engine misfire cylinder 1 2003 vibe

[lukevibe]

HI every one my names luke and i am having trouble with my 2003 vibe its missing on cylinder 1 the engine light blinks all the time because of it. I have replaced the coil ,fuel injector,4 new plugs and tried a different pcm. I got 160 pounds of compression accrossed all cylinders all my injectors are firing and all my coils are sparking but i still get this miss? I have also have checked for vacum leaks i have found none. so i am wondering if any one else has ran in to this issue? The only trouble code i get is p0301 cylinder 1 misfire any input is apreciated its a 2003 pontiac vibe AWD with a 1zzfe engine Thanks Luke

[vibrologist]

Luke, you sure did all the basics. So no wonder you are stumped.

When I think this over I can only imagine that it is a wire going either to the Nr. 1 coil or Nr. 1 injector.
You can listen to the injector with a stethoscope. And you can try a spark plug plugged into the coil and held against ground to see the spark.

I hope that is it or someone has a better idea.

[lukevibe]

right its crazy i got every thing i need but it dosent hit right i should of added this in the post but its not a dead i miss,at idle you will fill it hit then miss then hit it again and when you go down the road at 55 the light blinks but you dont feel the miss and at 75mph the light stops blinking i have ran it with the coil out with another plug in it plug fires and i feel the injector click when a screw driver up to it

[vibrologist]

How many miles on your vibe?
Maybe your converter is partially plugged?
Are there any unusual exhaust noises?

Since it is happening at a specific speed range it could be a resonance issue.

[joatmon]

Probably won't help much but the toyota matrix manual lists the following potential trouble areas as cause for P0301

Open or short in engine wire
Connector connection
Vacuum hose connection
PCV hose
Ignition system
Injector
Fuel pressure
Mass air flow meter
Engine coolant temp. sensor
Compression pressure
Valve clearance
Valve timing
ECM

Did this start happening about the time there was any work, service, maintenance or modification done to the car? Not saying it had to be caused by anything, but if the timing coincides, that might be another clue to figuring it out.

You said the CEL blinks at 55, that's usually an indication of an issue that is more serious than one that will just cause the light to come on steady. The manual says

The ECM counts the number of times the engine speed change rate, indicating that misfire has occurred.
And when the misfire rate equals to or exceeds the count indicating that the engine condition has deteriorated,
the MIL lights up.
If the misfire rate is high enough and the driving conditions will cause catalyst to overheating, the MIL blinks
when misfire occurs.

[lukevibe]

well heres the story on the car i bought it with timing chains off it and bent valves so i never drove it before this so i put all new chains and valves in it and also new rod bearings put it back together and this is how its ran since and also the car has 225xxx miles on it and the cat is not on it which leads me to think it had a problem even before the chains failed

[vibrologist]

No cat? That means the ECM is working of junk data. Junk in, junk out.