[alteredkaveman]

So yesterday I was driving on the highway and suddenly my car started jerking and misfiring. I plugged in my code reader and had a misfire on cylinder 4. I was limping the car home and about ten minutes later my car was running fine again. It's a 1ZZ-FE engine with 245,000 KM on it. It's had a new intake manifold gasket and plugs (Denso - High end) done about 5K ago and was running fine until today. I took it for a small drive again later and it didn't give me any trouble. I now don't feel confident driving but can't find the problem either. The check engine light was flashing on and off randomly but never stayed on in the end. I swapped the coil pack on cylinders 3 and 4 to see if the problem happens again in cylinder 3 then I know it's the coil pack.

Since the plugs were done 5K ago I am trying to determine the intermittent cause of this. Coil Pack? Injector?

Should I just get a coil pack and drive around with a 10mm socket and do a swap if it acts up? I can get a Denso coil pack for 100CDN or a set of 4 Spectra Premium coils for about the same price and just replace them all. I just figured a coil pack would either work or not but electrical can be a fickle mistress too.

Codes I pulled:
P0304 - Misfire cylinder 4
P0456 - Small EVAP leak detected

 

[75aces]

Inspect your spark plug ceramic for damage. Once it's verified to be okay to use, then swap the coil to another cylinder. Clear code and wait for code to set again.

 

[alteredkaveman]

Inspect your spark plug ceramic for damage. Once it's verified to be okay to use, then swap the coil to another cylinder. Clear code and wait for code to set again.

Thanks for the awesome video! I am not pulling the P1310 code but perhaps that's my reader too. I have inspected the plugs and they look good. Swapped coils 3 and 4. I did go through and clean all of the connectors and put some dielectric grease on everything. Purrs like a kitten now and I guess I'll play the waiting game like the guy in the video.

 

[75aces]

I hope you find a solution. Toyota engines in general are very picky when it comes to aftermarket parts. The engines were designed to work well with NGK and Denso parts.

I didn't think you were getting the igniter control issue. But, this gives you an idea of which is failing.

Try moving the bad coil to cylinder 1. In the video, by switching to cylinder 1 or 4, it would set the igniter coil code instead of just the misfire code. I believe the igniter code would definitively indicate the coil is bad versus trying to figure out if it's the spark plug or coil.

 

[alteredkaveman]

Gotcha, I'll get a Denso coil if need be then. I've generally only put original replacement parts in the car but it's an 04 and getting up there in age/miles. I'll bump that coil to cylinder one to see if I can get it trip the other code.

I hope I find the problem too.

 

[kevcules46]

It's very common for people to forget to use some type of fuel injector cleaner. I always use and advise people to do so. This can prevent any fuel related problems and rule that out when and if your vehicle starts to act up.
Get a few cans of a cleaner like seafoam (my fav) ,add that to your fuel tank for the next two tanks.
Swapping the coil packs is a good idea also......Good luck

 

[alteredkaveman]

Funny you mention that, I just decided to gamble on some Lucas cleaner this afternoon and run a few tanks for $15. Also found a place to service all my fuel injectors for about $100. Figure since they are original it really can't hurt.

 

[car5car]

Usually coils get cracks in plastic, moisture get inside and misfire lasts until engine warms up. If you see cracks, you can use JBWeld or RTV.

 

[alteredkaveman]

Usually coils get cracks in plastic, moisture get inside and misfire lasts until engine warms up. If you see cracks, you can use JBWeld or RTV.

I've inspected all the coils and plugs. They look mint but I've now used electrical cleaner and dielectric grease on all the connections for the coil packs and fuel injectors. It's still rough when I first start the car but only for a second but then runs fine. I also retorqued all the plugs down to spec as one was a little easy to remove compared to the rest.

 

[alteredkaveman]

So I decided to pull the injectors today as it is still idling rough at start up and randomly turning on and off the engine light. Cylinder 4 injector port had so much oil jammed around it I had to suck/dig it out for fear of falling into the combustion chamber before I pulled the injectors out. Valve cover was leaking oil directly into that cylinders fuel injector. Cleaned it up and put a new valve cover gasket on. That injector was filthy inside and out. I was considering just wiping it down and chucking it back in, but there is a place down he road that services fuel injectors (spray pattern analysis, ultrasonic bath, reanalysis etc..) so I just committed to getting them done. 245,000KM probably won't hurt anything. I managed to pull some coils off a wrecked Matrix in a scrap yard with only 80K on it and will swap out the coil packs too. Fingers crossed this fixes everything now.

TLDR - Pretty sure oil leak from valve cover leak was gumming up fuel injector #4

 

[kevcules46]

Sounds like you found the issue. Hopefully that's what it is.....good luck

 

[alteredkaveman]

4 new fuel injectors later and a new valve cover gasket she runs great. Case closed!

 

[John Gi]

Congrats! By the way, is your 2004 a Corolla or Matrix? Which engine does it have?

Everyone, do the coils have a lifespan, such that they should be changed after a certain number of miles, or do you just wait until there's a misfire?

 

[alteredkaveman]

2004 Corolla 1ZZFE - 250,000 KM or about 156,00 miles. I also live in a harsh climate doing mostly city driving -40C some days in the winter so the car has had a harder life.

I took two used coils out of a scrap yard 05 Matrix and put them in just to be safe.

My reading on coils is to replace Japanese one at a time but domestic to just do them all.

 

[kevcules46]

Altered......good job repairing your vehicle!

Coils have a lifespan , but its hard to put a number on it. Usually everyone waits until they throw a code. They are easy to change out when and if you get a bad one...