90 accord 3 cylinder problems

any help greatly appreciated.
It costs $60 for a diagonosis, I have lost the first cylinder at
200,000 miles. oil is brown like it is suppose to be. The coolant is
full and green. the spark plugs have been switched around with same
result, #1 (on the left) is not firing. I can still go 70mph plus,
but it shakes and there is a ton of fumes, gassy smelling.
overpowering odor. I can see the spark go from the wire to the
block, also there is oil? above the other spark plugs.
is it the fuel injectors?
This car is a 5 speed, I really loved driving it, 2.2 4 cyclinder.

 

If you have spark you then need fuel and air.

I would want to know if your injector is working on that cylinder and I
would want to know what the compression test shows.

That is where I would tend to go first.

One more thing. How do you know which cylinder it is?

 

I can pull the plug wires, one at a time, as I pull each of the other
three, the engine slows and shakes even more, I asssume down to two
cylinders,. As I pull the first one, the engine just shakes the same.
So I guess that I will get it tested. $60 more for a car I might just
junk. I just bought a 92 accord wagon with only 120,000 miles, runs
great and smooth, only it is an automatic, boring and slower.

 

Driving the car on 3 cylinders will dramatically shorten the life of the
catalytic converter due to all the unburned gas that's getting into it (this
assumes the fuel injector is still working which it sounds like it is due to
your description of a bad fume smell). I would drive the car as little as
possible until you get this problem sorted out.

The oil is likely leaking past the spark plug tube seals at the valve
cover. These should be replaced. If this doesn't fix the oil problem, then
the oil could be coming from the lower seals which go between the cam towers
and cylinder head. The latter seals are much more difficult to replace so
try replacing the upper seals first and recheck it in a week or two.

By the way, have you checked the compression on the misfiring cylinder? A
burnt valve could be causing the problem. In addition, what is the
condition of the spark plug electrode? Is there oil, soot, etc? By the
way, spark plug wires should typically be replaced about every 100K miles.
I would recommend either Honda or NGK wires.

Eric

 

the spark plug looked fine, just like the rest of them, I will get the
compression checked.
I stopped driving it , Now I may just take out the new alternator, new
radiator, nice wheels and tires, new $100 battery and save them for my
92 accord wagon.
thanks for the help, I just hate spending money for them to tell me its
done.
dan

 

i think your engine is shot. you've lost compression in that cylinder which is pretty much what happens to them with age and that many miles if they weren't well maintained. start switching to the wagon. i'm sure it's nice transportation.


-jeff


Eric wrote:

futronic wrote:
any help greatly appreciated.
It costs $60 for a diagonosis, I have lost the first cylinder at
200,000 miles. oil is brown like it is suppose to be. The coolant is
full and green. the spark plugs have been switched around with same
result, #1 (on the left) is not firing. I can still go 70mph plus,
but it shakes and there is a ton of fumes, gassy smelling.
overpowering odor.

Driving the car on 3 cylinders will dramatically shorten the life of the
catalytic converter due to all the unburned gas that's getting into it (this
assumes the fuel injector is still working which it sounds like it is due to
your description of a bad fume smell). I would drive the car as little as
possible until you get this problem sorted out.

I can see the spark go from the wire to the block, also there is oil?
above the other spark plugs.

The oil is likely leaking past the spark plug tube seals at the valve
cover. These should be replaced. If this doesn't fix the oil problem, then
the oil could be coming from the lower seals which go between the cam towers
and cylinder head. The latter seals are much more difficult to replace so
try replacing the upper seals first and recheck it in a week or two.

By the way, have you checked the compression on the misfiring cylinder? A
burnt valve could be causing the problem. In addition, what is the
condition of the spark plug electrode? Is there oil, soot, etc? By the
way, spark plug wires should typically be replaced about every 100K miles.
I would recommend either Honda or NGK wires.

Eric
the spark plug looked fine, just like the rest of them, I will get the compression checked.
I stopped driving it , Now I may just take out the new alternator, new radiator, nice wheels and tires, new $100 battery and save them for my 92 accord wagon.
thanks for the help, I just hate spending money for them to tell me its done.
dan

 

"your engine is shot" is not helpful advice. diagnose the problem, then
decide on repair economics. if it's compression, and the motor's not
burning oil with the plug looking ok, it's probably a burnt valve -
relatively simple & not too expensive to repair, in parts at any rate.

the o.p. should make sure the valves are adjusted like it says in the
owners manual & keep driving the car. if it's been well maintained,
that motor will have at least another 100k in it.

 

it's helpful advice because why pour money into an old car that probably
isn't worth spending hundreds of dollars on when you have another car that's
better already? loss of compression happens with age on hondas. if the
people who owned it maintained it really well without using cheap parts for
tuneups then it shouldn't happen. have it checked out if you want but most
mechanics will tell you it's going to cost more than the car is worth.


-jeff

 

how much is a head from a junk yard? telling the o.p. to throw the car
away, essentially what you're doing, is fine if you don't know or don't
care, but for someone that's bothered to seek out a honda forum & ask
advice, i'm pretty sure i wouldn't want to hear the same thing the
dealer told be in the same breath as someone trying to sell me something
new. bottom line, the car /is/ repairable. the owner needs to judge
the repair economics and decide from there.

and please don't top post - makes the thread unreadable.

 

it's more than the head. its the entire engine and if the engine is that bad
then the rest of the car probably wasn't maintained too well either i would
guess therefore it's a piece of junk. donate it to someone or junk it or
sell it for parts.



-jeff

 

The car was not maintained well before I got it. I only paid $900 and
used it for a year.
I did put all those new parts on it though.
The smell of the fumes was coming in before the cyclinder stopped
firing. But gas mileage did not drop substantially. I think it is
not really repairable, but I just wanted to check here for similar auto
deaths, and see If It was just a fuel injector or something, I could
invest about $3-4 hundred and feel ok. , but there is the rust above
the rear wheels and the clutchfork rattles. and the window regualtor?
that I put in doesn't really line up that good, oh and the air is not
working, etc.
all which the newer car does just fine, I am just bored with the
automatic. I don'r like its gear selection with the small engine. 2.2

 

you'll get over that boredom fast with the satisfaction of knowing you have
a good running car. i have an automatic civic and it's not super fast but it
is an awesome running car and comfortable to ride in so i'm happy. i'm sure
that wagon is nice and there aren't many of those on the road so you have a
rare car and it will have a high resale value more than likely. keep it and
enjoy it. take care of it. take it camping or whatever.


-jeff