christof

Just got my new Anth/Camel/AT on friday, 75 miles on it now. So I am driving down the road last night (thank god close to home) and the engine light came on...noticable vibration or sputter from the engine, like a cylindar is out or misfiring. Dealers closed today so can't do anything till tomorrow, but any ideas as to what might be causing this. First thought was to check for a loose spark plug wire, but not sure where to even begin looking on this engine. Hope it's something simple.

SouthernBoy

Does this continue to occur (the vibration/sputtering) or did it just happen and disappear? Under what conditions did it occur (normal/steady driving, accelerating, sudden and serious throttle applicaton)?

crazymjb

the TL doesnt give a problem code?

Ron A

Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't. Not every malfunction will set a code.

But this being Sunday there is no way to find out for sure, so christof is hoping someone can point to something simple so he doesn't have to worry about this until tomorrow, or whenever he can get to the dealer.

crazymjb

Yah, I was just curious as to whether or not it gave a code.

christof

I didn't see one, I assume it will display in the dash. Yea, the engine light flashes and the problem is constant. It feels like a cylinder is out. Where are the spark plug wires or does it have any. It seems as if something came loose while driving, I seem to remember pulling out from a stop onto the road when it started.

crazymjb

Everything is prolly under the cover. How to get that off I dont know. If the engine senses a cylinder is out will it cut fuel to that cylinder?

Stewie

This happened to me at ~100 miles.

Just fill your gas tank and give it a day or two and I bet it goes out.

spacejamz

Did you let the dealer know about what happened?

If that happened to my brand spankin' new $30K car, I would not be a happy camper...

christof

Got it back from the dealer, it was a bad coil on one of the cylinders. Does this raise any eyebrows out there?

Colin

IMO not really, there are 6 coils in everybody's cars, and I haven't seen this too often.

crazymjb

From what I know Colin is right. People stumble upon this forum probably 80% of the time because they have some problem, be it large or small. This you both are the only 2 I have seen with this problem, I may have missed some others. Will the engine cancel fuel flow to that cylinder though? also, would this damage the engine?

Colin

I don't think the engine cancels fuel to the cylinder. BUT I can't see what harm the unburnt fuel could cause unless it dieseled and fired on it's own without a spark. I'm not a mechanic so if anyone knows for sure, please chime in.

petros

If nothing else, unburned fuel is bad for the catalytic converter, so you really don't want to drive too long if one of the cylinders is not firing.

Stewie

No. I read the manual and it said the most likely cause was loose gas cap and to try filling the tank. It also said that it could take up to three days afterwards for the light to shut off.

mickey3c

I had a check engine light in the first 500 miles of driving and there was no code and they made the comment about the gas cap. I always fill the car myself and it was on tight. The dealership did not find anything... Only happened once...

On the coil aspect. I hope this is not like what VW had happen. There was a defective manufacturig process and by the time they discovered this, new coils were in short supply. nuff said there since some people were on the backorder list for coils.

bluenoser

If it doesn't cut the fuel off you have to change your oil - or at least have it analysied to determine if the fuel content is ok. This is because the raw fuel will wash down the cylinder wall and go to the crank case where it mixes with the oil.
On an older engine you could probably get away with it but I would never try with a new modern construction engine like the TL.
This creates a whole new set of problems since you need the factory break in oil in your car.

SouthernBoy

To christof;

When I purchase my last car, a 2002 Altima SE, all three rear coil packs were replaced under a TSB as I recall. They caused static on the radio. I would bet that all six were actually replaced.

Problems with modern coil packs are pretty unusual I would imagine.

mickey3c

If you make this request of the dealer, how lucky are you at getting them to do as as a PM against other issues later down the road...

999999

I read the above posts and removed and replaced my gas cap and went for a drive. Power noticeably up and the light went out after about a minute of driving.

JPTL-S

This is exactly what happened in my old 2000 Accord V6. I was driving one day and all of a sudden the engine started sputtering (as you described it, it almost felt as thought the engine was misfiring). Turned out to be a bad coil pack.....So trust me it happens. It may not be common but it does happen.

mickey3c

bad coil huh. well VW had that as a problem. So many were messed up and on back order. I hope acura does not have this issue... Some VW people had to wait a month to get a new coil...

And I would never drive the car with that condition... not as it was explained... its a pain but call road side assistance...

crazymjb

As long as you get an RL loaner for that time period...

KJSmitty

Not at all.

Did they replace it/have one in stock for ya? I would assume since you mentioned "got it back from the dealer" that they did.

As with many electronic parts, if they have an issue/flaw they fail early on in life etc.. Glad it didn't leave you stranded somewhere.

Didn't sound like you drove it much after the failure so I doubt you have any concerns with the catalytic converter or fuel in the oil. The non "used" fuel sucked into that cylinder would have been forced right back out on the exhaust stroke in near vapor state. The heat in the engine/exhaust/converter would have taken care of it from there. Overall, a bad/inop coil won't cause issues with your engine.

Like bluenose mentioned, I have seen vehicles with stuck injectors literally fill an engine with fuel, but not when the injector is working properly and say a spark plug is bad. A very small amount of fuel in the oil will burn off/out extremely quick, which I feel at the worst would be your scenario. But it is true you wouldn't want to keep oil saturated with fuel in your engine. Just pull the dipstick out, step away from the engine compartment and smell the oil etc. If it has enough gas in it to worry about, you will smell gas not oil...

If you're remotely concerned about it just replace the oil with the "Havoline" that is so widely talked about on this forum by our oil experts. It is equal to if not better than the Acura/Honda original fill.

Bottom line,
If the dealer replaced the coil and your TL is running fine,,, worry not and continue to enjoy your car.

Keep us posted

Cheers