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FK8 FK8 misfiring when stepping on the gas

G

gttastic

Messages
8
Hi everyone,

This is my first post. I would have liked it to have been something more positive, like how I really enjoy my FK8 (which I do). Unfortunately, there's a developing problem that started to happen last month, which appears to be getting worse.

My FK8 is a 67 plate and has now done 19,000 miles from new. I bought it just over a year ago from a Honda Main Dealer with 13,000 miles on the clock. I have an Extended Warranty. The car is totally standard with no mods.

The first time I noticed there was a problem was a few weeks ago. Under hard accelaration, I noticed a hesitancy for the turbo to kick in. This continued to get worse until one day the engine really stuttered and threw up various warning lights on the dash display.

I had to stop the car as it was misfiring. I restarted the engine after a few minutes and everything appeared to be fine again. No misfiring. I took it to my local Honda Main Dealer and they ran some tests.

They said that the cause of the issue was contaminated fuel that I must have picked up during one of my many fuel stops. I've never misfuelled it but generally put in 95RON with the occasional 97/99RON inbetween.

They also said that it was very likely that the fuel injectors were clogged up and that it would cost £4,000+ to fix this by fitment of 4 new fuel injectors + new fuel rail (and maybe other things).

They also said that it wouldn't be covered by my Extended Warranty because the cause of the issue was due to putting contaminated fuel in my tank.

As you can imagine, I was flabbergasted by this. Can fuel get contaminated at filling stations and if so, can it cause that much damage to the fuel injectors?

I thought the misfiring and lack of power as you put your foot down might have been something to do with the turbo or a dodgy spark plug, but the garage is convinced it's the fuel injectors.

The head service technician at the Honda Main Dealer said I could try one of these companies that deals with misfueling incidents by draining the tank dry and flushing through chemicals to clear the fuel lines (and injectors, hopefully).

This is something I'm thinking of doing as £150-200 (if it works) is going to be a lot cheaper than £4,000+!

But before I do this, I just wanted to reach out to anyone out there that might have experienced a similar problem to me with their FK8 that has found the cause and solution (and cost!)?

Since the Honda Main Dealer diagnosis I decided to only fill my car with 97/99RON higher grade fuel in case the car was grumbling at the regular 95RON stuff.

As soon as I did this, my car appeared to be running better to start with (but this could have been partly a placebo effect) but is now getting worse… much worse. It's got to the point now where it struggles on hills.

HELP! What do I do?

Thanks in advance for any advice. It's really starting to get me down :-(
 
Forgot to say that the engine is also lumpy on tick over (approx 800RPM). There appears to be an irregular slight misfire even at idle. It's like the engine tone has occasional "dropouts", mostly noticeable when the engine is warm. At cold start up, when the engine idles closer to 900RPM. it's not nearly as noticeable.
 
Hi Happy_2008,

Thank you for your response, it’s much appreciated.

I’ve decided to take my car to an independent for a second opinion as I’m not entirely comfortable with what the Honda Main Dealer has told me. I was hoping that the problems with my car would be covered under warranty, but alas, no.

I will pass on your suggestions as things to check out.

I just want to get the problem fixed. I’m missing the power!
 
I have a 68 plate FK8 and it had a factory recall due to a batch of dodgy fuel pumps. It will be worth checking that this has been carried out. I can’t believe you have clogged injectors due to contaminated fuel as this should have been captured in the fuel filter.
 
Just had a look on Honda and GOV UK websites and they both say there are no recalls on my car. I might contact my local Honda Main Dealer to get them to confirm this.
 
UPDATE: Independent says after diagnostics that a puddle of water has formed in ignition coil no.4 and the misfire is affecting cylinder no.4.

Suggested a new ignition coil and a full set of iridium spark plugs to hopefully cure the problem.
 
UPDATE: It's worked! My car runs like a dream again and the power is back! No misfires, no lumpy tick over, and no stuttering when putting the pedal to the metal!

In the end, it seems to be nothing more than a rusty ignition coil and spark plug caused by a known fault of water ingress. I don't think there's anything wrong with the fuel injectors and I don't think I ever had "contaminated fuel" in my tank.

On reflection, I'm really annoyed at my local Honda Main Dealer and their £4,000+ (not covered by warranty) solution of fitting 4 new fuel injectors + new fuel rail etc. I might show them the parts that had to be changed and ask why they did not do these simple checks first as part of their diagnosis. I'm sure Honda will be well aware of this water ingress problem.

From what I've read: "They suffer from a known issue of water getting in from the hood scoop assembly, being outside stationary in the rain is enough for this to happen. Water then is left dripping and sitting on the engine cover, which then goes through gaps in the cover onto the spark plug coils and into the spark plug cylinders. Its pretty widespread despite Honda having no official bulletin or fix for it. Cylinder 4 is the worst, which sits right under the slots on the right hand side."

I'll monitor things over the next few weeks and report back with an update in case it's of any benefit to other FK8 owners.
 
gttastic said:
UPDATE: It's worked! My car runs like a dream again and the power is back! No misfires, no lumpy tick over, and no stuttering when putting the pedal to the metal!

In the end, it seems to be nothing more than a rusty ignition coil and spark plug caused by a known fault of water ingress. I don't think there's anything wrong with the fuel injectors and I don't think I ever had "contaminated fuel" in my tank.

On reflection, I'm really annoyed at my local Honda Main Dealer and their £4,000+ (not covered by warranty) solution of fitting 4 new fuel injectors + new fuel rail etc. I might show them the parts that had to be changed and ask why they did not do these simple checks first as part of their diagnosis. I'm sure Honda will be well aware of this water ingress problem.

From what I've read: "They suffer from a known issue of water getting in from the hood scoop assembly, being outside stationary in the rain is enough for this to happen. Water then is left dripping and sitting on the engine cover, which then goes through gaps in the cover onto the spark plug coils and into the spark plug cylinders. Its pretty widespread despite Honda having no official bulletin or fix for it. Cylinder 4 is the worst, which sits right under the slots on the right hand side."

I'll monitor things over the next few weeks and report back with an update in case it's of any benefit to other FK8 owners.
Click to expand...
You can buy a bung on ebay to stop this happening but called it right :)
 
Do you have any details, Happy_2008? What is it called? I want to prevent this from happening again in the future, if possible.
 
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