Rick Hesel

OK, I'll add you to the long and growing list of people with the 300, 301, 302, 303, and 304 CEL misfire issue. I've had it for 6 months and after 3 local dealers could not find the problem, I drove the car all the way to Cleveland so hardtopguy could tackle it while he was installing my 4.57 gear set. This is a problem Honda has failed to address and the dealers really don't know how to fix.

Shame on Honda!

hoof

Yesterday the light wasn't on when I turned the car on. The night before I'd filled up with gas, so I suspected my latest CEL light issue might be gas-cap related. I popped into the local Honda dealership and bought a new gas-cap, we shall see how that goes (I was already going to try the gas cap thing as mentioned above, the light turning off just added to the motivation).

Interestingly, according to the Honda parts desk computer, the gas cap changed after about VIN 800 on '01 models (the later gas cap is about $20 more, they required my VIN number to select the right cap). Does anyone know what CEL codes get triggered by a leaky gas-cap? Maybe Honda changed the gas cap design mid-'01 due to CEL light issues on other model Hondas?

If I had an electronic camera, I'd post pictures of the new and old gas cap seal. The seal on the old cap looks like it might be smushed vs the new one, however I cannot tell for sure.

Rick, phimdel, what are your model year and VIN number? If we're all pre-800 '01 models, that would definitely make me suspicious of the gas cap.

Doc

Well, I have an update.

After taking the car to the dealer for evaluation, it was found that my injectors were clogged. Replaced all four under warranty and my problems dissapeared. The car now runs perfectly. So if you are having the "intermittent puffing/popping sound" and multiple misfire CEL's, you may want to have them check out the injectors.

JJ

hoof

Hmmm ... $105 per injector, plus several hours worth of labor, easily a $500-$600 fix for those of us out of warranty.

This is the third (or fourth, I don't remember) case I've seen that were the injectors.

Any idea if the injector cleaners are a bad idea or not to try to (cheaply) fix injector problems?

phimdel

I have tried the fuel additive injector cleaner (BG type) but this did not solve anything. Would it be worth it to hook a cleaner up to the fuel rail? Someone had told me that this method works very well but I am not that familiar with it and besides, I don't know what companies produce it.

alexf20c

[QUOTE]Originally posted by hoof
Yesterday the light wasn't on when I turned the car on.

alexf20c

Could be a defective EVAP, and the PCM overcompensating with IAC/STFT/LTFT. Was your "too lean" code a P0170 or a P0171?




[QUOTE]Originally posted by phimdel
I have tried the fuel additive injector cleaner (BG type) but this did not solve anything.

fitness3

i had the same probelm and just had my cylinder head replaced after they decided i had bent valves too. after over 3k of work (dealer cost), the cel is stilll on. luckily the work they did was under warranty. i am heading to a different dealer later this week to see if they can resolve the mystery cel...i will mention the injectors to them. thanks.

hoof

Ouch! That cost Honda a few bucks, fitness3! Maybe they'll figure out not to recommend replacing the head on a misfire code without further investigation.

Do let us know if the CEL problem goes away with new injectors (assuming that they try that).

alexf20c

Heh. I must be on his Ignore List also.