almostfinished

ok where to begin .... do not shame me as this has turned into a man vs. machine type ordeal , the machine is winning and the man is over his head . so i got this car wiyh blown head gaskets from my nephew who couldnt afford to fix it . i took it all the way down to the block and had the heads surfaced to mate the block new ps pump all new gaskets radiator timing belt plugs thermostat you name it it has been changed . on and off the cars been giving problems like new head gaskets werent seated had to redo them cause of it was building so much pressure in the cooling system it was kinda dangerous just trying to start the car ..... fixed .... then the heater is always barely working . flushed coolant and bled system works great for a little while (hours) then barely blows warm . flushed the heater core both ways in and reverse and flow is awsome , changed thermostat , its working , no smell in cab from leaking radiator fluid no wetness in cab or around engine bay . now the car ran for about a week with no problems (mechanically speaking here not the heat issue but was running fine no problems then suddenly intake manifold codes and check engine light comes on . ran car for about a week trying different methods to find this leak and no luck some other codes of being the banks are too rich so i assumed its the manifold made a smoke machine (not sure if i used it right by blowing it into the manifold or not but cant find this leak . also now car starts fine but runs like crap cuz now the check engine light started blinking on my way home from work about a 7 mile drive and then codes for a misfire came up and said all of the cylyders were mis fired but now only the 2nd cylender it says after clearing codes and trying to see if anything new pops up but now the car is parked till i figure this out . i need help please im at my wits end and this car cannot win and im tired of throwing money at it . it wasnt supposed to be this way when i got it but boy its a nightmare . if any other info is needed let me know if i forgot something but ..... all new parts were used on everything and hopefully put together right after repeated checks for obvious things cant remember the plugs used but i remember paying almost 80 bucks for them wich is insane i know../ now here is the codes it reads now after bringing the car up to temp and going around the block a few times . check engine no longer is blinking just steady and no codes for a ny leaking intake just random misfires and po302 304 305 and 300 . seems to run fine while driving and when i shut it off for a min in the driveway it was really hard to start . but did eventually . its a 2004 acura tl and oh yeah the navigation seems to only work when its parked other than that it doesnt seem to wanna ever work should i just cut my losses after all this money spent or what ? its just im so deep that its only woth something to me now ya know and its hard to just dump it after all the time and money put into it and i really like the car now that its been driven at least for a week . thanks i know it was a long post . ........

almostfinished

sounds crazy but cmon its a tl its all the norm

Catzilla

This sounds like a car with multiple issues.

#1: Head gaskets on super-reliable high-end Japanese cars usually don't just fail without some help, like detonation or excessive overheating. Just changing the gasket does not address root cause of failure.

#2: One common thing for non-mechanics to use to try and fix dying headgaskets are the stop-leak products available at parts stores. These are infamous for not only failing to stop a HG leak but further killing the motor by blocking up cooling passages in the block as well as clogging up heater cores - so no heat for you. Did your nephew dump any of that crap into the cooling system?

#3: One common mistake during re-assembly is messing up intake manifold gaskets. Another is wrong routing of vac lines. I could not understand your bit about 'smoke machine' and 'blowing into the intake' but it doesn't sound like you knew what you were doing at all. Furthermore, too rich means too much gas & not enough air - not too much air which would be running lean.

Waiting for the locals with specific knowledge to chime in on those error codes...

almostfinished

thanks for the reply but anyhow .... no stop leak was used even if so ni statwed that flow through all passages were clean as a whisle heater core was flusheed like 8 times new radiator thermostat and hoses . all new parts . seen a video on making smoke machine and followed suggestions on hose placement of smoke machine into various vacuum passages . shouldve seen leak but none. codes are all misfires but as i stated it did thow intake code but not now just miss fires and my mistake about the lean rich codes i had stated them backwards . i apologize

almostfinished

anybody ?can anybody help with a suggestion

El_Cheapo

Maybe it's time to take it to a pro for a proper diagnosis.

Anyway, Hondas/Acuras can throw multiple cylinder misfires which can actually be caused by only one cylinder.

A couple of things you can do:

1. Check compression
2. Check fuel pressure. Both system prime and injector performance.
3. Check O2 and fuel trims.
4. Check for clogged catalytic converter.

Acura2g558

I'm questioning if you have bottom end issues at this point. Maybe cracked a piston or the block since it was overheating to the point it needed head gaskets. As mentioned above, headgaskets on these cars are very rare and usually require some assistance to "blow".
Have you done a compression test and a leak by test? Misfires could happen if the compression is low in the cyl. too. I'd run and get a compression tester and start there. Post the values here so we can see what's going on.

almostfinished

ok i will do just that here in the next couple days and ill post . ive a middle ranged obd2 tester with a live data function that tells some things that mabey would help if i knew how to decifer it and the abbreviations for it all would any of that info help ?

