How To Test For A BAD Fuel Injector (Honda 2.2L, 2.3L)

Interpreting The Results Of The Fuel Injector Test

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.

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.

Which Fuel Injector Do I Test First? Or Do I Test All Of Them?

Since your Honda's fuel injectors are easy to get to, it's a good idea to test all four, but this is not mandatory.

For example, let's say that you think that the cylinder #1 fuel injector is bad and you only want to test this one. Well, since sometimes the repair manual does not give you a specific resistance value to compare to you'll need to test at least two other fuel injectors to get some values to compare to.

Now, if you do have the correct fuel injector resistance value (from an authoritative source, like a repair manual), then you can only test just that one fuel injector.

More Fuel Injector Testing Tips

Having a fuel injector go bad is pretty rare but it does happen and I have diagnosed and replaced quite a few on Hondas over the years.

In this section, I'm gonna' give you some personal advice on how to get to the bottom of a bad fuel injector since there IS a logical step-by-step way of finding out if the fuel injector is the one causing your engine to miss (misfire).

These are the steps I take:

1. Find the ‘dead’ cylinder first.
   • If the Honda is OBD II equipped, I check for misfire codes.
   • Unfortunately, the PCM usually doesn't set a specific bad fuel injector code, but when a fuel injector does go bad, you WILL see a misfire code.
   • If I don't have any misfire codes, I then do a manual cylinder balance test to find the misfiring cylinder.
   • In page 2 of this tutorial, you'll find the step-by-step instructions on how to do a manual cylinder balance test: How To Test A Misfire Condition (Honda 2.2L, 2.3L).
2. The next step is to check for spark.
   • 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: Testing The Honda 2.2L and 2.3L Honda Distributor Ignition System (this article is found at: easyautodiagnostics.com).
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 oil filling up the spark plug well (tube).
   • Honda 2.2L and 2.3L engines have a bad habit of leaking engine oil onto the spark plugs and spark plug wire boot and this is a common cause of an engine miss (misfire).
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.
   • You can find this test here: How To Test Engine Compression (Honda 2.2L, 2.3L).
5. Check fuel injector resistance.
   • There's a good chance that the fuel injector hasn't fried (internally) but that it's only clogged. A clogged fuel injector will cause misfire. The only option you may have, is to swap the fuel injector with its neighbor and seeing if the misfire moves to the that cylinder.
   • The following article may help: How To Find A Bad Fuel Injector (Case Study).

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.

More Honda 2.2L, 2.3L Test Articles

You're reading this test article because your Honda has some sort of rough idle or misfire issue. There's a good chance that as you performed the fuel injector resistance test (in this article) your test results indicated that the fuel injectors are not the source of the problem, and so then I'm gonna' recommend another article that might help you.

This article will help you trace down a misfire issue in the distributor ignition system: Testing The Honda 2.2L and 2.3L Honda Distributor Ignition System (this article is found at: easyautodiagnostics.com).

To see the Honda articles in this web site, click here: 2.2L, 2.3L Index of Honda Articles.

Here's a sample of the tutorials you'll find:

• How To Test A Misfire Condition (Honda 2.2L, 2.3L).
• How To Test Engine Compression (Honda 2.2L, 2.3L).
• How To Troubleshoot A No Start (Honda 2.2L, 2.3L).