When leaving work the other day, I started my 96 Integra LS and it was idling roughly. I popped the hood and noticed that on my cold air intake (aem), the bypass valve had broken. Therefore, my car was sucking in air from inside the engine bay with no filter on it. Not having any tools on me, I chose to drive it the 15 miles home. The car had sluggish acceleration and the check engine light was on, but I had to get home.



When I got home, I replaced the broken bypass valve with a section of rubber tubing. I disconnected the battery and let it sit 1 hour. Once I restarted the car, it still idled extremely rough and had sluggish acceleration. After 5 minutes of driving, the check engine light came back on.



Now I pulled the plugs, thinking they might be fouled. They looked okay, but I still lightly sanded them and cleaned them off. I also pulled the distributor cap and cleaned the terminals inside there. The battery was once again disconnected for 30 minutes. I started my Teggy up, but I still had a rough idle and the same poor acceleration. The check engine light came on once again too.



I drove to Autozone and had them scan my car. The Actron said that Cylinder 3 was misfiring. I replaced the spark plug in cylinder 3. I then tested the resistance of the plug wires and they were all fine. I also verified that each plug was sparking. I started my car up, AND SAME PROBLEM.



The last thing that I've taken a look at are my fuel injectors. They all read 12 ohms and pass the screwdriver clicking test. I don't know what else to check or to try. My car idles poorly and has sluggish acceleration. It also sounds like it's missing when you listen to the exhaust. There's a "putt-putt" type noise.



Please help and ask any more questions that are needed. Thanks!

 

My car had a similar problem... but changing my plugs/wires solved it for me... also check your IACV, is it throwing code 73?

 

I reset the battery again yesterday, so right now the check engine light isn't on. I'll take the car for a ride and once the check engine light comes back on, I'll see what code is given. What is the IACV? Thanks.

 

I've read some things about "low or uneven compression" sometimes causing misfiring. I've also read that intake manifold leaks can cause the same thing.

Is there any possibility that sucking in too much air could have caused either of the above problems? Or something else that I haven't thought of?

 

The CEL code indicates a 73, meaning a random misfire. This is the same as read by the actron and I'm guessing the 3 means 3rd cylinder. The wire definitely sparks, so the only option I see left is to pull the fuel injector and to try swapping it with a neighbor and see if the problem moves.

 

I swapped the 3rd (misfiring) fuel injector with the 2nd fuel injector and the problem went away. My best guess is that the 3rd fuel injector is acting up and by swapping it's location, it was somehow fixed? Any ideas on this? After a 20 minute test drive, the car still runs fine.

 

Well if you get a CEL again, and it's for the #2 cylinder, at least you found the culprit. That problem seems sorta odd if the position swap fixes it...

 

I find it really odd. I'll see what happens after a few days of driving.