How to Test the Fuel Injectors

(Honda 2.4L)

Testing the fuel injectors on your Honda Accord, CRV or Element with a 2.4L
four cylinder engine is pretty easy. In this tutorial I'll show you how to
resistance test them with your multimeter.
Since it's rare for fuel injectors to go bad, and you might be in need of some
helpful diagnostic advice... I'll also offer a simple diagnostic strategy that will
help you to nail down the misfire or rough idle condition your Honda is
experiencing.

Symptoms of a BAD Fuel Injector

As you're already aware, your Honda's 2.4L engine has four cylinders. Each
cylinder needs 3 specific things to keep your engine running happily... and
these are fuel, spark, and air.
So, when one engine's cylinder's fuel injector stops injecting fuel... that
specific cylinder will go dead. When this happens, your 2.4L Honda vehicle
will experience one or several of the following:
Engine will have a rough idle.
Engine will misfire under load, especially when you accelerate your
Honda Accord (CRV, Element, etc).
Lack of power when accelerating your Honda.
BAD gas mileage.
Since your 2.4L Honda vehicle is OBD II equipped, you'll usually
see a Misfire Code (P0300, P0301, P0302, P0303, P0304) lighting
up the check engine light on your instrument cluster.
So, what causes a fuel injector to go bad? It's usually just old age... although
not always. Which leads up to the 3 main types fuel injector failure:
1. Fuel injector doesn't spray any fuel because it has fried internally.
2. Fuel injector sprays fuel, but not enough (clogged fuel injector).
3. Fuel injector stuck On all of the time (as soon as the key is turned
On). This is usually, but not always due to a bad fuel injection
computer.
This article focuses on the most common, which is when the fuel injector
doesn't spray any fuel at all due to an internal short circuit.
What Tools do I Need to Test the Fuel Injectors?
To test the fuel injectors in your 2.4L Honda Accord (CRV, Element) you don't
need any expensive tools.
Here's a basic list of tools you'll need to test all four fuel injectors:
1. A multimeter.
You'll only be using the multimeter to check resistance
(Ohms).
If you need to upgrade or buy a multimeter, check out
my recommendation: Buying a Digital Multimeter for
Automotive Diagnostic Testing (found
at: easyautodiagnostics.com).
2. Scan tool.
To actually test the fuel injectors, you don't need a scan
tool (since a scan tool can't dynamically test the fuel
injectors). But, having one makes the whole process
easier... since you're able to retrieve any diagnostic
trouble codes (DTCs) stored in the PCM memory.
Don't have one?... check out my
recommendation: Abe's Scan Tool Recommendation.
3. Pen and paper to write down your fuel injector resistance test
results.
TEST 1: The Fuel Injector Test
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, testing the fuel injectors is
easy... since all you're doing is a simple resistance test. Before we start, I
want to give you a few pointers that will speed up your diagnostic.
First, and the most important one, is that even when the fuel injectors are
good (working perfectly) they are not gonna' all have the exact same
resistance value. This is normal, because the variation will be very small.
What IS NOT normal is when the resistance value of a fuel injector varies
drastically compared to the others... that you know that one is bad. Here's an
example of this:
Cyl #1 injector: 7.45
Cyl #2 injector: 7.65
Cyl #3 injector: 1.15 < drastic difference indicates the injector is
BAD.
Cyl #4 injector: 7.20
Second, to get the most accurate snapshot of the condition of the fuel
injectors you're testing, the engine in your Honda vehicle has to be warmed
up. The key word here is warm. If the engine is hot (normal operating
temperature), let it cool down for about an 45 minutes to an hour.
Alright, here are the steps:
1. 1
Disconnect all four injectors from their electrical
connectors. Although you may want to just test one fuel
injector, I recommend testing all four of them on your Honda
Accord (or CRV or Element).
2. 2
Turn on your multimeter and select Ohms mode and with
the multimeter test leads, probe the male spade terminals of
the first fuel injector you're gonna' test.
3. 3
It doesn't matter what color test lead you use to test either of
the two fuel injector male spade terminals, the polarity of the
leads is not important when testing the resistance (Ohms) of
the fuel injectors.
4. 4
Write down this Ohms value down on a piece of
paper after measuring the internal resistance of this first fuel
injector. You'll be using this resistance value to compare it to
the other three in a few moments.

Don't forget to write down to what engine cylinder this fuel

injector belongs to. You can use the image in the photo
viewer as an aid in identifying the cylinders.
5. 5
Test the remaining fuel injectors and as before, write
down their ohms value (that your multimeter registered).
Alright, with the resistance values of all fuel injectors on paper, let's interpret
your results. Choose from one of the following CASES:
CASE 1: All of the multimeter resistance values are nearly identical: This
result indicates that the fuel injectors are OK. So if your car is experiencing a
Rough Idle Condition or a Misfire Condition or Misfire Codes, the fuel injectors
are not to blame.
Here's why: when you do find one BAD fuel injector, this one will have a totally
different Ohms (resistance) value. And this will confirm beyond any doubt that
that fuel injector is BAD.
Now, if you're vehicle is till missing, take a look at the following two sections of
this article:
My Easy Engine Miss Diagnostic Strategy.
TEST 2: Swapping Fuel Injectors.
CASE 2: One of the four multimeter resistance values is drastically
different: this tells you that that particular fuel injector, on your Honda, with
the drastically different resistance value is BAD.
I suggest that you retest that fuel injector one more time to make sure of the
Ohms (resistance) value. If this value is still the same as before, the fuel
injector is BAD.

