hotwhlz1

I psted this in the Under the Hood section - being from NC maybe you guys have advice... back from Iraq and now this...

I X'd the dealeship name from the thread...

Approximately 3 weeks ago my 2002 Honda S2000 engine light came on so I drove the car to XXXXXXXX; a local car dealership to find out the problem. Once the service department technicians ran a diagnostic test on my car codes P0307 and P0303 (Misfire) came up so I was told I needed a tune up (plugs changed). I declined the work from the dealership because of the $250.00 price tag but, I immediately drove the car less than 4 miles to another local Honda service shop; XXXXXXX. I chose them because a few years back the service department at XXXXXXXX referred me there when I was looking to get a Comptech Cold Air Intake installed. XXXXXXX did the required tune up (plugs changed) and cleared my engine light but less than a week later my engine light came back on. This time I turned to the dealership (XXXXXXXX) to get the work the completed and I was told I needed the Platinum OEM plugs in my car and everything would run great. Needless to say I spent the $250 bucks because I needed to resolve this situation

bluegas68

Did YOU ever feel a misfire as you have been driving it? I would assume the tech didnt mention or find anything because the easiest, most obvious solution was to throw a set of plugs in it and move to the next ticket ($$$). You didnt mention how many miles you have on your car. The best ways to determine valve problem would be to 1)listen for a lot of noise (tapping), or 2)engine compression test. A valve staying open just a little would cause a copression loss. A car can still run on 60 psi, but not really much lower than that.
Another test you can do to eliminate an ignition coil break down is to switch the coil to another cylinder and see if the code follows the coil. There are tools that can read the magnetic field of direct ignition systems, but its probably not something you have laying around.
If you have a way to do any of this yourself, you should try. They are pretty simple operations. You may be able to do the tool rental thing from autozone as far as compression test, and Im pretty sure they have a scan tool also for reading the DTCs.
Remember the proper way to do a compression test is to remove ALL the plugs and check them one by one with WOT (wide open throttle) to get as much air as possible into the engine. It would also be a good idea to un-plug the coils instead of laying them to the side as lack of voltage release may damage the coil.
That's where I would start if I were in your shoes. Hope this helps

hotwhlz1

I have 30K on my car... I bought it new may 2002... I never felt any kind of misfiring - no smoke - I mean the car ran outstanding as I could tell... I took it to the dealer a wek prior and they ran test and supposedly they even drove it...

Thanks for you help thus far...

B Honda gets no love from me anymore...

VFROOOM

You can change your own plugs in about 20 minutes.

DrDre1443

if I was a bettin man......I would bet that your fuel injectors need a looking at.....

I've seen alot of Ap1's with good plus and coils, low miles, getting misfires due to bad injectors.

hotwhlz1

Thanks for all the advice... I went back to the dealership - got my car and ran some injection cleaner through it ... So far so good...

bmbjj

1. If this is a chain dealership, complain to the corporate office about this problem.

2. If that doesnt work, tell them you will sue for damages.

3. Bring in the media.

hotwhlz1

^^^^ I may do just that... MY LIGHT just came back on - no more than 10 miles of driving...