Spark Plug issue??

AMCJDR · 04-26-2009

Hey everyone,
I have an 05 Honda Civic base model. I bought it from this guy who took good care of the car but said he changed the spark plugs every 20k miles which is ridiculous but anyways, recently my car has been idling a little rough and stuttering. We had a guy who works at the Honda dealership hook up his laptop to find out what the CEL was reading. We had changed the spark plugs and that seemed to help a little but the problem continued. When changing the spark plugs we noticed one of them had oil in it and was loose. So we cleaned it out. Still no fix. We changed one of the Coils because it was burnt out. Still no fix. So anyways, he says the ecu is reading that all 4 cylinders are misfiring, so we change all the ignition coils. Luckily he had an engine at the house that didnt really have anything wrong with it and gave us 3 coils and put them in it. Immediately the car started running great like it was when we first bought the car. Now, 2 days later its acting up again and the CEL is on again. We went to check the plugs again and they were loose. Not wobbly loose but all we had to do was stick the socket in there and turn it without the ratchet and they came loose. Is there something to cause the spark plugs to loosen? And if anyone has any insight as to what is up with the car, I'd appreciate the input.

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gearbox · 04-26-2009

new plugs need to be retorqued a second time after a bit of driving. make sure you install them when the engine is cold. also, if theres oil on the plug you need a new valve cover gasket with the spark plug tube seals. it all comes as a kit together.

Monk33 · 04-26-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by gearbox

new plugs need to be retorqued a second time after a bit of driving. make sure you install them when the engine is cold. also, if theres oil on the plug you need a new valve cover gasket with the spark plug tube seals. it all comes as a kit together.

Ditto, listen to one of the veteran master's of this car, namely Gearbox.

Nine times out of ten, it's the spark plug tube seals--a notorious problem with ALL generation civics. Oil on the threads is a tell-tale sign. Like Gearbox said, always install plugs with the engine cold, and never, never, never remove plugs with the engine still warm. A warm aluminum head plus an over-enthusiastic wrench to the plugs will equal instant strippage of the threads!!!

Also, be careful with any fuel-injector cleaner, octane booster, bull-shit horsepower-tune-up in a bottle, etc. Most of these cause more harm than good in the long run. The high concentration of alcohol in these cleaners may contribute to your seals and gaskets drying out prematurely, thus causing oil to leak where it shouldn't (like through your spark plug tube seals!). If you want to "clean things out", then if just run a tank of high octane gas once in a while to make yourself feel better. Good luck bro!

AMCJDR · 04-27-2009

Thanks! and i'm a girl

Monk33 · 04-28-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMCJDR

Thanks! and i'm a girl

Oops! So sorry! Bad assumption on my part. Good luck!