How To Test Misfire Trouble Codes (1997-2001 2.0L Honda CR-V)

  • By: Abraham Torres-Arredondo
  • Created: 27 June 2018
  • Updated: 21 March 2024
  • Articl Id: 631
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STEP 2: Making Sure The Dead Cylinder Is Getting Spark

Once the dead cylinder is identified, the next step is to make sure that it's getting spark.

The ignition system components that could cause the dead cylinder to misfire (if defective) are:

  • A defective distributor cap.
  • A defective spark plug wire.
  • A broken spark plug.
  • A spark plug whose air gap is not within specification.
  • Ignition coil boot and spark plug swimming in engine oil.

In a nutshell, what you'll be doing is:

  • Checking that the dead cylinder's spark plug wire is sparking.
  • Checking that the dead cylinder's spark plug's air gap is OK.
  • Making sure that the dead cylinder's spark plug wire's boot and spark plug are not swimming in engine oil.

To get the most accurate test result from your spark test, it's important that you use a dedicated spark tester.

This tutorial will help with testing the spark plug wire and the distributor cap: Distributor Cap And Spark Plug Wires Misfire Tests (2.0L Honda CR-V).

NOTE: One of the most common problems I've encountered with the Honda 2.0L engine (that cause a misfire) is the spark plug tubes filled with engine oil. This is due to the fact that the spark plug tube seals have hardened and are letting engine oil leak into the spark plug tubes. This causes the spark plug and spark plug wire boot to get soaked in engine oil. The end result of this will be a misfire condition.

If the dead cylinder is getting spark, its spark plug wire and its spark plug are OK; then the next step is to check that the dead cylinder has good compression.

STEP 3: Testing The Compression Of The Dead Cylinder

Now that you've eliminated the ignition system (as the cause of your 2.0L Honda CR-V's misfire), the next step is to make sure that the dead cylinder has good compression.

What we want to find out is if the dead cylinder's compression value is within 15% of the highest compression value of the other 3 cylinders.

In a nutshell, what you'll be doing is:

  1. Checking the compression of all 4 cylinders.
  2. Multiply the highest compression number (you got from your test) by 0.15.
  3. Subtract the product (of your multiplication problem) from the highest compression number.
  4. The difference (from your subtraction problem) is the lowest compression number (value) the dead cylinder can have. Any number (value) lower than this and the cylinder will misfire due to low compression.

To make more sense of the explanation above, let's say that I got the following compression values:

  • Cyl. #1 = 175 PSI
  • Cyl. #2 = 160 PSI
  • Cyl. #3 = 170 PSI
  • Cyl. #4 = 130 PSI.

My next step would be to multiply the highest compression number by 0.15: 175 X 0.15 = 26.25. I'll round off 26.25 to 26.

Now, I'm gonna' subtract 26 from the highest compression number: 175 - 26 = 144. This tells me that the lowest possible compression value the dead cylinder can have is 144 PSI. Anything lower and it'll misfire.

Since cylinder #4 has 130 PSI compression, I can now confidently conclude that its low compression is behind the misfire trouble code and problem making the engine misfire.

The following tutorial explains the compression test in more detail here: How To Test Engine Compression (1997-2001 2.0L Honda).

Now, if the dead cylinder's compression checks out fine, then the next step is to check the internal resistance of its fuel injector. Go to: STEP 4: Testing The Dead Cylinder's Fuel Injector.

STEP 4: Testing The Dead Cylinder's Fuel Injector

Location Of The Resonator Chamber Of The Intake Manifold. How To Troubleshoot Misfire Trouble Codes (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 2.0L Honda CR-V)

So far you have confirmed that the dead cylinder has spark and that it has good compression.

Our next step is to check the internal resistance of the dead cylinder's fuel injector and make sure that it hasn't short-circuited internally. We can do this by doing a simple multimeter resistance test on it.

We can then compare the dead cylinder's fuel injector resistance value with the adjacent cylinder's fuel injector (or any other cylinder that is not misfiring) to see if its resistance value is similar.

If the resistance value is similar, then you can conclude that the fuel injector's internal coil is OK.

If the resistance value is drastically different, then you can conclude that the fuel injector's internal coil is defective and the fuel injector is the cause of the misfire condition and misfire trouble code lighting up the check engine light.

Now, the one thing that complicates testing the fuel injectors on the 1999, 2000, and 2001 Honda CR-V is that the intake manifold's resonator chamber blocks access to cylinder #2 and #3 fuel injectors (the arrow in the photo above points to the resonator chamber).

Removing the intake manifold's resonator chamber is not hard, and once removed, you'll be able to test the fuel injector resistance of cylinders #2 and #3.

In case you're wondering, there isn't a specific resistance specification available from Honda for the fuel injectors on the 1997-2001 2.0L Honda CR-V.

STEP 5: Checking For Vacuum Leaks Around Intake Manifold

There's a good chance that a vacuum leak could be causing a P0300 misfire trouble code on your 2.0L Honda CR-V.

A very 'old school' way of testing for vacuum leaks is to spray carburetor cleaner spray around the suspected area of the vacuum leak. This is a very simple and easy task to do but for safety reasons it's important that you perform it with a completely cold engine.

The most common problem areas, for vacuum leaks, are the intake manifold gasket and the resonator chamber o-ring.

In a nutshell what you're gonna' do is to start your Honda CR-V's engine and then while it's idling, you're gonna' spray short bursts of carb-cleaner spray around the area the intake manifold meets the cylinder head. You'll also need to spray around the area where the resonator chamber connects to the intake manifold plenum.

If there's a vacuum leak, the carb-cleaner fluid will get sucked into the engine (at the vacuum leak point) and you'll notice the engine's idle will change.

Once you've located the source of the vacuum leak, the next step is to replace the gasket or vacuum hose that's causing it.

More 2.0L Honda CR-V Tutorials

You can find a complete list of tutorials here: Honda 2.0L Index Of Articles.

Here's a sample of the tutorials you'll find there:

On YouTube, check out my following videos:

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