Would starting a car with a spark plug unplugged activate the check engine light

C

Crazy Cat Lady

New member
(misfire code)? Tuesday night I was pulling into my garage and my car started smoking. At that point I looked at the temp gauge and saw that it was overheating. I quickly realized by the smell of the smoke that it was leaking antifreeze. The next morning my fiance located the source of the leak, which was a heater hose. He removed the hose and replaced it. He had to unplug spark plugs to get to it though and he tried to start the car with a spark plug(s) unplugged. It started to rain so he was trying to back my car back into the garage and he said he forgot to plug them all back in or something. He eventually got the new heater hose in and it was running fine, and then I noticed the check engine light had come on. He said it was b/c he tried to start it without a spark plug in. Well, today I took it to the shop to get the state inspection done and they pulled the code and told me it was a "misfire" code. The shop manager said they looked at the distributor and it needed to be replaced. I tried to tell him about starting the car with the spark plug out but he said nothing that we did caused it. He said it was just a coincidence that the light came on when my fiance was working on it. My fiance thinks he's wrong. The car wasn't backfiring and it seemed to be running fine before and after the heater pipe crumbled. It seems to make sense that trying to start it w/out a spark plug in would cause a misfire code, but I am clueless about cars so I don't know what to think.

It's a 4-cylinder, 1997 Honda Accord with 180,000 miles on it.
 
Get the computer reset and get out of that inspection station as quickly as possible before they tell you that you need a engine.
I bet the light doesn't come on again for a misfire regardless of the "distributor that needs to be replaced."
 
i think the shop is BSing you, ask him what was wrong with the distributor and ask to look at it, he should be able to demonstrate what he considers to be wrong with it, if he cant then id say dont buy a new distributor and just have the code cleared or unhook the negative battery cable for 30 seconds and reattach it.
 
Back
Top