Chris

Usually there is a procedure for testing coils with a test meter to determine if they are bad or not. I would not think one coil would affect others the way its designed, but its possible.

Another idea is the crank sensor that determines when the spark should fire or if at all, that is more likely going to affect all cylinders randomly. If you have a scope you could trace the signal from the crank sensor to determine if its doing its job or not.

Some shops only replace parts hoping, but as I mention there are test procedures to determine if a part is bad or not and usually that is enough to fix the problem.

If you do have water in gas its pretty simple, you can either drain gas and use it in a lawn mower, add a can of dry-gas when you add more to adsorb the water and burn it, or just add dry gas to the fuel you have which is where I'd start. You could purge some fuel from the system using the fuel rail test port - basically a valve like on a tire looks the same. Just do it to a cold engine for fire risk and it really would be best to have a tool hose sort of thing to collect fuel not just spray it around.

 

I think you're on the right track. I have 98' Sienna in addition to the Odyssey and the Sienna did the same thing. When idling, things were great, but under any kind of load, she would do what you're describing. We replaced the coil packs ( each one controls two cylinders), plug wires and it has run great ever since.

 

Breakfast bump. any more thoughts?

 

you know, I had not thought about fuel, hook up a fuel pressure device to the port on the rail and see if you are getting good pressure, this could be fuel pump or filter clogged type issue - although its early for both of these on a '05 or newer van, it can happen. Low pressure would also cause a misfire on various cylinders. Spark is usually pretty reliable on newer cars, and if it is, I've seen it detailed on one cylinder on the ODBII, not sprayed around to all of them.

good luck and post your results.

 

anybody want to know how this worked out.... Well I am going to tell you anyway, it may come up again... pulled codes again this morning and noticed that the P0302 code was thrown first. then Multiple then 4, 5, etc then pending all over town. I cleared the codes and started the truck cold and drove her down the block. not two houses away I get a fresh CEL and immediatly stop and turn the truck off. I pull codes again right there in the middle of the street and Voila! P0302 again with another Cyl 2 misfire pending. I have my answer. I rotate the bad coilover to cyl #4 and clear codes and try the road test again. problem has moved to cyl 4 now.... NAPA sells me one aftermarket coilover (not happy about that but it is Sunday and I must let Wifey drive Ody to work tomorrow) and I am on the road again! the later codes must have been thrown trying to compensate for the miss like a sympathetic code or somethhing, I guess the take the codes as they are thrown approach worked. I ordered six new Hitachi coilovers and six new OEM plugs for next weekend, I cannot have this happening again with it a Wife car, she will drive it throwing codes while in flames, so it must not fail. I was just lucky I was driving the family unit when it happened. Thanks for the information Odyclub. Chris.

 

The problem has come up at least 100 times in the forum and procedures are well documented in previous threads. Bad coils seem to by just one more consistent problem with the Odyssey.

 

I have:

- Initially Cylinder #1 misfire, cleared the codes.

- Now 2 days later, Cylinders #1 and #3 misfire.

Any ideas? Happened after filling at Shell gas station the night before, maybe coincidence???

 

I think all along I may have just bad gas.

However, I pulled some random ignition coils for testing because these values are not written in Helms Repair Manual at all.

1. Use a good Ohmmeter (not the $5 at Harbor Freight). I use the $20 version.

2. The middle pin is the ground, one side is primary and the other is secondary circuit.
All values are posted here for your info. I think these coils are good IMHO:

PS: If you need Spark Plug Info, the thread is here:

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/52-20...ms/52-2005-2010-odyssey/132134-diy-2007-honda-odyssey-spark-plug-40k-miles.html

 

I know this post is ultra-old, but I wanted to add some info based on an experience I had with my '92 Toyota Pickup.

Here it is in a nutshell...you'll see how it applies to the Honda Odyssey after reading the whole post here.

SYMPTOM: Difficult starting

After literally having my dashboard pulled completely out to facilitate checking every applicable circuit and wire, here's where I discovered my problem...

