It's the same test as disconnecting the plug wires. Disconnect a good cylinder and the engine will slow down. Disconnect a dead cylinder and nothing will happen. The engine should be able to stay idling on 2 cylinders as long as they are not consecutive in firing order.

I don't recommend disconnecting the plug wires while the engine is running because a few people have had their coil blow out while doing that.

 

okay, i will do that and i have not disconnected my coil wires yet while its running, what about the backfiring, is that indicating a too lean/too rich mixture?

oh.. and i'm using Shell V-Power (92 octane) gasoline, just picked up a full tank a few days ago, changed the fuel filter and only put in Supreme at Chevron or Shell, never ARCO or anything. also, the plugs look good, brown with some slight white,

 

Backfiring of any engine leads me to suspect the timing first. Your fuel pressure is good, and it varies like it should, so I would think the mixture is OK.

 

so, my timing was way off, probably about 10-20 degrees, i finally got a timing light and set it to roughly 0 degrees.

the idle is much much better and no popping "backfiring" but the problem is that it has no power below 3000 rpm, yet above that, it's just fine, has great power...

*here is a pic of my plug, they all look this way and sorry for the blackberry pic.



if anyone has had this problem, i would be more than interested in learning anything. i bled my coolant at temp, checked all my vacuum and coolant lines, i noticed a slight spot by the VTEC solenoid where looked like coolant.

any ideas? should i look at the fuel pump? what makes the fuel flow at high RPM vs. low RPM?

 

Sounds like your timing belt has slipped, and the valve timing is still way off. The engine will not run properly even if you reset the spark timing as you have done.

If you find the cam is out of time, I would strongly recommend a new timing belt. Once it has slipped once, it's going to do it again.

 

Thanks, I will definitely do that, how is the cam timing different from the spark timing and would that cause the symptoms I see? Next how did the belt manage to skip a tooth? Is there an easy way to check the cam timing?

 

i checked the cam timing today and it seems to be dead on....is there anything else i should consider?

what about the ECU, plugs, fuel rail, injectors? above 3000 rpm it acts normal.

also, when it is cold, it seems to be normal...... what does this suggest?

thanks!