jkelley

It happens. At least you didn't get robbed for $2k or more on a more daunting task like a clutch replacement; which I've heard has happened to a couple folks!

I'm no mechanic so take my opinion for what it is, but this car is very easy to work on. It is also a very rewarding feeling knowing that you fixed something yourself and knowing that it was done correctly.

Believe it or not, even doing a job (like an oil change, easy) for the FIRST time you will KNOW that you torqued your oil drain bolt to the proper spec, used a new crush washer, your car has the correct oil in it, that the filter was replaced with a genuine honda oem filter (or whatever you want) on schedule.

A LOT of shops will overtorque your oil drain bolt, MOST will NOT use a new crush washer if they even put the old one back on, may put in the wrong oil (a lot of shops wont give two craps that they put in conventional oil when you paid for full synthetic), and will probably throw on a cheap FRAM oil filter (to which they will torque the filter to ~100 lbs or something insane). All for ~$60-80 or something dumb like that.

I understand that I'm not like everyone; I'm an engineer. But there are VERY good DIY threads on these boards with great pictures so that you know where you are at every step of whatever you're doing. They can build a lot of confidence quickly in something that you may have never even known about.

It's a nice feeling when you walk back into your house, apartment, whatever telling yourself "well... just saved myself $800... I think I'll have myself beer or 9!"

iamxpl

lol good idea on the skype thing. we should start that. skype or google chat help for s2ki members. FWIW if anyone needs help and real time advice they can also pm me. im no Billman but i can be helpful for those who are not mechanically inclined. i figure this is me paying it forward since i have been helped by multiple people in learning about cars.

davidc1

A years worth of AAA is about the same as your one tow....plan for the future.

TommySalami

Can't you tell if it's the coil pack by swapping it to a different cylinder and seeing if the misfire moves with it

sillyboybmxer

yes^

Billman250

I didn't say that. I said be sure first

Gatsbee13

I had AAA in the past but never ended up using it once so I never renewed.. now that my car is a bit older, ill probably have too.



i was definitely in the minority with the coilpack problem..

Gatsbee13

i heard that you can unplug the coil pack while engine is on to determine which one it is.. i thought about trying this but wasn't sure if it would cause more problems.. as far as moving coilpack, i had a random misfire, so it wasn't telling me which cylinder.

TommySalami

You can. I've done this on my friend's BMW. Unplugging the bad one won't change anything and unplugging the others will make the car run more roughly or stall.