PERTINENT TEST PERFORMED: Ohmed the positive battery cable, and it had acceptable resistance. I had already done this several times mind you. Also keep in mind the battery cable was at ambient temperature, and the ballast resistor in the digital multi meter (by its very purpose) causes the DMM to send only a very small current through the wire being tested so as not to affect the measurement. Both the temperature issue and the "small measuring current" issue become important next...

FINAL RESOLUTION: I deduced finally that the battery cable must be bad. I opened up the red PVC insulation on the battery cable and discovered very heavy green-colored corrosion all along the length of the cable. Green-colored corrosion, which I assume was some type of oxidized copper compound (likely copper sulfate, with the sulfate being provided by the sulfuric acid in the battery) had wicked its way in between the void spaces of the stranded 00 gauge wire. I couldn't see the corrosion due to the insulation covering the wire. I replaced the battery cable and the problem was resolved.

COMMENTS: I wasn't able to determine the cable was bad using the DMM because (1) the battery cable was not at operating temperature, and (2) the measuring current did not accurately replicate the high current that flows in this cable during starting. At operating temperature under the hood, the resistance values are much higher, since resistance is typically proportional to temperature usually according to a temperature-dependence law such as R(T) = R(0)*[1 + alpha*(T - T0)], where:

R(T) = The resistance of the wire (in Ohms) at the desired operating temperature.
R(0) = The resistance of the wire (in Ohms) at a specific reference temperature.
alpha = The temperature coefficient of resistance (in units of inverse temperature).
T = The desired operating temperature (in either degrees C or Kelvin).
T0 = The specific reference temperature (in either degrees C or Kelvin).
You can only get away with using degrees C in this case (if you choose) because it is a temperature DIFFERENCE, not a ratio. If you always use Kelvin, you will NEVER get the problem incorrect, so I recommend using Kelvin.

For (2), there is a similar relationship for how resistance in a resistor (my battery cable was a resistor essentially) changes with current; however, it is a NONLINEAR relationship. P = I^2*R or R = P / I^2. The power (P) in this case is the thermal (a combination of conductive, convective, and radiative) energy dissipated from the battery cable as it heats up due to high current flow (called Joule heating).

APPLIED TO THE HONDA COIL: (1) Resistance measurements at ambient (room) temperature from a "bad" coil may reveal good readings. The coil needs to be measured for resistance at the operating temperature--the best way to do this is to run the vehicle (if you can) until the coolant fan (not the A/C fan) cycles three times. This will ensure the engine is at full operating temperature. Also, leave the hood (aka bonnet) closed during this engine warm-up. Turn the engine off, open the hood, unplug the coil connector, and measure the resistance. I don't believe there is likely any corrosion inside the coil since it is a sealed unit. The more likely scenario is a broken primary or secondary winding that makes good contact at room temperature, but spreads apart due to thermal expansion at operating temperature--unless the windings are shellacked or otherwise insulated from each other, the primary or secondary coil is probably taking a 'shortcut' when the wire break spreads apart at operating temperature.

This is a frustrating thing on these Odyssey's--I've replaced three of the them now. I will perform a careful failure analysis on the next failed coil to determine the source of these failures. I will report out what I find.

Also check your associated ground connections! On the 2009 Odyssey, there is a thermal connection (which I assume means a soldered connection) directly underneath the throttle body--it is denoted S1. If you get an entire bank of coils (the rear one which is cylinders 1, 2, and 3) failing the drop cylinder test, but all three in the front bank are passing, it is likely S1 or G101, since they both feed just the rear bank of coil packs. Study the electrical schematic--it reveals a LOT.

A little off the subject, but I also discovered that if you don't clip the red positive terminal cover over the battery's positive terminal, you will get arcing from the positive battery terminal to the underside of the hood. The telltale for this is if you smell ozone.

I keep learning more and more about these finicky minivans.