Do I Need to Test All of Fuel Injectors?

In the fuel injector resistance test in the previous page, I ask you to measure
all 4 fuel injectors' resistances... and you may be wondering if this is really
necessary especially if you only have one dead cylinder that's causing the
miss.
Well here are the reasons why:
1. The fuel injectors are easy to get to.
2. In this tutorial I don't provide you with a resistance specification of
the fuel injector (which isn't necessary when you're testing all 4
and comparing their values).
 3. By testing all... you're making sure the Diagnostic Trouble Code
isn't lying to you about which one it says is bad (Diagnostic
Trouble Codes, after all, are not infallible).
4. I've been using this test with a lot of success, since the first multi-
port fuel injected vehicles where introduced and started giving the
world diagnostic headaches (yes... I'm old).
Well, hopefully this info helped... but what if you did test the fuel injectors and
found that all have similar resistance specs. What next? Let's jump into the
next subheading and I'll share some specific troubleshooting tips that will help.
My Easy Engine Miss Diagnostic Strategy
There's a good chance that you've already done a few tests and/or replaced a
few parts and your Honda still keeps missing (idling rough). I've been there
before... so in this section I want to share with you some of the experience
and knowledge I've gained over the past 20 years working as an automotive
diagnostic tech and tailored specifically to the Do-It-Yoursef'er like you.
The best news of all, is that there IS a logical step-by-step way of finding out if
the fuel injector (or anything else) is the one causing your engine to miss
(misfire, idle rough).
These are the steps I take:
1. Check for misfire codes.
Unfortunately, the PCM doesn't always set a specific
BAD fuel injector code, but when a fuel injector does go
BAD, you WILL see a Misfire Code.
2. The next step is to check for spark and thus eliminate the Ignition
System as the source of the problem.
I want to emphasize this to you: It's very important to
eliminate the Ignition System from the get-go.
What I'm looking for here... is to confirm that the spark
plug is getting spark and I do this with a dedicated
spark tester (like an HEI spark tester).
This article will help you to get to the bottom of any
ignition system problem: How to Test the Ignition COP
Coils (Honda 2.4L).
3. Next, I remove the spark plugs and visually inspect them.
What I'm checking for are for cracks and/or carbon
tracks and/or engine oil filling up the spark plug well.
Honda 2.4L engines have a BAD habit of leaking engine
oil onto the spark plugs and COP coil boot (from the
valve cover)... and this is a common cause of an
engine miss (misfire, rough idle).
4. If everything above checks out OK... I then do an engine
compression.
This is a fast and easy test... but is so often overlooked.
What I'm looking for is to see if any one cylinder is too
worn out. If it's too worn out...it will always have 15%
lower compression that the highest compression
reading of the four.
5. Check fuel injector resistance.
The purpose of all of the my tests (above) are to eliminate the ignition system
and engine mechanical condition first... before attempting to blame or suspect
a BAD fuel injector...
... And I can tell you that this diagnostic strategy has saved me from replacing
some good fuel injectors and being able to nail down the ones that are BAD.

TEST 2: Swapping Fuel Injectors

Every now and then, you run into a situation where you have tested all four
injectors and they passed the resistance test, tested each COP ignition coil
and they are all sparking, checked and verified the spark plugs are they too
are OK, and checked and confirmed that all 4 cylinders' compression values
are normal... What else can you do?
Well, I'm gonna' suggest that you swap the fuel injector that belongs to the
cylinder with the one right next to it and see if the miss follows the injector.
If the miss follows the injector... then you can replace it knowing you've hit the
nail on the head.
1st Gen fuel injector cleaning DIY (1997-2001)
oh no, ill do a brief write up.

w/ cold engine off.

tools and items needed:

10mm ratchet with extension
brake parts cleaner
old tooth brush or wire brush
you will possibly need 4 injector O rings, unless you want a leak from the fuel
rail, get from honda dealer, or auto parts store.

step one, remove three nuts holding fuel rail on and pull off of mounts

step two, unplug wires from injectors

step three, pull out injectors, you may be able to reuse the o rings, but if they are
even cracked replace.

step four inspect injector ports with a flash light to check for build up.

step five, spray injector inlet and nozzle with brake parts cleaner, agitate with
tooth brush to remove stuck on carbon and sludge, being careful you can even
use a tooth pick to scrape out tight spots, but i don't do this.

step six, let dry or blow off with compressed air, you can use a air duster that you
would use for a keyboard and such.

step seven, inspect nozzles and inlets clean again if needed, then dry agin.

step eight, if heavy build up in intake manifold clean that. PM me for directions.

step nine, place injector inlet nipple back into the fuel rail, making sure O ring
make seal on the inside and the rubber sleeve on the neck of the injector is
seated against fuel rail.

step 10, making sure the large bottom O ring is seated in the intake manifold
carefully place fuel rail back, adjusting injectors untill they are seated right, you
may have to use some force, which is why you place the delicte upper O ring in
first.

step eleven, tighten bolts and re connect purge line, and electrical connections.

step twelve, crank engine and let get to normal operating temperature check for
leaks, take for test drive and make sure there is no missfires or knocking.

while you are at it id change out your spark plugs and change the fuel filter.

the reason i advise to use brake parts cleaner is becuase it evaporates fast, if it
wont take the sludge off use maximum strenght throttle body cleaner, you can
also clean the spark plugs in the same manner.