On Thursday my TL with 142k on it started running rough. Drove it home (~23mi) and when I pulled in the driveway the engine light came on. There was a tapping noise coming from the engine tat would come and go. I pulled the codes: cylinder #3 had misfires. The spark plug for that cylinder had broken ceramics and grey/black threads. The coil was full of a dark gray dust. The ground electrode was missing completely from the spark plug. I tried to fish out the missing electrode with a magnet but nothing came out. The spark plugs was shot out of the engine. I did a helicoil thread fix and installed a new plug and coil. Still running rough. I brought it to the closest shop and they said it needs an engine replacement. I'll talk to them in detail once I have a quote from them for the replacement. I am looking for recommendations on an indy shop to get a second opinion and possibly replacing the engine. I'm located on the southwest side of Houston, TX.

 

Sorry to hear about the problem.

For a good shop in Houston, it'd be best to check/post/search the Regions forum at: Texas - AcuraZine Community .

BTW, if you disconnected the battery during the plug replacement, the car may be running rough due to the idle relearn process.