mdxlvr

I have the same problem with low rpm when stopped in traffic, a little stuttering and feels like it's going to stall. I had the timing belt done 2 mos ago, no fluids or plugs. Where are the plugs located, should I just get the valve adjustment done first or the plugs ? Does the transfer fluid or rear diff fluid have anything to do with this problem? The error light is on and sometimes flashes but doesn't go off - this all started 2 days ago out of nowhere.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

adjusting valves will not help your stutter.

you first, need to figure out why the check engine light is on by heading to a auto parts store. they will hook up an OBDII reader to the OBDII port and will list whats going on with your car.

mdxlvr

Yeah they gave me code P0304

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

that's an engine misfire.

you are now going to have to troubleshoot the engine.
these are maybe's as I cant troubleshoot the engine over the internet.

- the timing belt job could have been installed wrong.
- possibly just need to change out spark plugs.
- maybe a coil pack went bad.
-maybe the car was over heated and damaged the engine.
-maybe bad gas.

these are all maybe's and you'll need to trouble shoot it.

MI6

I had this same problem with mine and it ended up being a bad ignition coil pack. My Acura dealership did not have one in stock as they had just used the last one earlier that morning. Luckily, the Honda Accord had the same engine so I bought a pack from a local (and much closer) Honda dealership. Problem solved. It took me about 2 minutes to install, it's very easy.

oem auto shop

50% Bad coil & spark plugs. 50% Valve Adjustment.

sOLLEx

I have seen plenty of 1st gen MDX's that will certainly miss at idle and run fine under load due to tight valves...If you have eliminated the coils and or plugs, it would be advisable to have an induction service done to clean the valves as much as possible then check and adjust the clearance if they are out of spec...if you have never had the clearance checked, and you have higher mileage, they will most likely be out and it should run better if it's done correctly...If your mechanic can't hook up his "scan tool" and monitor long and short term fuel trim...then go to your dealer.

robertzanzerkia

Hi,
I have 03 MDX, 112K.
Timing belt, water pump were done by Honda dealer at 103K (6 months ago).
2 days ago on a very cold morning (day after filling gas), I get Check Engine Light+VTM4.
VTM4 is gone but CEL is on all the time.
Auto parts guy read the code and says it's engine mis-fire.
I had changed the sparkplugs 5 months back.
Smooth running no other issues.
After reading these boards I am thinking of getting valves adjusted (its not done before and should help with mileage).
Should I change coils or wait for new tank of gas?
My friend has a code reader so I will try that myself first.
Thanks,
Robert

acrdr

clear the codes and drive the car
when the light comes back on it should give you a specific cylinder miss fire
change the coil one over and reset the light and drive it
if it changes then its a bad coil
if it doesnt then do a valve adjustment

robertzanzerkia

You're right. Good advice.
I borrowed the tool from friend and cleared the codes.
BTW: It read misfire in every single cylinder :-)

spireview

so Robert.....do you change all the coils, or just do a valve adjustment?

yungone501

iTrader: (4)

First of all, are you stating that you made repairs and corrected the problem here or are you saying that the codes were cleared and that's it? I'll assume (since a repair was not listed) that they were only cleared and not actually corrected.

Next, if my assumption is correct then you could be causing much bigger issues here by simply ignoring the problem. You say that there were misfires on all cylinders so I'm guessing you pulled code P0300 (random or multiple misfires detected) from the ECM's memory. Cylinder misfires across all cylinders can/will quickly ruin the catalytic converters. Based on my experience with the 3.7 engines, you may have a sticking EGR valve that will be easily identifiable by tapping on the valve while the engines misfiring to see if the engine smooths out while idling. You could also have (as mentioned above) misadjusted valves from the timing belt replacement but this would be more of a constant drivability issue and more than likely will always be detectable as mechancal issues in valvetrain generally aren't intermittent.

You may want to have this issue checked out ASAP because the price of both precats are NOT cheap by any means.