Ep3 Troubles........

[Limelite Racing]

I have a 2002 EP3, the other day I was cruising home like usual, 5th gear cruisin that bitch. Long story short, check engine light pops on, I say my typical "fuck that shit." Stop at the light, hear a tapping noise. Tap tap tap away, this lil Ep of mine does, now im feeling major misfire, tapping gets louder. I told that lil Ep " you'll be alright baby girl" and got her home. As a mechanic, I pulled a 304, 4th cyl. misfire. Pulled the injectors B-12 blasted them bitches out, still had the problem. Replaced the plugs, but pulling out the 4th cylinder coil pack was quite the pain, shit it's melted I thought. So i broke the head off, grabbed some channels and yanked the bitch out of there. Sure as shit, it was melted. Got the remainder of melted coil pack out of there and noticed that that spark plug was loose. I was thinking hey, whoever did the plugs before I bought this car might not have known what they were doing, but then again the dry fire could have caused the heat to melt a pack, or a short in the coil pack could have also caused the problem in the first place, which could have all been started by a plugged injector. Anyways, the tapping I have diagnosed as a non-rod knock, hopefully not a valve problem, but I'll keep you guys posted. Just doing what I can without having to pull the head off of it.

Anyways, just wanted to let off some steam. If anyone has a similar problem, I'll be sure to make a write up of this. Has anyone even had a similar problem? For a K20a3 with a little over 70k on it, from my Honda experience shouldn't be anything too serious.

[ep3k20]

that sucks thats the one downside to buyin a used car but remember to torque your new plugs down to spec for your own benefit. also i dont think its gonna be a rod soundS to me like the plug worked its way loose causing the CEL and hence the taping you heard and the drive home probably is what burnt up the boot but replace that bish with a new pack throw some plugs than fire it up before you start tearing into a motor lol or! SWAP IT OUT :)

[Limelite Racing]

That's the kind of a response that I like to hear. Courteous. Thanks for that. I always like to troubleshoot the most probable cause before tearing any engine apart. I ordered a set of 4 coil packs out of an 06 RSX, as I know K series coil packs are fortunately the same, and I want to replace all 4 while I'm at it. I'm justing waiting on them to arrive on my doorstep. I ran through my typical system checks. I disconnected cylinder 3's fuel injector plug, and sure enough, it died out. I disconnected cylinder 4's injector plug, and it sounded the same. Definitely a good thing. I notice the performance of the engine to be quite different from that of a cracked valve or sideways swingin' piston. Giving me a little bit of hope to not have to pull the head off of that ish. I know that the compression of a cylinder without being fired can cause a "knocking" or "tapping" sound.

I really appreciate your input man. I'll let you know what happens after I drop some new coil packs in that little babe of mine.

I must say that this EP3 is one of the fastest Honda's that I have ever owned. It doesn't put out the 320whp that my old S13 had, but realistically, it's fast enough and gets 20mpg more than my S13.

[talonXracer]

Your tapping was what is left of the coil arcing into the head.

I have seen this several times, but it sounds like your ride didnt suffer as bad as some have, make sure the threads for the plug have not been eroded.

And if you think your little K20A3 has power, do a swap and put in a K20A2 with a set of stg2 cams and Kpro, LOL I put down 245ish and get 34-36mpg on the highway(considerably less around town due to the fact I love cracking VTEC)LOL

Glad you like your ride and most of all WELCOME to EPhatch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Limelite Racing]

Hey thank you man! Another good response. I like this forum because everyone has good, useful, friendly information. As much as I would love to put more power out of my EP, it's been so reliable, and quick enough for a daily that I've been satisfied. I've heard of the A2 swaps, but I like to keep my swaps on the track cars. This is my car to work out in Forest Grove from Portland, you know? It's a decent drive, and I don't like to track my dailys or race any other folks on the street. It's just asking for a ticket.

[talonXracer]

The K20a2 swap is just as good for a DD as any other engine out there. Afterall it is the stock engine in the RSX typeS which has the same basic chassis(like camaro vrs firebird) as the EP3. The best thing is the 6spd trans and the reduced rpm's at highway speed vrs the K20a3 and 5 spd. Hell you cant even tell the engines apart without checking engine codes or opening the valve cover(or checking for the structural cast aluminum oil pan on the A2). Just something to consider for the future.

[Nicotine]

for me, the swap made my ep3 worth while......

tossed in a k20z1 from a 06 type-s

it's been flawlessly reliable, not one single issue - and it's hella fun..... 6spd is better down the highway also... lower rpm, better gas mileage, quieter....... and it's baller :P

use this as an excuse to swap ;)

[Limelite Racing]

The K20a2 swap is just as good for a DD as any other engine out there. Afterall it is the stock engine in the RSX typeS which has the same basic chassis(like camaro vrs firebird) as the EP3. The best thing is the 6spd trans and the reduced rpm's at highway speed vrs the K20a3 and 5 spd. Hell you cant even tell the engines apart without checking engine codes or opening the valve cover(or checking for the structural cast aluminum oil pan on the A2). Just something to consider for the future.

