It’s not too unusual for a coil spring on a higher-mileage car to eventually break, I’ve seen it many times. A lot of times it’s just half a loop from the top or bottom and it rattles around and makes an awful noise. If it breaks more in the middle of the spring it can all collapse and get twisted all together and make noise too.
I was starting to work on another Honda Accord axle shaft recall and was giving the car a quick once-over when I noticed that the left front lower ball joint was loose, along with some other suspension issues. After pricing out parts for the service advisor, I set to work on the recall.
Working on cars often involved squeezing your hands and arms into tight spots. That also means getting tools into those areas, and sometimes they get can get stuck in awkward positions.
I’ve posted before about how some people like to stick little gems on various buttons and knobs in their car interiors, but this one beats them all in how much it has.
I was given a Honda Ridgeline with a check engine light to diagnose. It came up with two codes, one current and one pending. The current code was P219A AF Ratio Variation of Cylinder, which on Honda Pilots and Ridgelines leads to replacing the fuel injectors. The pending code was P0304 Misfire Cylinder 4. I didn’t pay much attention to the P0304 because it was a possible additional code that can be triggered by the same condition that throws the P219A. When I got to replacing the fuel injectors, I found another problem.
Misfires are probably one of the more common engine problems. They can be caused by a variety of problems, often something to do with the spark plug. Usually an engine can run okay with a minor misfire, but if it’s bad enough, it can actually lead to catalytic converter failure, which is an expensive repair. Usually the check engine light will flash if there’s a misfire this bad.
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-Dan
Several years ago, I bought a ball joint separator tool from Harbor Freight. It was the best $20 I’ve ever spent there. I don’t use it that frequently, but it works great. It’s finally failed on me, but not so badly that I can’t keep using it.
A customer had their Honda Civic towed into the shop with a bit of a problem. They said that they had run over a deer carcass and now their gas tank was falling out. The car wouldn’t run, so it got pushed into the shop and put up on a lift.
New blog posts every Monday and Thursday, plus pictures throughout the week on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
Watch Mechanical Malarkey on YouTube!
Mechanical Malarkey T-shirts, hats, and stickers are available to order!
-Dan
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