if there still is something I can do to get that fixed. Was it just because I had a cold engine still that I got that? What can I do to trouble shoot this?

Thanks for keeping with me this long people. I'll try to keep you all informed as I work through this. I, like many of you, actually enjoy tinkering and maintaining a product as long as possible.

Hi, How do u check if its a bad injector?? had replaced mine to reman Beck Arn.