P0301 Code - Cylinder #1 Misfire

[Herb]

I went and got a ScanGuage to help see what has been causing my problem of late as originally posted http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=35220The code I'm getting back is a P0301 and according to http://www.obd-codes.com/p0301Quote »A P0301 code means that the the car's computer has detected that one of the engine's cylinders is not firing properly. In this case it's cylinder #1. Symptoms may include: * the engine may be harder to start * the engine may stumble / stumble, and/or hesitate * other symptoms may also be presentOK, so this sounds about right, the engine seems to stumble, particularly when I'm at lower speeds and RPMsQuote »Possible CausesA code P0301 may mean that one or more of the following has happened: * Faulty spark plug or wire * Faulty coil (pack) * Faulty oxygen sensor(s) * Faulty fuel injector * Burned exhaust valve * Faulty catalytic converter(s) * Running out of fuel * Poor compression * Defective computerI think I'm going to rule out the O2 sensor since I figure that itself would throw a CEL so I'm going to gamble and guess plugs or coil packsBut before I spend anymore money, I wanted to get some opinions

[northvibe]

check your plug, if its nasty looking or oil on it then that could cause it. coilpacks "usually" dont fail but they do of course. Maybe get some injector cleaner up in there too.

[Raven]

In my experience with 2 Vibes, they are prone to fuel injector blockage. I use Techron injector cleaner with great success. It's not available here in Canada but the GM fuel injector cleaner from the dealer is supposedly made by Chevron and is the same stuff. Other injector cleaners don't do squat compared to Techron. I would start there and see what happens. I had the same problem twice on the Vibes and also on my GMC truck and Techron worked all three times.

[Herb]

Ah, Techron. I miss the stuff! It hasn't been available for at least 5 years in Canada. The original excuse I heard was that it was a labeling issue.I'll try the GM cleaner and see how that works.

[Herb]

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »check your plug, if its nasty looking or oil on it then that could cause it. coilpacks "usually" dont fail but they do of course. Maybe get some injector cleaner up in there too.I got some NGK Iridium IX from eBay that I should be getting in the mail in about a week, so I'm going to replace all the plugs at that time.Hopefully with this and the injector cleaner will solve the problem

[Herb]

Last week I bought the injector cleaner and dumped it in. Seemed to run better after that.Then I got the plugs in on Friday and put them in this morning. When I pulled the old plugs out, #1 and #4 had white mineral type deposits on the top side as well as condensation to indicate water got into the area on the top side of the plugs.After replacing them all I drove around for about a half hour and everything seems to run fine so I think the issue is resolved.I have a theory about what had happened though. The 2 hex screws that hold the injen spark plug cover uses the holes for the bolts that hold down coil packs 1 & 4, and these were a little loose when I was removing the cover.I think over time the screws worked their way loose so the coilpacks weren't as tight as they normally should be and then when I poured water over it to wash, some got in.

[izzy]

Recently I've been experiencing some overheating issue(according to gauge), usually the temperature stays in the middle, but now sometimes it moved almost to the top and stay there for seconds then dropped to the middle, back and forth, also the "check engine" led lights on randomly, I got the code"P0301" after used obd reader, asked some my co-workers, we checked the coolant and a few other things but could not figure out the reason. Need some help here, my car is 2009 pontiac vibe base model(1.8L), I already put around 240,000KM on it, don't want to spend to much on it as I'm planning to get electric car(maybe nissan leaf) next year or 2020.

thanks in advance

[Caretaker]

Other than 1: a faulty thermostat that needs replacing, or 2: a cracked head gasket, my thought while reading your post was to ask whether you recently flushed out your radiator and replaced the fluid? Reason? : if the car was not properly "burped," air pockets can send your thermostat gauge up and down like a yo-yo.

[izzy]

Other than 1: a faulty thermostat that needs replacing, or 2: a cracked head gasket, my thought while reading your post was to ask whether you recently flushed out your radiator and replaced the fluid? Reason? : if the car was not properly "burped," air pockets can send your thermostat gauge up and down like a yo-yo.

In January this year, one day I found my car took a long long time to blow out the warm air, sometimes needed 10 minutes after I started it, and also, while driving, the warm air turned to cold ones for a few minutes then backup, I went Midas and the technician checked the coolant, told me it almost gone, it was the first time that I faced this issue since I bought my car back to Nov 2008, and he added some coolant via the pipe of radiator I guess and change the radiator cap.

