Changed spark plugs, car now breaks up under boost, misfires, and dies with engine code p0344 (Camshaft position sensor)

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Title says it all, I initially put in Autolite plugs when this problem appeared. I ordered NGK Iridium that (according to NGK) are the stock plug and installed those, still having the problem. It occurs if I hit any positive pressure at all, when it's pulling a vacuum it runs just fine, but the second I hit 1PSI it starts breaking up, starts misfiring on all cylinders around 10PSI, and completely dies around 20PSI.

Things I have done, pulled out all plugs and checked for cracks, non present. Pulled out the camshaft position sensor and cleaned it, inspected wiring to camshaft position sensor.

If anyone's dealt with this before or has any tips I'd really appreciate it.
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Jes_si562

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sounds like you have the wrong plugs triple check if you got the same plugs as oem
 

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Yeah I would double check the spark plugs and make sure to get laser iridium NGK plugs. If they’re correct, then double check the gaps to be sure. Then check the cam. position sensor wiring, if that’s good then I would just try to replace the sensor. My money is on the plugs though
 
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I'm running NGK laser iridium ILZKAR8H8S which every source says is oem. I checked the gap with feeler gauges and got back 1.118mm (.044 inch) which (according to what I read) is bang on. Checked some other resources and found that gap probably isn't right, I'll post tomorrow once I regap the plugs.
 

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I'm running NGK laser iridium ILZKAR8H8S which every source says is oem. I checked the gap with feeler gauges and got back 1.118mm (.044 inch) which (according to what I read) is bang on. Checked some other resources and found that gap probably isn't right, I'll post tomorrow once I regap the plugs.
That’s a big gap. Factory spec or Honda recommend gap is 0.028-0.031" for non-Si, 0.0276-0.0295" for Si. Also NGK Laser Iridium part Numbers are

1.5T Non-Si: ILZKAR8H8S
1.5 Si: ILZKAR8J8SY
 
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jayy_swish

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why are you messing around with your plugs?

in this day and age, spark plugs can pretty much last the lifetime of most vehicles,

this isn't the 70's or 80's

did you torque them properly?

0.04 gap is way too big, that is for the 2.0L engine
Civic Maint Chart.jpeg
Interesting to see why they don’t want you gapping iridium spark plugs lol
 

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From what I am reading it sounds like "spark blowout" which happens with too wide of gap.
 
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I regapped the plugs today, and the car's running better, but it's still not running right. It'll take about 10psi of boost before it starts breaking up, around 15psi it throws 2 codes (p0344, p0003) and drops into limp mode.

and to answer your question, Jerryvvv. The car has 115k miles on it and I figured it would be a good idea to swap the plugs as a preventative measure.
 

charleswrivers

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Interesting to see why they don’t want you gapping iridium spark plugs lol
Most I’ve seen, assuming you buy the right ones, are pregapped to the needed gap for that application. You always should check them to be sure... but the electrode is more fragile compared to the old copper ones you could dork around with without messing up.

I’ve actually not had good luck with a few cars making it the 100k miles on iridiums. My mother-in-laws Galant has gotten a miss and rough idle at about 60k miles on its OEM iridiums. Every time I pulled them, their gaps had opened well out-of-spec from wear and I just replaced them as I had replacements on hand. Had that happen twice now... both times they were replaced in the same 50-60k window. That little 4G69 just burns through its plugs early. Also, while I’ve disabled it on mine, VCM that Honda J-series have can cause unequal wear or issues through use or throw oil blow-by on those cylinders disabled at the time, collecting on the plugs. You definately want to follow the schedule on a engine that uses VCM.

They’ll last a long time and a lot of miles it’s still a wear item... and it called out as schedule 4 maintenance. Pretty sure Honda’s pop at 105k. The old Js pop the same time as timing belts and those are 105k-ish. Seems pretty early to do it on a 2017 car unless you have a pile of miles or where having issues narrowed to plugs. At 115k though... they'd likely have come due per the MM.
 


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Take a close look at the spark plugs to see if the porcelain on the plug wire side is cracked. It could cause a misfire
 

abracadaniel_

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I had this issue when I changed the plugs
I had 2 defective sets I ordered
Finally the third set fixed the issue
Seems like it’s an ongoing problem with these cars
 

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I had this issue when I changed the plugs
I had 2 defective sets I ordered
Finally the third set fixed the issue
Seems like it’s an ongoing problem with these cars
When ordering spark plugs online, be aware that there is an insane amount of fakes out there, and they can be very hard to spot.

Example: Two years ago, I had ordered a set of NGK plugs on Amazon for a friend's car that I was going to perform a tuneup on since the price was right. When I received them, I could tell that something was just "off." Couldn't place my finger on it, but it was a strong suspicion.

So, I went down to my local parts store and asked if I could check out a set of the exact same model that they had in stock, and to their credit they obliged. Lo and behold, upon direct comparison there were tons of subtle differences. The packaging was very slightly different, and the plugs themselves had numerous differences. From the color/texture/quality of the ceramic insulator, the terminal, and metal of the shell, to the electrodes, threads, and pad printed/stamped labels on the plugs. Literally everything was just slightly "off" and the fakes were even missing the little pad on the ground electrode that the genuine plugs had. Too many differences to chalk it up to being a different batch or production run.

They would have probably worked, at least for some amount of time, but I absolutely did not trust them. Without a direct comparison to known genuine plugs, I would have been fooled.

At the least, I was able to get a full refund after complaining to the seller, and then bought the genuine plugs from the parts store. Despite the refund, I posted a review with photographic evidence of the plugs being forgeries. And, now that I've checked the listing, it looks as though they have deleted my review. Heh.

Gotta watch it out there.
 
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Forgot to update this, I fixed it. Pulled the NGKs, did a compression test, good compression, between 140 and 155psi on all cylinders. I regapped the autolights to point 075mm and installed those. Car ran a little rough at first but the more I drove the smoother it ran. After about a mile it was running butter smooth. No clue if the NGKs were knock offs or what was going on (they were purchased off ebay for VERY cheap. Paid 25 bucks for a set of 4 instead of 21 dollars a plug autozone wanted.) but the car runs like new with the autolights gapped correctly.

If anyone is having similar issues after a spark change, I'd look at the gap, if that's on point, maybe try some other plugs.

I appreciate the help from you guys.
 

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I regapped the plugs today, and the car's running better, but it's still not running right. It'll take about 10psi of boost before it starts breaking up, around 15psi it throws 2 codes (p0344, p0003) and drops into limp mode.

and to answer your question, Jerryvvv. The car has 115k miles on it and I figured it would be a good idea to swap the plugs as a preventative measure.
With that many miles, I would not be trying to hit max boost. The cars not new anymore and I'm sure you dont want a catastrophic failure. Drive it like an old man.
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