p303 issues

[Koikaze]

So after driving on a p303 for a while I finally caved in (mileage was killing me) and bought a cheap aftermarket replacement coil pack. Assuming that cylinder 3 is 3rd from left to right then I swapped that one out. I drove around a bit to test it out and it was fine. The wife took it on the freeway and afterwards p303 came back with friends. Now after driving 15+ mins the engine will just shut off. Steering column seizes up, oil light comes on, engine dies. Afterwards you can restart engine but accelerating will kill it again. I found that staying in park and revving engine KINDA helps, at least it got me a few blocks to home. Why would the problems get WORSE with a new coil pack?

2003 Toyoyta Matrix XR

[fishexpo101]

Possible that the new one is faulty - seen it happen more than a couple of times. More likely, the P0303 CEL code was just a screen for something else that is going on.

Take the original coil pack, and swap it with the #1 coil - #1 is closest to the serpentine belt. Drive and see if the #3 coil on the #1 cylinder is acting up, ie. P0301 CEL. If you get that, then the coil is definitely the source of the CEL. If you still get a P0303 code with the #1 coil on the #3 cylinder - then you have something else giving you grief.

If you have multiple or random cylinder misfires now - could be related to a number of possible issues:
- faulty coil pack
- faulty spark plug
- faulty injector
- faulty fuel pump
- burned exhaust valve
- faulty ECM
- faulty O2 sensor
- clogged exhaust
- more