After that, I think it worked properly for about 45 days then started acting the same.

https://imgur.com/gallery/odOWITo

[jolt]

You have blown head gasket or a cracked cylinder head. Your pushing the coolant out or burning it up. It is most likely related to cylinder #1 by your code of a misfire on that cylinder as coolant does not burn so you get a misfire. It looks like you will be looking for a new car sooner than you thought.

[izzy]

You have blown head gasket or a cracked cylinder head. Your pushing the coolant out or burning it up. It is most likely related to cylinder #1 by your code of a misfire on that cylinder as coolant does not burn so you get a misfire. It looks like you will be looking for a new car sooner than you thought.

That's really a bad news, do you know usually how much does it cost to replace head gasket or cracked cylinder head? So I could have something in mind before head to the auto shop this weekend.

[jolt]

https://repairpal.com/estimator

https://www.automd.com/repaircost/


If the engine was ran with out coolant, it is possible that the entire engine may need to be replaced.

[izzy]

Went to a friend's auto shop, he replaced 4 spark plugs for me, he added some coolants as well. he told me to monitor if those issues still remain in the next couple days, the strange thing is I don't know why the coolants were gone again(added in January) because I didn't see there is any leaking on the ground.

I'd like to re-check the code with odb2 scanner a week after to see if the same code shown up or anything different. Will report back.

[izzy]

Sorry for report back late, got colleague's ODB2 reader to check if there is any code at the noon. Looks like the issue had gone. The check engine did not lights up for two weeks.

https://imgur.com/gallery/63HMHuv

[izzy]

There is something else that I want to share with Cylinder Misfire, a couple days ago, my vibe shown Misfire code again, there were like P0301 and P0303 at the time I read the codes with my ODB2 reader, it drove me crazy as I don't know what to do, gauge went up and down, check engine lights on, then one day I checked the coolant and found it's empty, so I added up and the issue gone for awhile and then come back again, so this time I checked the coolant directly, after watching a few days, I found that the the coolant is not going back to radiator, I used a dropper to suck the coolant form the coolant container and drop it to the radiator for temporary solution now and looking for a better radiator cap and hope it could fix the issue permanently.

Before I'm doing that, I like to hear some advice from here, thanks in advance.

[andrewclaus]

The coolant reservoir system works on a siphon principle, and will not work if there's a leak in the pressurized part of the system. All indications point to a leaking head gasket (misfires, coolant consumption). The radiator cap is probably not the problem, and replacing it certainly won't affect the misfire issue, or the missing coolant.

[izzy]

The coolant reservoir system works on a siphon principle, and will not work if there's a leak in the pressurized part of the system. All indications point to a leaking head gasket (misfires, coolant consumption). The radiator cap is probably not the problem, and replacing it certainly won't affect the misfire issue, or the missing coolant.

Thanks for reply, I don't have misfires and coolant consumption now. I checked with ODB2 reader once a week and there is no error code anymore, and I don't think it's missing coolant also.

I thought siphon principle isn't working properly, I checked the rubber pipe on the left side of the radiator cap, and I visually I don't see any leak spot, I will use soap water to test it this weekend, hope it is the root cause of the problem.

[andrewclaus]

If you're using the Asian red coolant, external leaks show up as a very visible pink stain.

A simple coolant pressure test may be useful. You can test it while the engine's running to verify no HG leak. It will test your cap, too.

Your local auto parts store may have a tool loaner program for the test kit, but be sure they have the correct radiator adapter.

[bskrishna]

I have the same problem starting today on my 09 vibe. Did you fix your problem Izzy?

[zbyers]

I have the same problem starting today on my 09 vibe. Did you fix your problem Izzy?

Easiest way to determine the issue is to swap coil packs around. IE: swtich coil 1 w/ coil 3. If the misfire goes to #3 cylinder, it is the coil pack that is bad. If not, it's likely the spark plugs. There is a slim chance it could be an injector, but usually not. You could also switch injector 1 w/injector 2.. If the misfire goes to cylinder 2, it is the injector. Pretty simple way to diagnose it.