Rough Running B16a (Em1)

[Dc_II]

So I bought an EM1 Yesterday.

Before I got there, the guy had degreased the motor and hosed it down...
I simply HATE people who do this to cover up any leaks... and I just simply hate it period. I even said to him "You degreased the motor didnt you, the stench of it is fresh"...

So, doing my best to explore for leaks, checking a few things here and there, I took it for a drive... a decent drive. Car ran exceptionally well, apart from a VERY worn clutch.

Talked price and put all costs into consideration and bought it.

Came to pick it up 3 hours later, and car started to miss as soon as I left his house straight away, I pin pointed the plugs being wet... went to my mates house and pulled out the leads, splashing water on the rocker cover... *fkn d1ckhead* was running through my mind...

So anyway, I left the plugs in there and just let it air dry with the heat from the motor etc for a good hour or so... put them back in and went for a drive, seemed ok only small miss about 3k then would run fine...

This morning, turn on the car, idled fine... warmed it up and took off to work...
-Car sounded like a rexy
-Idle was all over the place
-felt like something was dragging it back, hardly any throttle response
-Ran like 5hit...
-motor felt like it was "Sticky"... i dont know if you know what I mean

so, Im going to do the following and hopefully today...
-Change my plugs
-Change the leads

I just wanted to know if any one could share their experiences or have any insight to it.

Im just worried about the following drastic measures
-Rooted distributor
-Blown head...

I checked visually for head issues
No contamination in coolant
No contamination in oil
No smoke, white or blue
No milky residue under oil cap

If any one has any experiences or knowledge that will ease my mind... that would be awesome... not the best thing to feel after buying a new car.

[grifty]

it wouldnt be a blown head gasket, it is probably just a bad missfire, change the plugs and leads and see how you go from there.

[Jaiiiwon]

rexy sound?... from experience.. the only time my EM1 would sound anything near that is when one of my spark plugs came off.

you might want to check that out.. see if any of them are loose, and just simply put them back in tightly, especially if the sparks plug are after market ones.. I have spit fires on mine.. and they're too thick to fit on the stock bracket.. as to why in case of a really rare case.. the plug would fall out.. and i would get those symptoms.. rexy like sound, idling all over the place, the car starts vibrating like crazy and throttle response is really laggd.

Hoped that helped alot buddy!

[Dc_II]

LoL, how do you plugs come off? you mean leads yeah?
I pushed all the leads in (motor and dizzy) nice and firm... but to no avail...

[Jaiiiwon]

LOL.. dont ask..

nah it must've gotten loose, they're fairly old... and i think i was driving on a bumpy road at the time. Yeah.. the spark plugs. LOL.

Did you check if they work?

[Dc_II]

No, but I will be checking tonight before I change them.. leads and plugs tonight...
*fingers crossed*

Never heard of spark plugs unscrewing them selves hahahahaha

[Jaiiiwon]

LOL.. screw on?.. Nah the plugs.. that lyk go towards the pistons. You know how you can just pull em out?.. and you just push em in? Its just rubber.
and they fire at a certain order.


but yeah.. if one of them falls out.. you get that rexy sound, unless you let go off the gas and let the engine break for you.. it sounds normal. The balance from the power distribution is ruined as to why you get the vibrations.. and obviously.. with one piston down, you'll obviously get a laggd throttle response.

[dc2r-0636]

Had this on my car. Was the plugs

[rotary_snail]

May need new leads/coil. Might have been arcing out from getting wet.

[starkey]

This happend to me once so I blew it all out with the compressor, then all good

[MRK20CRX]

LOL.. screw on?.. Nah the plugs.. that lyk go towards the pistons. You know how you can just pull em out?.. and you just push em in? Its just rubber.
and they fire at a certain order.


but yeah.. if one of them falls out.. you get that rexy sound, unless you let go off the gas and let the engine break for you.. it sounds normal. The balance from the power distribution is ruined as to why you get the vibrations.. and obviously.. with one piston down, you'll obviously get a laggd throttle response.

They're leads dude..LOL

[WMD]

you have started in the right place with checking plugs / leads. will sound / run like that if not firing on all cylinders. check and clean would be in order (compressed air as above is a good start), then replacement.

if its still there after changing the above, continue further down the spark trail. You would see different symptoms if it were a head gasket I believe, so you should be fine there.

