racersky

If my car misfires a few times when I try to start the car what does that mean? My sparkplugs are done? Something else? Is there another way I can find out what's wrong before going to the dealer about it cause I've had it with the dealer. Ever since i had to wait about a month to get my car back I try not to take it to the dealer now because of the fact they gave me a POS windshield when they dropped my original on the ground.

racersky

Also forgot to mention that before even trying to start the car I sometime can't unlock the door period. Sometimes i have to manually unlock it thus causing my annoying alarm to go off. Hope this is a minor thing and not a major thing cause iif it is I'm definitely gonna yell at Piazza Acura saying that I told you so speech. I told them in the beginning the water leak probably screwed up my electrical systems. If it's not that than I hope that it's just a sparkplug burnout or something minor.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Usually misfire problems are solved by replacing the spark plugs. How many miles do you have on the car?

As for the lock, I don't know what to tell ya.

dgracer

You might check the battery as well if it id 3+ years or has 50k miles so. I replaced mine when it started cranking a little slower and it had also developed a very slight misfire when going between reverse and drive in the morning

racersky

I only have about 39k miles on the clock right now

Roleez

Is the Check Engine light on? If so, an Acura tech can diagnose what's causing the misfire by interfacing with the car's ECU. If it's not drivable, have it towed in asap.

VeeralS05

usually you dont have to change spark plugs until 100K Miles cause they are platinum plugs...but ya never know...

sjuled

Change plugs, and if check engine light on, get code at autozone before taking to acura, unless you have warranty

racersky

The check engine light doesn't come on but lately for the past few days when starting my car it doesn't start on the first try.

SocaliCLS

i would get my battery check at the local auto part store, that happend to me when i had my legend and it was my battery. I got my battery replacement and the problem never happend again.

Zippee

I'm thinking fuel freezing if there is some moisture in the lines.

Does it happen just on cold starts or on hot starts, too? Has the problem been there for a while or did it just pop up when things turned cold?

racersky

it happened before it was cold and it's happening during cold weathers too The door unlocking thing with alarm is happening in the cold.

Red-CL

It could be all battery problems.

The one in your car and the one in you remote.

I'd have them both checked.

racersky

I changed the battery in my remote but how would I get the battery tested?

rezurex

use a multimeter...

Zippee

If the motor spins but it just doesn't fire up right away it's not likely to be the battery.

racersky

i could hear the motor trying to turn but then it just misfires. So I would assume that it could be the sparkplugs

NiteQwill

Check the battery with a voltimeter, with the car off, you should have ~13.2V.

Then try the plugs. Have you tried pulling them out to look at them?

Also, check the code at autozone, should read PXXXX, look it up and it will tell you which cylinder is misfiring.

racersky

I don't really know exactly how to remove the plugs. Can someone give me a DIY guide than I'll take a look. How do you test the plugs?

Red-CL

Why not 12 volts?

NiteQwill

Car batteries are rated at 12V & 24V for specific use. But their actual voltage is different. Any measurement below 13.2V means that the battery is dead or is in the process of dying. Voltage should drop to 11.x-12.x when the car is on.

racersky

So how exactly i test the Plugs? Hey Ed you free? lol Can you help me?

Allout

Each cell of a batter produces 2.2 volts. 2.2 volts per cell X 6 cells = 13.2 volts.

Red-CL

This is new to me.

With the car off my volt meter usually shows 12.0v - 13.0v.

With the car running it shows 14.45v - 15.3v.

All my cars have always been like this.

Here's a pic of the volt meter with the car running......

racersky

Ok I went down to my friend's shop down in South Philly and he says have you done your 30k miles maintenance because it didn't look like you did it. Maybe that's the cause of all this gay problems. I ran a search on seeing which are the most important thing to do as maintenance goes but really no one explained the most essentials to do. So can someone enlightened me as to what to do for maintenance? Air filter done, Oil filter done, and Rotate Tires also done.

racersky

Oh I also forgot to mention that my Service light never came on Strange

Allout

With the car running, that's correct. Voltage regulator is usually set around 14.2 or 14.7 (can't remember which.) Once you shut down, what does the voltage read off your battery?

bdubfosho

My bro had the same prob with his 99tl the other day, the car just bugged out tyhe same as you described. They attributted it to the computer and had to change it out, its not ready yet but hope it helps. A dealer trip will be nessacary

racersky

I'm not understanding what you mean by attributed it to the computer and had to change it out. Are you talking about the ECU?

bdubfosho

Yeah I mean the ECM. He was driving- no mods- and went to the mall and felt like he was losing power and hear a malfunction in the engine- sorta just like unorganized. i am not good describing it b/c i didnt hear it. But then the car acted fine. he went into the mall came out and tried to unlock the door. No avail. He used the key and was pissed. Then he started it and drove and was hearing it misfire, so he called me. There was a honda dealership in chapel hill, so he had to drive like 2miles at less than 30mph. The next day they called and said the the ecm was giving bad readings. He and I though it was bad fuel or an O2 sensor. The said those were fine and, but the ecm was making the car think they weren't and tried to fix it, no check eng light or anything abnormal. They towed it to acura Christmas eve, and acura bitched about him getting a loaner. Called monday and said they were ordering a new ecm and hoped it didnt affect the engine interanlly, bit would check after parts arrived. as they apologized for thw warranty confusion- he is around 70k 99Tlp

Red-CL

With the car off my volt meter usually shows 12.0v - 13.0v.

moomaster_99

Sparkplugs just change them....platniums will foul ...

racersky

so iradium plugs is the way to go? Why is the OEM plugs 28bucks each?

bdubfosho

The ECM was meesed up and so were two of the spark plug, fixed and car is ready.

bdubfosho

The ECM was meesed up and so were two of the spark plug, fixed and car is ready.