[khusby]

Have a strange issue with our 2006 Ody EXL with 89k miles. Live in TX and the in the past month we have had an odd thing happen with the van a total of 3 times.

The symptoms are as follows:

Check engine light comes on
Notice a rougher than normal idle
Any acceleration causes severe sputtering (can barely get up to 30-40mph)
- giving much gas at all appears to invoke some sort of cuttoff of the fuel. IE: Flooring the car does nothing, but lightly giving a little gas will cause a slow sputtered acceleration.

After Each time it has occurred, turning the van off and then starting again caused the issue to completely go away. Wasn't able to pull any engine codes since the light went away before I could get the code.

The first time it occurred thought maybe it was some bad gas or something since it went away. But it just occurred again after about a month without issue so unlikely that was the issue.

Anyone have any thoughts as to what might cause this? I checked the TSB's but didn't see anything that seemed to match this issue. Guessing it is something with the computer or sensor going haywire for some reason because the issue will completely disappear when all other conditions are the same except that the car was shutdown and restarted.

Thanks for any help!

 

[cnn]

Buy a Code Reader (such as Actron) for $50 and keep in glovebox.
This way you can read the codes as soon as it comes up.

 

[khusby]

Actually, I own a scan gauge II but had it in my other vehicle when this occurred last night. I plan on keeping it in the odyssey to try and capture this code next time it occurs.

 

[khusby]

Actually, my wife just had this happen again. She had to stop somewhere and when she continued on the issue was gone but the engine light stayed on. I was able to pull this code. It is P0303 (believe a report of cylinder 3 misfire).

When the issue is actively occurring the engine light is blinking. I haven't been able to capture the codes while the light is blinking. But was able to just capture the code when the wife got home but the issue was no longer occurring. Just the solid engine light warning was on.

Did a little searching. The most likely cause I can find is EGR valve issue. Any thoughts on that being the cause? Should I just replace that and see if the issue goes away? Will be hard to say if it is really fixed due to the random nature of when it occurs now.

 

[cnn]

How many miles in your van?


1. Check the ignition coil.
Swap it with another cylinder to see if the misfire moves to that cylinder.

2. I hope you don't have the same problem as mine: porous cylinderhead leaking coolant into the engine oil.
The engine oil analysis diagnosed it (excessive coolant in engine oil).

I outlined my experience in the link below (see posts from August 2011). Luckily it is covered under 5y/60K engine warranty!

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/52-2005-2010-odyssey/27718-coolant-disappearing-reservoir-2.html

 

[stevescivic]

do not ever drive with the check engine light flashing. Flashing CEL means that the engine is dumping raw fuel into the motor and not burning it. You've likely got bad plug or bad ignition coil.

If the CEL is flashing you run a VERY high risk of destroying your catalytic converters b/c of the excessive raw fuel being unburned in the motor. You can't pull flashing CELs b/c its basically saying "shut me off or else...".

Very likely its a bad #3 cylinder coil. The ECU is pretty smart in that regard and I believe you can test the coil packs with a simple ohm meter. Problem can sometimes lie in an intermittent fault which can be hard to trace.

Coils aren't that much so it might be just worth replacing the supposed bad one and then see if your problems come back.

 

[cnn]

...Very likely its a bad #3 cylinder coil. The ECU is pretty smart in that regard and I believe you can test the coil packs with a simple ohm meter. Problem can sometimes lie in an intermittent fault which can be hard to trace...

I agree but bad ignition coil in Honda is rare. In a BMW, it is a common thing (don't ask me how I know it LOL).

Anyway, I had the same issue of misfire, took the coil out and measure them and posted the Ohm values in this thread below:

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/52-20...m-multiple-misfire-cyl-2-cyl-4-cyl-5-etc.html

 

[cnn]

I forgot to mention something important:

1. Misfire w/o loss of coolant: likely bad ignition coil.

2. Misfire with mysterious loss of coolant: likely internal consumption of coolant.
In my case, it was a porous cylinder head (mfg defect that only showed up at 52K miles!).

 

[achung73]

This was the code (misfire on #2) when my wife had CEL and took it into the dealership. They said, my engine didn't have any engine oil (1qt got out)...and told me to change the oil more often...

Then, qt of gone at about 500 miles driven. Took it into dealership...they told me they have to run "real" diags...

Long story short, it might be other issues than the ignition coil or other issues on hand...people tends to have engine problems at around 100k...

 

[khusby]

If the issue is a bad plug or ignition coil any thought on what would explain the issue completely vanishing after stopping the vehicle for a couple minutes and starting again? The van normally runs smooth and without any issue.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[cnn]

If the issue is a bad plug or ignition coil any thought on what would explain the issue completely vanishing after stopping the vehicle for a couple minutes and starting again? The van normally runs smooth and without any issue.

Thanks for all the input.

If it is truely a bad ignition coil, these things fail because the engine heat causes a break in either the primary or secondary winding circuit.
The ignition coil is basically a small transformer so to speak.
The break could be intermittent depending on temp (cold vs hot).

It is VERY EASY to swap coil, simply use a 6-mm Allen key to remove the coil.
- Label #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 so you know where it was started out as.
- Then swap let's say coil #3 to position #1.
- If the misfire code says misfire in #1 cylinder, you just confirmed it is a bad coil. Of course, the solution is a new Honda coil (about $50-60). This item is not repairable.

Below is info on how to change spark plug. But you do not need to change spark plug for now, just swap the coil and report back:

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