Hello,
My car engine seems to running just a little bit rough and noisy. When I drive my car, the way the engine sounds, it feels like it needs more oil. it would run much smoother if I change engine oil. In fact, it sounds and feels better for a day or after oil change...... only to start sounding rough until the next oil change. Engine runs and accelerates perfectly efficiently and does not give any signs of struggling, however, the way it sounds (rough), I think it needs some cleaning or servicing. I was planning on using seafoam to see if things will change, but wanted expert opinions before that.
The noise, which comes along with the roughness (and it is not that much, actually, considering that the car has 198K) may be from the exhaust system, but I had a new muffler and a mid-pipe 2 years ago, and they seem to be intact still.

So basically, I feel that the engine is not running as smooth as it should be. But again, it may the age factor too...

any thoughts and ideas are greatly appreciated...

 

How old are your spark plugs?
What kind of plugs are they?

When the engine is cold, start it up in complete darkness (night-time). Look for arcing around the distributor or sparkplug wires. Even a dull blue glow would indicate the cap or wires insulation is breaking down.

Is the rough condition constant? Or does it depend on outside temperature? Moisture/raining? Phase of the moon?

 

As for the spark plugs, I dont know how old they are, definitely more than 2 years old since I have not changed them since I bought the car 2 years ago. I will check and see the type of plugs and also check for arcing.
The rough condition is pretty much constant. I don't drive the car that much, but seems like it may be getting a bit better if I drove for more than an hour . That might be due to engine warming up or maybe I just get used to the noise, I can't say. Moisture or raining does not make any difference for sure...

 

Use Marvel Mystery Oil in the crankcase, seafoam in the intake manifold and Lucas in the gas when at about 1/4 tank. Run the gas until almost empty, run the MMO for 1000 miles and cloud up the neighborhood with the seafoam.

 

Contrary to my own experience, lots of people have said Bosh sparkplugs are bad in Hondas. Get NGK.

 

When I bought my car last April it had Bosch Single Plats in the cylinders. I switched to NGK Iridium IX plugs and the idle was a lot smoother, but no truly noticeable difference.