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I was revving up to get on the highway the other day when the check engine light popped up. A mile later the car started misfiring pretty bad, and I limped it home. Since then, I have replaced the spark plugs and its only gotten worse. The car stalls at idle now and starts to miss really bad as soon as the motor gets warm. I took the oil fill cap off and looked down inside and the head seems to be vibrating with every miss. The engine doesn't sound right either, and it takes a lot of cranks to start. Any clue what could be going wrong? Obviously I can just get the shop to fix on monday but I'd rather do it myself if I can.

 
Rep Power: 126

First thing to do is get the codes read. I wouldn’t do anything until then.

 
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I hear ya, but the problem is bad enough I don't want to drive the car. I did a little testing and figured out its a random misfire, so not thinking plugs or coils.

 
Rep Power: 126

Do you not have a code reader? One can be purchased for around $20.

 
Rep Power: 367

reading the codes does not involve driving the car unless you disconnected the battery (ECU will lose the code)

 
Rep Power: 367

if you don't have a reader, find a friend who have or buy one
Amazon have dongles that connects to OBDII port and connects to your phone, just need download an app.

 
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Check timing

 
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update: limped car to autozone and got the code scanned there. its a code p340, cam position sensor. likely going to replace that tomorrow and see how it goes. I was shocked how much this little piece of the engine sensor apparatus debilitated my car. oh well. if anyone reads this thread looking to see if this is their problem in the future, the main thing I've noticed now is that the symptoms only really start when the engine warms up. The start, timing, and idle are all affected. all signs pointed to distributor cap when I was looking before but get 7s don't have one.

 
Rep Power: 367

warning! Get a OEM denso sensor! these engines does not like aftermarket sensors!!!

 
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^ what he said.

I'd go to the dealership for conveniences sake. It will be more expensive (substantially more, I imagine), but it's what works.

 
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Damn they're gonna charge me $130 aren't they
Thanks guys. I'll put an update when it works!

 
Rep Power: 126

Give or take. Better than spending $50 on something that doesn’t work.

 
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Yeaaaah. Dealership wants $150. I'm thinking of getting a junkyard cam sensor. Is that stupid or will i be OK?

 
Rep Power: 367

see if you can get from a car that was in a crash (more likely that engine was running)

 
Rep Power: 126

That'll probably be fine.

 
Rep Power: 222

Do this

 
Rep Power: 367

car-part.com for nearby scrapyard search

 
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Final Update
Got in there and did the job. It was harder than it seemed, i guess on our civics you need a spicy multi-angle socket to get to the timing belt cover bolt nearest the front, which i dont have, so i pulled off the entire front power steering pump and its mount that fastens it to the engine. after that things went pretty smooth. CEL is off and hasnt come back on so i'm considering this a win. thanks everyone for the advice, definitely getting a code reader asap.

 
Rep Power: 126

Good to know.

Yeah, it's a bit of a hassle to do. The 7th gens aren't amazing to work on relative to other Honda's. Of the 4 I've had, it was by far the worst.

 
Rep Power: 367

great! what did you end up using? brand new or used sensor?

 
Rep Power: 133

Common advice is to use OEM NGK spark plugs too.