Misfire codes, Dealer wants $1230.00

Really.

$1230.00!?!


"CUSTOMER STATES CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON
DIAG SYSTEM AND FOUND CODES P1204, P1206 (MIS-FIRE CODES)
MAY HAVE FAULTY IGN COILS OR PLUGS EST TO REPLACE COILS AND
PLUGS 1230.00
CLEARED CODE AND RECHECKED. VEHICLE OPERATING AS
DESIGNED AT THIS TIME"

So...
Car would throw codes every blue moon,(2 times a year with about 3,000 miles per year) I would simply rest the ECU and go on my way. Typically "codes" when the car is warm, but cold outside. Always seems to do it at idle or low RPM.

When the CEL is on the car's RPM will drop to near staling and then correct itself. When I reset the ECU idle seems fine.

Car is now throwing the code, seems like, every 4th or 5th time I drive it.
Car drives fine 99% of the time. drove it to work today... no problems.

On an hour drive Saturday, code came on near or at a stop, continued driving about a mile or two in 4th/5th gear and then came to a stop and felt hesitation accelerating in 2nd (low RPM) one time, but that was it.

It DOES NOT specifically happen after I wash the car, I do not drive in the rain.

The car is a 1995 with 53,000 miles.
Spark plugs replaced in 2006 with 40,000 miles.(Dealer)

Thought's?

So have you replaced the ign coils & plug wires yet?
Sounds like either coils or plugs maybe on it's last leg from what the codes giving.
Those can be changed out yourself if you dont mine a little grease on you.
It seems you have been a Primer for awhile so i assume you know where to get OEM parts for a whole lot cheaper than the stealership.

Before you replace the coils and the plugs, make sure you have positive contacts. I found mild corrosions in the coil receptacles. I cleaned the contacts with sand paper and the code went away.

Taj said:

Before you replace the coils and the plugs, make sure you have positive contacts. There were mild corrosions. I cleaned the contacts with sand paper and the code went away.

Click to expand...

+.2:wink:

You sure you can't just buy new ones? Acura of Lynnwood was selling them for $150 for years.. Too lazy to check on ebay. I purchased a new set about a year ago.

Thanks for the replies.


Don't mind getting a little dirty, so I will first check the connections for corrosion.

heathbar0 said:

Really.

$1230.00!?!


"CUSTOMER STATES CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON
DIAG SYSTEM AND FOUND CODES P1204, P1206 (MIS-FIRE CODES)
MAY HAVE FAULTY IGN COILS OR PLUGS EST TO REPLACE COILS AND
PLUGS 1230.00
CLEARED CODE AND RECHECKED. VEHICLE OPERATING AS
DESIGNED AT THIS TIME"

Thought's?

Click to expand...

I tell you what. For $1230 I will drive out to you, change the coils and plugs(parts/labor inc.), and we can have a nice dinner, on me, well not really, on you!!.

Seriously the coil pak set is $224 DELIVERED to your door, INCLUDING spark plugs.

Regards,
LarryB

heathbar0 said:

Really.

$1230.00!?!


"CUSTOMER STATES CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON
DIAG SYSTEM AND FOUND CODES P1204, P1206 (MIS-FIRE CODES)
MAY HAVE FAULTY IGN COILS OR PLUGS EST TO REPLACE COILS AND
PLUGS 1230.00
CLEARED CODE AND RECHECKED. VEHICLE OPERATING AS
DESIGNED AT THIS TIME"

So...
Car would throw codes every blue moon,(2 times a year with about 3,000 miles per year) I would simply rest the ECU and go on my way. Typically "codes" when the car is warm, but cold outside. Always seems to do it at idle or low RPM.

When the CEL is on the car's RPM will drop to near staling and then correct itself. When I reset the ECU idle seems fine.

Car is now throwing the code, seems like, every 4th or 5th time I drive it.
Car drives fine 99% of the time. drove it to work today... no problems.

On an hour drive Saturday, code came on near or at a stop, continued driving about a mile or two in 4th/5th gear and then came to a stop and felt hesitation accelerating in 2nd (low RPM) one time, but that was it.

It DOES NOT specifically happen after I wash the car, I do not drive in the rain.

The car is a 1995 with 53,000 miles.
Spark plugs replaced in 2006 with 40,000 miles.(Dealer)

Thought's?

Click to expand...

Yea to back up what Larry said.. That estimate is a complete JOKE.

Here is the Link to the coil and plug set.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1995-2005-A...ries&hash=item564a5e88a6&vxp=mtr#ht_500wt_922

I would also walk in to that service office with this listing printed out. Hand it to the advisor and walk out..

Actually, changing out coil packs/plugs is rather easy. Save your self some labor$$.

davidf said:

Actually, changing out coil packs/plugs is rather easy. Save your self some labor$$.

Click to expand...

Yeah, looks like the labor is about $1000 at this place for ~1 hr of work.. haha what a joke

I tried to buy the "special" coil and plug package from two local dealers and neither were aware of it. One told me the package was not being offered anymore and when I told him about Acura of Lynwood's deal that I had found was a dealer who had stocked up on the items and still had plenty to sell. I don't know if this is true but they do treat me very well and do their very best to get the right parts to my door, hand delivered quickly.

It is entirely possible that this service writer was unaware of this package and simply added up the list single costs of 6 coils and 6 spark plugs. If you do that and add about 1 hour of labor it is easy to see how such a quote could be given.