For sure man! I'll look into it. An a2 swap would be an extra couple grand that I could throw into a track/dd car if I'd like though. Like an S13 for example. I enjoy 6 speeds though I must say.. And not to mention, minus this minor setback I have had, this is one of the greatest Hondas I have ever owned! I love it!

[Limelite Racing]

for me, the swap made my ep3 worth while......

tossed in a k20z1 from a 06 type-s

it's been flawlessly reliable, not one single issue - and it's hella fun..... 6spd is better down the highway also... lower rpm, better gas mileage, quieter....... and it's baller :P

use this as an excuse to swap ;)
Thanks man! I will definitely keep all of your input in mind!!

[EP3driver]

I am leaning to this swap option. The thing is to find a low mileage K20A2 full swap in good condition, otherwise it becomes a major PITA to spend 2-3 grand on the swap. I have to check around for good places to buy from...

[Limelite Racing]

Here's the update:
My coil packs came in the mail today! I extensively cleaned out all of the old melted coil pack, and started to remove my cylinder 4 spark plug (which was not even hand tight in there) Cylinder 4's spark plug had a broken off ground electrode. After running a couple of tests, we determined that the electrode was long gone. Probably stuck in my cat. Maybe even flew out and chipped someone's windshield! Just joking of course. Compression on cylinder 4 is good. My new plug won't thread in, so today at work I'm going to pick up a spark plug thread chaser to clean up those threads, and, unlike the previous owner, TORQUE MY PLUGS TO SPEC!! Kind of good to know that this was a user-error and not a Honda error. So in conclusion until I get off work, I told that lil Ep of mine " Don't worry baby girl it wasn't your fault " She was relieved. Although we both knew that anyways. I've never been more excited to get a car back on the road. I don't think I'll ever get rid of that Ep.

[Limelite Racing]

Update:
Got the chaser, but realized the cyl. 4 spark plug was stripped. I permafixed that, got everything installed. Still had an abnoxious tap and misfire. I pulled cyl. 4 fuel injector out and blasted it again, reinstalled and no more misfire, but still a tapping. I lubricated everything up and it started to quiet down. Now it gets loud for a second after giving her some throttle. Time to pull the valve cover. Not a valve, not rodknock. My bet is something in my rocker arms and/ or lifters. Time to find out!

[ep3k20]

my money is on adjusting your valves my friend. if the last owner never did so its about time to do it and its really easy to do and it will get rid of most tapping. oh and do yourself a favor and do a oil change afterwards,but dont use 5w-20 that honda recomends to. a lot of owners, including myself, use 5w-30. it just quites the valvetrain up, and can prolong the engine life a tad good luck to ya hope that is the only prob as far as the tapping goes

[Twisted-X]

Just curious, was there just enough thread for the compression gauge to spin in but not the plug? What do you mean by "permafix", JBweld?

Sorry for all the q's, and welcome to EPhatch!

[Limelite Racing]

Lol, no not JB weld. Helicoil makes a permanent spark plug thread repair kit. The compression tester started to thread, but would continue to spin. We're going to compression test it again today, to make sure my numbers are accurate. As well as a valve adjustment. The knock goes away for a few moments, and then comes back pretty quiet .....etc... Loud or quiet it's going to bug me until I fix it. I'll let you guys know what happens after the valve adjustment.

[EP3driver]

Could it be a lubrication issue that goes away once it warms up?

[Limelite Racing]

Could it be a lubrication issue that goes away once it warms up?

Very possible, but a warmed up engine could cut out a lot of slack from timing chain issues, lifter and/or valve issues, etc.. She pulled a 108, 300, 302, 303, and 304. Thank you cylinder 1 for not being involved in this shit. Cyl. 1 and I are pretty close. I bought him a bottle of whiskey for not CEL'ing me. Anyways, a multi-cylinder misfire, and a MAP sensor high voltage CEL code could is the very least of my worries. I have a mini-knock. And some other strange things going on now. All sorts of lights flashing around. I'm pretty sure there's some UFO's that want my EP3. They're always flying over me, making my lights flicker and shit. And knock. And shit.

[Limelite Racing]

Gave her a valve adjustment yesterday. CEL went bye bye, 70% of the noise went byebye, and I'm assuming SeaFoam and an oil change will get rid of the extra tap tappers. Now the tap goes away at 3k RPMS completely. So far so good.

[2k3hatchie]

Damn, Im going to make sure that I torque my plugs down for sure when I change them. Good luck fixing the problem, sounds like you're almost there!

[SkareKrow]

Gave her a valve adjustment yesterday. CEL went bye bye, 70% of the noise went byebye, and I'm assuming SeaFoam and an oil change will get rid of the extra tap tappers. Now the tap goes away at 3k RPMS completely. So far so good.

BUMP:bump2: For A DIY On Valve Adjustments! =-) Thanks in advance if possible! That's my next mission!

[Limelite Racing]

Actually there is a really good DIY on valve adjustments, I used it as reference when I didn't know which cylinders were being checked from the 90 degree crank turn.
Here's the link:
http://www.ephatch.com/forum/showthread.php?51080-DIY-Valve-Clearance-Check-Adjustment