Ofive TL

I was on my way to work this morning and attempting to accelerate as I was changing lanes, when suddenly my car hesitated and began immediately began riding rough. Immediate loss of power, sulfur smell, and a flashing CEL. This happened to me about a month ago, and I replaced the coilpack for cylinders 1 & 2, as the trouble code indicated a cylinder 1 and cylinder 2 misfire. The car ran fine up until today.

The trouble codes today indicated a cylinder 1, cylinder 2, and cylinder 3 misfire. Funny...I replaced the coilpack for cylinder 1 and 2 just over a month ago. I decided to take the good coilpacks from cylinders 4, 5, and 6 and replace them with the coilpacks from cylinders 1, 2, and 3. I did that and started my car, took the car around the block and gave it some gas. Same deal....running very rough, sulfur smell, and flashing CEL. When I hooked the scanner up...same deal...trouble codes thrown for cylinder 1, 2, and 3 misfire. This leads me to believe that it is something other than the coilpacks. Why would the coilpacks in good working order begin throwing codes, yet the "bad" coilpacks no longer throw the code?

A little background info....2005 Acura TL, AT, 157k miles...timing belt, spark plugs, water pump, etc. done at 118k.

Any ideas or insight would be greatly appreciated. I'm stuck

Thanks all!

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

Check your cats. Might be clogged

Ofive TL

That was going to be my next question. Could a clogged cat cause a cylinder misfire?

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

probably can if you can't get the exhaust gas out it will ignite the a/f mixture on the next cycle causing misfire/detonation. It would also explain your sulfer smell.

csmeance

use a heat gun and check the temp of the cats, a clogged one will be hotter.

nfnsquared

thoiboi

You mean infrared thermometer not a heat gun

Ofive TL

Thanks for the help! I'll take a closer look at the cats and report back to you. The scanner didn't throw a P0420, but that's not to say that it won't eventually.

nfnsquared

Yeah, no P0420, but the sulfur smell and the fact that the issue is with the rear bank (bank 1, cylinders 1,2,3) make a clogged rear cat the primary suspect IMO....

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

No other codes than cylinder misfire, P3--?
The code doesn't necessarily indicate a problem with the coil pack or spark plugs. The ECU knows the expected rpm increase when a cylinder fires, so if less than expected, the code is registered.

Ofive TL

Right. No other codes than the cylinder misfire codes (P03xx) and then the general multiple cylinder misfire code. Car is going to the muffler shop in the morning to have the cats checked. I'll let you all know. Again, I appreciate the help from you guys.

Ofive TL

Sorry for the delay in reporting back to you....I took my car to a reputable muffler shop in my area. The guy took inspected my cats and said they were in fine working order. He noticed my check engine light was on and scanned for the codes. He, of course, got the same codes -- cylinder 1, 2, and 3 misfire. He told me that it was most likely a coilpack or fuel injector issue. He handed me a business card from a guy he works closely with, ASE certified, etc.. Unfortunately, this guys shop is closed on Saturdays. After 10 more mins of driving, my car begins running fine. Idle is normal, power is normal, no hesitation whatsoever. I have never used fuel injector cleaner in my car, so I picked up a bottle of STP fuel injector cleaner and filled the car up with 93 octane. It's been running like a champ since Saturday. The CEL eventually turned off. Is it a possibility that my fuel injectors simply needed to be clean? WTF??!!

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

Do you need some fuel injectors? I have a set for sale. 270cc for TL base 04-06 and 310cc for TL 07-08.
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-par.../#post15676663

nfnsquared

Very strange... As long as you've been running top tier gas, everything should be clean due to the additive levels in the gas. Yeah, it's possible you got a bad tank of gas, but then I'd expect misfires on all cylinders, not just bank 1.

Interesting. Keep us updated.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

^This, plus FI cleaner won't work that quickly or at all. If it were a leaking EGR valve, PCV valve, or even a vacuum leak, I would think as the ecu would try and compensate for the lean condition there would be a code for too lean, or a code for all cylinders misfire. Even the VVT solenoids would throw a code.
???