Low RPM "miss" and ignition coil life span? 97 Honda Civic CX

Hi, I have a 97 CX with 185K miles. When the engine is under load and
at low rpm, like starting up a hill with AC on and maybe having to
upshift, the engine "misses" for a split second. It seems like the
fuel or spark is cut for an instant. If I downshift and rev up, the
engine runs normally. Definitely happens when I lug the engine, which
I try not to do in general. This seems to happen once per
acceleration in the lower rev range but I can avoid it if I rev up the
engine prior to starting out. I know this a vague description but I
thought I would throw it out there...

I replaced the fuel filter a few months ago and it had literally had a
few spoonfuls of a tan, cookie-like substance, very crumbly. I had
previously changed that fuel filter about 30K miles ago, so it wasn't
that old. Also, as a rule I do try to hit the newer gas stations
but...??

I also cleaned the probably original PCV valve a few months ago but I
will go ahead and replace it.

I will give the car a full tune-up with distro cap, plugs, wires, PCV,
etc, and see what happens...


Also, I am curious if anyone has an estimated life span of a ignition
coil for a 97 Honda? . I replaced the O2 sensor at 150K, not because
of any noticable CEL problem but the gas mileage seemed low, I am
wondering if replacing the coil would make a good "matter of course"
replacement along the same lines.

Any thoughts on the above stuff is appreciated, if you are still
reading at this point!! Tim

 

My experiences make me favor the plugs, but dirty injectors can do the same.
If you haven't been using 'top tier' gasoline a bottle of Techron is a good
idea.

On the coil, I'll defer to people who have had more experience with them.

Mike

 

Yes.

He could have a gas tank of crud accumulated over the years.
I've read of it being unwise to fill up right after the tanker truck has
filled the stations's tank,as it stirs up all the builtup crud in THEIR
tank.Best to allow time for all that to settle back down before filling up.
Can a car gas tank be flushed out? Or is it a major project?

I think I would replace the plug WIRES on a 185Kmi. Honda before I tried
the coil. I don't think [separate]coils have any "life span";IMO,their
failure results because of bad wires,igniter,or dist.cap/rotor.
Any condenser present may also be suspect.

Plug wire insulation does degrade over time.

 

I give my 2001 Civic EX Coupe (235,000 miles) a bottle of Techron each
year for Christmas.
I went 156K miles on the first set of plugs, and am still working the
second. Gas mileage is steady at 38-40 mpg at Interstate speeds, and
it runs like new. BTW, I finally replaced the timing belt, drive
belts, and w/p ........in April, at 195, 000 miles

 

I give my '01 Civic EX Coupe (235,000 miles) a bottle of Techron each
year for Christmas. I went 156K miles on the first set of plugs, and
am currently running on the second. Gas mileage is steady at 38-40 mpg
at Interstate speeds, which is 95% of my driving,and
it runs like new. I replaced the timing belt, drive belts, and w/
p ........in April '06, at 185K miles

 

Get someone with an OBDII scanner to look at the misfire counters to see if
all or one cylinder is misfiring.

 

Thanks for all the ideas, I ordered up a bunch of tune-up parts and
will install early this week.

Couple of other things... the miss is much more pronounced and
frequent the longer and/or "hotter"(water temp doesn't rise though)
the engine is run. I might do 200-300 miles a day for work and might
do 75mph for a few hours at a time, with the air on.

Would the cylinder misfiring trigger the CEL?

Thanks again, Tim