It is possible that there was nothing nefarious in their intent at all. On the other hand maybe they did know about this package and felt this was the way to hit a home run charging the single unit price. If you have had good experiences with this dealership I'd tell them what you now know about this package and your honest concern that they were overcharging with this quote and see what their response is. It would be good to know and if you have had a positive business relationship with them in the past I'd be as honest with them as you would expect them to be with you. Me, I would want to know where they were coming from on this.

If you do go back, the part number for the kit is:

06300-PR7-305

"305" at the end of all Honda part numbers means "kit"

HTH,
LarryB

taj said:

before you replace the coils and the plugs, make sure you have positive contacts. I found mild corrosions in the coil receptacles. I cleaned the contacts with sand paper and the code went away.

Click to expand...

+1..

Bought mine from Findlay Acura in 09 ,06300-PR7-305 six coils $125.and 6plugs98079-5617S $75.00 ,still haven't used them , good deal , looking at receipt right now! Seems these kits were a part of an emission recall ,my car is a 97.

Larry Bastanza said:

I tell you what. For $1230 I will drive out to you, change the coils and plugs(parts/labor inc.), and we can have a nice dinner, on me, well not really, on you!!.

Click to expand...

If you threw in a "reach around" I might just take you up on the offer! :biggrin:

Hugh said:

If you threw in a "reach around" I might just take you up on the offer! :biggrin:

Click to expand...

Pics!

What cylinder was it mis-firing? I also work at a shop and our policy is to cover our asses.

We charge $150 to diagnose CEL and in your case if you have multiple mis-fires (cylinder 1,3 for example) we would recommend a full tune-up which consist of including all 6 coils and plugs. Mainly to insure the codes would not return indicating other cylinder misfires. Of course we would also give you the option to to replace all 6 as recommended but you have the option to only replace the ones that are bad. At the price of $1200 I can understand if they are replacing all 6 coils and plugs plus the cost of labor at average 90 per hour. It may take a average gear head an hour to swap everything out but dealership always goes by book time. So if the book saids 3 hour, they will be charging you 3-3.5 hours.

And just for heads up. What you are doing, constantly resetting the ecu is not going to correct it self. Your ecu has a certain number of monitors it needs to read ready to be ok. In the short trips you made was enough for the ecu to perform it's drive cycle and read its monitors. I suggest fixing the problem as driving with misfires and ruin your catalytic converter.

Just wanted to update in case someone else had this problem.

I purchased the plugs and coils from the Ebay listing, from the Acura dealer in Washington.

I preformed the work 3 weeks ago, It took me a little less than 2 hours. I found it to be fairly straight forward.

After about 50 miles, I have not had a CEL come on.
$224.00 and 2 hours, along with getting to know my car a little better... Good stuff.

Thanks to this forum for all the help!

Update:

Had no problems with the CEL or hesitation until yesterday.
Took the car on a 100 mile drive, after about 50 miles I noticed a little hesitation that got progressively worse. I would stomp on the pedal and get the misfire feeling, like it was running on 2 cylinders
The hesitation occurred only between 2500 and 3500 RPM.
After 3500 it was fine.

Stayed over night in a hotel.

Started the car this morning; everything fine, got about halfway with the trip back, same thing.

Clearly something is heating up.
Looked at some other threads and the O2 sensor seems to be a possibility.

Biggest problem: I have to drive for an hour straight to get this to happen again... Or never drive it far again.

Looking to see if this rings any bells.

Thanks!

No, its not your oxygen sensor. Have you tried cleaning the throttle body? Sounds to me more like its loading up with fuel after you lope along for a while. Actually, and this is sort of a long shot but worth a look, what is the condition of your air filter?

heathbar0 said:

Update:

Had no problems with the CEL or hesitation until yesterday.
Took the car on a 100 mile drive, after about 50 miles I noticed a little hesitation that got progressively worse. I would stomp on the pedal and get the misfire feeling, like it was running on 2 cylinders
The hesitation occurred only between 2500 and 3500 RPM.
After 3500 it was fine.

Stayed over night in a hotel.

Started the car this morning; everything fine, got about halfway with the trip back, same thing.

Clearly something is heating up.
Looked at some other threads and the O2 sensor seems to be a possibility.

Biggest problem: I have to drive for an hour straight to get this to happen again... Or never drive it far again.

Looking to see if this rings any bells.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

You did not mention a CEL. If you did not get one, three times a charm. Take is for one more drive and see if you get a CEL.

Regards,
LarryB

Sorry.

I did get a CEL the second day.

I guess I should invest in a Code reader...
I would get a lot of use out of it.

Ordered this...

http://www.amazon.com/Autel-MaxiScan-MS300-Diagnostic-Vehicles/dp/B001LHVOVK/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1349900497&sr=1-1&keywords=code+reader

I will let you know when I get it.

You don't have to wait for the code reader. You can jump the plug under the dash using a paper clip, then read the codes defined by the flashes on the dash. (I'm sure it tells how to do so somewhere in the "wiki" on this site.) Then look up the meaning of the code and its corresponding diagnostic procedure in the service manual (don't ask me why, but it's at the start of the fuel and emissions section).

nsxtasy said:

(don't ask me why, but it's at the start of the fuel and emissions section).

Click to expand...

Why?


Just kidding.



Reader should be in my hands in a couple hours, so I will wait.

Thanks!

Codes:

P1204
P1205
P1206
P1300

So... Misfires...
Not a lot of help.

Only happened after approximately 30 minutes of highway driving... May not have anything to do with highway, I rarely drive the car for more than 20 minutes at one time.
Plugs and coils are new.

Thoughts?