Acura 2001 cl 3.2 engine problems

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

I’m trying to figure out what is really wrong with my sons car.



The first mechanic thought it was the computer so he took it out and replaced it with another one. The problem remained so he put the original back in. Recommended we go to an Acura dealer for a diagnosis. Here are their results.



CODE PO 300-306 ALL CYLINDERS MISFIRING. DIAGNO SED VEH AND SWAPPED COILS WITH KNOWN GOOD COILS AND MISFIRE WENT AWAY EXCEPT WHEN VEH STARTED COLD. RECOMMEND REPLACE ALL COILS AND PERFORM VALVE ADJUSTMENT.



CODE 01-1 POEN CIRCUIT IN DRIVER AIR BAG, WOULD NEED NEW HARNESS TO START.



2 issues 1) engine 2) airbag



The airbag light has always been an on off issue since he bought it used.



The dealer said it is a wiring problem to the airbag not the bag itself.



I don’t know if it is related but the first mechanic tried to swap the air filter with a Honda and it didn’t fit so he put the original back on. The original that came with the used car is not the one that would have came with it new. The other owner put on a cold air intake for better performance. The mechanic was trying to put on the Honda filter so that the car would pass smog. A week later the car started having engine problems.



He has had the car for about a year.



Any Ideas?



Thanks

2

What Honda air filter did he try to swap it with - -I assume you mean he tried to swap it from some other Honda vehicle. I have no idea why the mechanic would think this would work, or how you’d get it to fit (depending on the vehicle) and so I suspect the mechanic might have broken something or knocked into something when he was screwing around in there.

3

If a cold air intake was installed in place of the original intake system, the misfires may be caused from a contaminated/damaged Mass Air Flow sensor. You can try cleaning the MAF sensor with an aerosol MAF sensor cleaner to see if that helps. If not, then have a scanner connected that can do real time monitoring. Drive the vehicle and monitor the MAF sensor readings relative to throttle position. If you see something like 80% mass air flow at 100% throttle opening, the MAF sensor is defective and causing the misfires.

Tester

4

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

The cold air intake system has been in place for a year. When they tried to put the temporary Honda intake on for it to pass smog, could they have come in contact with with the MAF? Is this something that I could clean myself? Why didn’t Diagnosis detect it?

Thanks

The car is running (parked until fixed)at only a fraction of the power. Would I recommend this scanner idea to a shop?

Thanks

5

I’m not sure what Honda filter he tried but it didn’t fit. It started running bad a week later. Do you think it could have taken that long for it to run bad? That is what I’m trying to figure out too, if the problem is related to that or just coincidence.

Thanks for your input.

6

Could a simple CO2 Sensor have anything to do with it?

7

This sounds very similar to my situation. I have heard this mentioned a few times.(old post)
http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2717522

The lasts guys recommendation is what I want to try, stated here:
1 bad coil pack can gave u multiple misfire codes. If it is me and I’m an Acura tech I would let the car run and than unplug each coil pack one at a time. The car will run rougher but if the there is no change than that is the bad coil pack. The map sensor is a good thing to check too Car fully warm map should be 1.00 volt’s

How do I go about this with the car running. How do I avoid getting shocked?

Thanks