Diagnose spark plug damage (pic included)

According to my records, I cleaned mine out about 100k mi ago. I thought I did it to my wife’s Integra, not mine. It couldn’t hurt to check anyways. I’d just have to worry about the little hoses getting broken. Not much room back there for big knuckles.

guys, the fitv controls fast idle. if you have sufficient fuel, but don’t have fast idle on a cold start, the fitv is going to be the cause. he’s clearly got the necessary fuel, judging by the exhaust smell. he’s missing air in the equation. fitv supplies that air on cold start. you could probably tape the iac port shut and still get fast idle on cold start if the fitv were functioning correctly.

it’s gonna be the fitv. trust

[QUOTE=welfare;2322106]guys, the fitv controls fast idle…[/QUOTE]Ok, but can you please comment on that page from the Acura manual I posted above, and whether that first line is just wrong??

I am also asking for my own education here, b/c that page certainly seems to describe how my car starts when cold, pretty accurately.

The other thing thats interesting is that he DOES have a fast idle of around 1500 rpm, but not the initial bump to 2K when his car starts rough.

i believe that description is of a fully electric fast idle. where it’s controlled by the iacv alone. no fitv.
not sure about what the idle speed is supposed to be after cold soak. 1500 sounds about right tho. where did you read that it was supposed to be 2000?

tbh, that page doesn’t tell you very much at all

i think i see what you’re asking. you want to know if the iacv opens slightly more on a cold start, in addition to the fitv air passage? that what you mean? seems that’s what they’re saying. tbh, i can’t tell ya. i’m just a tech. not a honda tech. if you could datalog the iacv, that would tell you without doubt.
but if it’s normal operation to first reach 2k or so, briefly, then drop to 1500. then gradually to 750. if that is normal, then i’d definitely say the iacv is the only device on this vehicle capable of dropping the speed quickly like that. since it is electronic. the wax pellet is not going to be abrupt like that

so yea. maybe i’ll have a fat slice of crow pie? orrrr maybe not

[QUOTE=welfare;2322121]so yea. maybe i’ll have a fat slice of crow pie? orrrr maybe not[/QUOTE]I’d say NOT especially since I am mining your other posts for tips, (chuckle).

The 2000 rpm has been mentioned on some other forum, not sure where, sorry.

That page does resemble closely what I am seeing on my car, but its just one page in a long section.

…but if it’s normal operation to first reach 2k or so, briefly, then drop to 1500. then gradually to 750.
That seems to be the case. 2000 rpm is not an exact number like the published 1500 cold idle and 750 +/- 50 rpm warm idle, but it is close to what I am seeing.

On a cold morning like the 30F we have today, engine cold:

  • 1900~2100 rpm for a few seconds, then quick drop to 1500
  • 1500 rpm until the temp gauge starts to rise, which can take minutes at idle (this would be while the FIT valve is open)
  • 1500 --> 750 rpm as the gauge makes its way from cold to the normal 11 o'clock position (the FIT valve is closing slowly as the wax pellet heats up)
On a warm engine start, my rpm still peaks at 2000 briefly, before it settles at 750 (temp gauge at 11 o'clock position, FIT valve still warm/closed).

In the video posted above, the engine struggles to get to 1500 on start, but once its there, it does idle at the right rpm.

I just had to fill up my radiator A LOT. It looks like I have a coolant leak. So, FITV is affected by coolant. What if there wasn’t any coolant to circulate? I’m wondering if the air pockets in the coolant (which may shift dependent on the day) could cause the erratic behavior: Good idle some days, bad on others. I don’t see coolant leaking any where, so it may be a slow leak. I’ll keep my eye on it. But whatcha think about that?

[QUOTE=N FUL FX;2322396]I’m wondering if the air pockets in the coolant (which may shift dependent on the day) could cause the erratic behavior: Good idle some days, bad on others. …[/QUOTE]IF I am reading the manual correctly, then yes, it could (I admit that is a big IF…)

I found a leak at the lower radiator hose on my car. The spring clamp had rusted to almost nothing, and pressure/expansion created a slow leak. It was so close to the radiator, I assumed the radiator was leaking, but it was just the loose clamp. It was so rusted I could squeeze it with my fingers.

I am not quite sure where the leaking coolant was going, but I think perhaps when I turned off the engine, the leak stopped.

:uhoh::argh:

I pulled the spark plugs today to see how things are going. I don’t think I should be ignoring what I’m seeing here. Thoughts? This is cylinder 3 vs cylinder 2. Cylinder three had that really ugly spark plug from before (see post #1).

I haven’t had the bad idle very much. But on a handful of occasions during the past week, the car has had a low idle (almost to stall) for less than a second when I was sitting at a stoplight.

My wife drove behind me last night on the ride home from an oil change and she said a lot of white smoke was coming from my exhaust whenever I accelerated away. I’m not sure if this was the typical "cold weather ‘smoke’ " or if it was burning oil or small amounts of coolant ( :uhoh: ) Is there a way to determine if it is either of those in my exhaust?

I just shined a light down each cylinder (as best I could). In cylinder three, I saw a reflection. SHIT

I put some tissue on my telescoping magnet to see if it was oil or coolant. It’s coolant.

Head gasket failing?

So my plan is to call up the local shop to see how much it would be to diagnose the problem: head gasket, cracked/warped head etc. The engine may be dying, so I’ll probably go the replacement route if the head is toast.

[QUOTE=N FUL FX;2322850]So my plan is to call up the local shop to see how much it would be to diagnose the problem: head gasket, cracked/warped head etc. The engine may be dying, so I’ll probably go the replacement route if the head is toast.[/QUOTE]At this point, a new engine might be less expensive then other alternatives, unless you are doing the work yourself. Even a new head gasket hardly makes sense since there are quite a few engines available for this car.

You’d think it would be easy to find an engine, but the shops here are having difficulty finding one, especially with low miles. One shop may recommend a rebuild. I’m hesitant to find one online and having it shipped to the shop because I can see the shop saying that “there’s something wrong with the engine that YOU supplied… etc.” A performance shop has quoted me a B18B (unsure of mileage) and a rebuilt automatic transmission. I’m not able to do this myself and I don’t have any G2IC members here (I miss Florida so much right now) so I’m kinda being forced to go with a shop and its terms. :argh:

[QUOTE=N FUL FX;2322865]You’d think it would be easy to find an engine, but the shops here are having difficulty finding one…[/QUOTE]I did a quick check on a site called car-part.com, and there were three engines listed in Maryland, one with 112K miles.

Someone I knew did it this way: he found the engine he wanted in a neighboring state, called and asked for the name of a mechanic who was used to working with the salvage yard, and then took his car to that mechanic, minutes from where the engine was. Seems backwards, but it worked out (it was expensive shipping otherwise, this was NOT a 4-cyl). 90 day warranty, and the mechanic was happy to have the business.

Salvage yards deal with a lot of people, and they have a rep to live up to. Perhaps not much of one, but still. They typically won’t sell junk to a mechanic they do business with.

It took us one afternoon and one evening and about $50 in gas, for two cars driving there and back, but it worked, LOL.

That’s interesting. Thanks for the tip!

You know that I would be down to do a swap for you. It would be like the old days when everyone used to come to my house to get their cars fixed! I still have tons of parts squirled away. Just got a shipment of transmission parts for my CRX Y1 rebuild.

I sent you an email a few days ago, Jeff. Thanks.