[Dc_II]

Thanks for your input guys. Really appreciate it

Spewing today... So I started up my car this avo... first destination to JDMyard to pick up my new leads and sparkplugs...
Sounding like a rex, but a stock charade would have eaten me alive...

Get to JDMYard, sounded like the car was about to pass out... if you've never seen a grown man cry, that was your chace...
So I get my leads and plugs from Yonas (thanks dude) get to my car and started it up... started up and idled like there was no issues... im sitting in there going wtf is wrong with you!!!

Got to my mates place to change the leads/plugs.. pull out the old leads, all brown and manky... plug 1, was running rich and the ceramic was burnt to the 5hit house, plus! it wasnt even bolted in tight, the other 3 were a little lean or just normal wear and tear

So I've changed it all (iridium plugs and bosch oem replacements) and took it for a drive, no rough idling, vtec came on and car went like an absolute animal.. (up to 70km/h of course)

but the real test (and I will update this) is tomorrow morning when it all settles down again just like last night till this morning...

[WMD]

good to hear. fingers crossed thats the end of it for you - always nice when the simplest, first explanation is the right one!

doesnt seem to happen often enough

[rotary_snail]

Plug 1 wasn't running rich, was most likely were your misfire was. Rich and misfiring two very different things.

[Dc_II]

Possibly...
So this morning, Started it up, no rough idling, no hesitation (apart from it being a stock B16a)...

Ill let it settle for a few days before I completely rule it out... but so far so good!

[cya_eg]

i had the same problem wit water in the spark plugs, but i caused it, i washed my engine 2 make i nice n clean nut i think it eas bout 2 -3 weeks later drivin home from campbelltown, started it n runnin rought n had the rext sound, knew straight away it was a mis but couldnt do anything since no workshops r open on a sunday, drove home n pulled off the leads n saw water. the next day when 2 a work shop n used compressed air 2 blow out the spark plugs, leads n the dizzy. this did th trick but still had a slight hesitation when accelerating but i was hopin the heat from engine would get rid of the moisture that were in the leads, i was very lucky n it did n now it drives fine wit no problems, well that is wat happens 2 me anyway that's my 2 cent worth

[flipfire]

Inspect/Replace the dizzy dude, he probably didnt cover it up before he hosed it.

Why do people give their engine bays a wash? Isnt degreaser enough?

[Dc_II]

I checked out the dizzy cap and it seemed Ok...
Cars running operational at the moment so im happy with that.

Im just contemplating whether to replace the whole dizzy unit period to save me the head ache...
$330 + exhange from Honbits... *sighs*

[cya_eg]

Inspect/Replace the dizzy dude, he probably didnt cover it up before he hosed it.

Why do people give their engine bays a wash? Isnt degreaser enough?

u need water 2 wash off the degreaser and since most degreaser r flammable u dont want a fire in ur engine bay

[flipfire]

? The solvent and propellant should be the only thing flammable. After it evaporates in a few minutes and whatever it leaves behind shouldnt be flammable. Anyway I would still wipe it instead of washing.

[Dc_II]

I've only ever used brake cleaner to clean minor parts of the motor...
it evaporates almost immediately and cleans up really well.

It is expensive but worth its weight in gold!!!
however, I never spray the dizzy or any electrical components if it can be avoided.

my secret for nice hoses = tyre shine, spray it on a rag, and start wiping the hoses...

*rep me if you think thats worthy, hehehehehehe

but anyhoo, I think its going off topic a little bit... I think theres a handful of people who have learnt from hosing a motor down and will not be doing it again...

[Dc_II]

Day 2 of plug and lead change,

still running well =)

[SEPSIR]

if it still continues it maybe the map sensor

[Dc_II]

I'm finally ruling it all out... Motor running the way it should be...
Im happy with it... I will do an ECU reset tomorrow avo...

Much appreciated and hope this thread helps some one else in future.
Does not need apply to b16a's, just any motor... and DO NOT HOSE YOUR MOTOR DOWN... there are otherways of keeping it clean...

[Shalz_Em1]

My mates civic was doing that, it was the coil pack and the car miss fired his also sounded like a rexy. So give that area a good look.

[Jaiiiwon]

They're leads dude..LOL

yeah but he was asking how could they unscrew themselves when they're not even screw on. =S