Acura2g558

If it's picking up codes or faults - yes. If it's just data not likely unless we have a direction to go in.

Catzilla

Definitely pay someone to do a block test. This is a thing that detects exhaust gases in the coolant.

A compression tester relatively inexpensive tool that's easy DIY to use.

Codes are clues but not diagnosis of core problem(s).

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

And properly spacing your sentences and paragraphs would make that a lot more painful to read and likely get more responses.
I don't have a suggestion as the ones already made surpass my knowledge.

StealthTL-S

Why write anything unless you can say something nice and helpful. Nobody cares if the guys grammar is not perfect on here, he has a big problem with the car trying to fix are car that won't even run. If you don't have anything good to write or say why write it? Almostfinished , hope you got that checked by a mechanic or shop and get that straightened out man.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Sorry, I would argue the OP's post makes the eyes blur and causes folks to say, "Next!"

If someone really wants a response, they should take the time to write in proper English with proper sentence and paragraph structure and punctuation. If there are multiple points or issues, use the built-in bulleting to help isolate the points and make them easier to read. The OP's post is not four days old and I have yet to coax my eyes through reading past the first line or two.

Acura2g558

I would add that sometimes these forum's don't format your post as you see it in the editor. In his defense.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Sorry, not buying that, yes, indentation is a problem for Angular based pages, but the OP's post never went there.

El_Cheapo

I have to agree with the rest. OP was hard to read and understand.

I get that English might not be some people's first language, but please put some effort into it.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Because I had a very hard time understanding what the fuck he was trying to convey, primarily.
I almost didn't bother reading because of it and am probably not alone. That's all...
Just a suggestion...this wasn't a misuse of there, their and they're...that, I let slide.

almostfinished

well shit i feel dumb . i graduated with honors . reall y did . sorry i cant type the way i need to to convey a situation that im having .
i think partly because it was also a slight rant , because i was fed up with the car at the time i wrote it .
i think mabey after not being in school for what 29 yrs and not being that techy i figured it was alright .
but yeah it went on too long i suppse .

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

LOL...
just needed to be broken up into paragraphs...my eye had a hard time keeping track of what line.
It was definitely was written just fine.

Anyway, sorry to have derailed.
You get any further in your troubleshoot?
@almostfinished

Acura2g558

Honestly, no big deal. Curious to know however... any info? *waiting with baited breath*

almostfinished

yes its fixed after checking every thing under the sun ! what we can figure is that because #2 misfire code kept coming up along with all the random misfires we started there ..
changed the coil pack , with no difference . when this was first started and we took everything apart we were moving the loom around alot.
we traced the wiring and found a broken wire that was either just not sending current or was grounding out the coil pack on #2.
had to be from all the movement of the wire harness is what we thought . we got it fixed and so far , about 40 miles later no codes .
the thing is i dnt even have the intake codes coming up anymore or engine light .
its like the car just fixed itself and the intake leak and too rich codes dissapeared .
just waiting for the next mystery to happen as i know it will .
lastly the heat and everything seems to be working fine now too and i know its not from just a bad wire .
also im still curios as to how much pressure is normally in the cooling system cause after its ran for a while and all the radiator hoses to me seem real hard even after the fans cycle a couple times letting me know the thermostat is opening . i assume any way . thanks for all the help . im sure ill be back here with another mystery soon

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

almostfinished

its crazy how something so little can be so easily overlooked .
so far the car, in my opinion,is still cursed but it came from the dead .
lots of times i just thought it wasnt gonna make it . seems to run pretty awsome imo .... is that right ?/imo lol
eeerebody on here has been great thanks . for real .

Catzilla

Excellent work finding that wire!
I'm about to give up on a different project car because of electrical issues, they suck.

Do not judge cooling system pressure by feeling the hoses, that's like measuring how much gas is in the tank by rubbing the car's belly. Judge it by:
Good = not overheating, not pushing coolant out the overflow tank, and passing block test as I mentioned earlier.
Bad = overheating, pushing out coolant, failing block test.

But from this post I bet that bad coil wire was a major root cause solved.
Keep driving the car, but keep your eye on the temp gauge - as soon as it rises, pull over and shut the car off.

Tab King

If any one has a slight knock or mini misfire issue check out this video. This is more so for someone that doesn't throw CEL in a small misfire.