2004 Honda Pilot Ignition Coil Packs

 

The 2004 Honda Pilot comes with one type of engine that uses 6 individual ignition coil on plugs. These parts do not have a specific lifespan, but they do fail. There are a number of factors that cause them to fail. Some you can control, others you cannot. Things you cannot control are local weather. If you live in a humid environment, your ignition coils will not last as long as someone who lives in a dry area. Things that you can control that affect the life of the ignition coils are spark plug wear and gap. As spark plugs wear out, the gap increases. The larger the gap, the harder the ignition coils have to work. This can cause a premature failure, and since all of the spark plugs wear together, you can end up damaging all of your ignition coils by running work out spark plugs. If you have new improperly gapped spark plugs, this has the same effect. Washing your engine bay improperly can also damage the ignition coils. Water and high voltage electricity just don't get along. The last one is a torn coolant hose spraying water all over the engine bay. This can also be prevented by checking and replacing any bad hoses as needed. The 2004 Honda Pilot (and the rest of the Hondas this year) are known for not pinpointing the misfire location. Many times while using an OBDII scanner to find out why the check engine light is on, you may see a misfire code for all 6 cylinders. This does not mean all 6 cylinders are misfiring. We recommend resetting the ECU, and waiting for the engine light to turn on again. It may correct itself and show you the cylinder that is actually misfiring. Other ways to do this is with a spark plug tester, by unplugging the connector one by one to see if there is a change (this change can be very small, so pay attention) or by using the spark plug trick where you remove the coil and spark plug, attach the spark plug to the coil, then the spark plug tip touches a good ground. Whatever you do, do not remove the ignition coil from the spark plug while it's plugged in and the engine is running. You can damage any properly functioning ignition coil or even the ECU by doing this.

 

2004 Honda Pilot Misfire Symptoms

 

A misfire in the Honda Pilot is not hard to miss (no pun intended). If you have a faulty ignition coil, you will feel the engine stumble, especially while trying to accelerate. This is called putting a load on the engine, and weak or non functioning ignition coils will definitely be noticeable while the engine is under a load. The catalytic converter is also susceptible to damage from prolonged driving on a misfire. While one week of a typical commute (not long distance drives) will not hurt, we recommend taking care of the problem sooner rather than later. Many owners end up putting the repair on the back burner, causing damage to their catalytic converter. An OBDII scanner can help you find which cylinder is misfiring, and while the ECU isn't the best at identifying a misfire, there are times where is does successfully tell you which cylinder is misfiring.