Toy Civic

I just did the 105K timing belt, water pump, spark plug, and valve adjustment job on my sisters '06 TL base with auto trans. I also replaced the oil pump seal as I saw a little seepage from there. Of course, I had to remove the crank angle sensor.

I've done these jobs before on my 2004 Honda Pilot with the very similar J35A4 motor with perfect results.

After I completed the job on the TL, it ran EXTREMELY rough, sputtered at idle and struggled to rev higher when I pressed the accelerator. The motor also quit a few times.

I'm 100% certain that the crank and cam marks were lined up correctly before I removed the old belt and after I installed the new belt. I'm 99% certain that I put everything back together for all connectors and sensors. The CEL is on, but I do not have a code reader at the moment. All the parts I used were genuine OEM incuding the NGK laser platinum plugs. I adjusted all the intake valves to .009 and exhaust valves to .012. I filled up the coolant using genuine Honda fluid. I then let the motor run with the radiator cap off to bleed out the air in the cooling system. It ran rough when cold and hot. There was a brief period where it seemed to run a little smoother on its way from cold to hot, but then it got worse when it reached temp.

The only two mechanical troubles I had during this job was the rear cam jumping back and forth a couple times till I got the mark to line up and I put the belt on. The other trouble was I snapped one of the bolts when torquing down the intake manifold after the valve adjustment. I started the criss cross tightening sequence from the center outwards using just a ratchet to get everything very snug, then switched to the torque wrench set to 28 ft/lbs. BTW I used new intake mani gaskets. The torque wrench never clicked on any of the bolts, then the center forward bolt snapped.

So would this snapped bolt, hence no torque in one section of the intake mani cause enough variation in manifold pressure to cause the car to run rough? Could there still be air in the cooling system causing the coolant or air idle sensor to make the motor run rough?

nfnsquared

No, seriously doubt that the snapped bolt is causing the problem. It's probably misaligned or a sensor/vacuum line is not plugged in.

ez12a

get the codes read. Could be related to the crank angle sensor.

edit: it really could be anything. defective spark plug, damaged coil, etc. Codes are the best place to start at this point.

pohljm

Like everyone has said pull codes and double check all your connections

Manimal_Forever

I too am having this problem. Car was driving shortly after water pump/timing belt change then it started rough and misfiring, now it won't start. Sadly for me I had disconnected the battery so now I when i finally did get a diagnostic machine- it didn't pull anything because i had disconnected the battery before. Based on the threads here and other places, most people are saying it's most likely my cam sensor or crank sensor.

nfnsquared

Disconnecting the battery won't reset the DTC's. They should still be able to be read by the HDS or an OBDII code reader. DTC's are stored in non-volatile memory and are retained even if the battery is disconnected.

Service Manual Page 19-44: "The DTCs are memorized in the EEPROM (non-volatile memory). Therefore, the memorized DTCs cannot be canceled by disconnecting the battery...."

(DTC stands for Diagnostic Trouble Code).

Manimal_Forever

Hmmmm now that is odd, the CEL was on and before it had died it was even flashing. When we hooked up the diagnostic meter to it tho, it didn't pull up any codes... I was told that I may have wiped it because i had disconnected the battery, but if you're saying that's not the case...

Ped4o

check your catalytic conv. it might need new ones. If its that change them asap, or else all that pressure comes back to the engine, and then you end up having my problem. Also, check the valve stem seals, or piston rings. But i am thinking its your cats, it has 3 of them the front one next to the radiator its your left, and the one in the back of the engine, its your right and the one under the car is the underbody cat. Check them out, and replace O2 sensors. I think I have the same problem, or at least thats how it started out at first. My engine had shut off after driving 30min or so didnt know what it was so i had it towed. At first it was my cats replaced bank 1 and 2. It was good for a day then the next morning the same jumpy engine again, well then I looked into things and replaced spark plugs all new, gasket cover, etc. I was still getting a misfire in all cylinders. But then I noticed the coil on cyl 1 was not working, replaced it, drove good for 10 min then again the same loss of power in the engine, I looked into the spark plug in cylinder 1 again because as I tried to disconnect the coil the engine stayed the same, so that means it was not moving. when i took the spark plug out it had oil, so it means im getting oil in there and its not igniting it. and now a bit smoke blows out when first turned on, then it goes off when temp gets in the middle. Luckily i have a buddy who is a tech at acura dealership. He told me I had pretty much done everything i could do with trying to get cyl 1 working, but i had to more options, stem seals or the piston rings. he thinks that I should just get a used engine, whats really cool, is that he knows where to get the engines, i can get a used one with no more then 40k miles for 1300. Any suggestions on what else I could do? valves are good. im soo frustrated. Help!

kingkong_dav

your off by a teeth. did you tighten the tensioner? i know your crank mark lined up but does your cam gear line up? you may miss it by a teeth. becareful because a head job is expensive. did you crank the crank gear clockwise until front cam is at number 1??

roof2006

I agree - but did you fix the snapped bolt? If not - it's a good excuse to tear everything back down and start over - you really should do that.