[Jimmy]

Karl,

I greatly appreciate the information and I understand what you’re saying. I guess my next question is whether or not it’s worth repairing/replacing, as the value of a repair is probably more than the car is worth. I don’t know what’s involved with the “ring issue” and I clearly can’t do this job myself. I neither have the tools or the know-how. What is the repair, and what’s the average cost of that repair.

Gotta run but will check back later. Your responses are greatly appreciated and welcomed.

Thanks again.

[Jimmy]

Ok, changed the valve cover gasket. Didn’t help, although I did learn something from doing it, so not a total loss for $20 and a half hour or so of my time.

Cylinder # 4, where the misfire occurs, is fouling out the plug. Other 3 cylinder plugs look fine.

I’m pretty much left with two other things to try, but not sure if either or both is worth a shot.

EGR?
Replacing the fuel injector(s)

With the car running, I pulled the power plug to the EGR at idle. I did not drive it unplugged. I didn’t hear any difference in engine idle or otherwise. Should I have heard an engine change in
RPM?

And any idea WHY the poof of smoke would come out of my exhaust after only stopping at a downhill stop? Is the oil moving to the front of something, and then escaping out of the exhaust? I don’t understand the concept.

[Jimmy]

Ok, changed the valve cover gasket. Didn’t help, although I did learn something from doing it, so not a total loss for $20 and a half hour or so of my time.

Cylinder # 4, where the misfire occurs, is fouling out the plug. Other 3 cylinder plugs look fine.

I’m pretty much left with two other things to try, but not sure if either or both is worth a shot.

EGR?
Replacing the fuel injector(s)

With the car running, I pulled the power plug to the EGR at idle. I did not drive it unplugged. I didn’t hear any difference in engine idle or otherwise. Should I have heard an engine change in
RPM?

And any idea WHY the poof of smoke would come out of my exhaust after only stopping at a downhill stop? Is the oil moving to the front of something, and then escaping out of the exhaust? I don’t understand the concept.

[Jimmy]

I appreciate your 2 cents, believe me. I’m replacing that valve cover gasket this week. Fortunately, they come with the spark plug gaskets built into it. Thanks again!

[Jimmy]

I appreciate your 2 cents, believe me. I’m replacing that valve cover gasket this week. Fortunately, they come with the spark plug gaskets built into it. Thanks again!

[Jimmy]

Agreed….in the process now.

[Jimmy]

Agreed….in the process now.

[Jimmy]

Ok, didn’t get much done just yet….juggling too many things, but here’s what I did do:

Cleaned the MAF sensor with MAF cleaner as suggested. Also cleaned the throttle body and plate for the heckuvit. Test drove it, no change.

Replaced the PCV valve. Test drove it, seemed to run better, but still had a slight misfire on a couple of occasions but not nearly as bad as it has been. It seems to misfire much, much less, almost non-existent, but still shows up intermittently on acceleration in 2nd and 3rd gear.

There is no extension on the O2 sensor/cat, and the wires to the injectors are good. I unclipped the injectors each separately and caused the engine to run differently.

I disconnected the neg battery terminal after cleaning the MAF, and then again after replacing the PCV as you said so that the computer would relearn the fuel trims.

I guess I’m wondering why the car would run really well after initially changing the plugs, then it would go back to misfiring. Same question for when I changed the coil packs, or COP wires.

The other thing I’m wondering about is why the smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe after descending a steep hill. I have a really steep one near my house and it’s my test route after I fiddle with my attempts at fixing the car. It will kick out some smoke at other times when it misfires, but will ALWAYS kick out a large smoke cloud after leaving from a stopped position at the bottom of that steep hill.

Also, would a leaking injector cause worse gas mileage? Or no? I’m getting great gas mileage even with this misfire issue.

Thanks for the link, but if that needs done, I wouldn’t even attempt it. Best left to a pro.

[Jimmy]

Ok, didn’t get much done just yet….juggling too many things, but here’s what I did do:

Cleaned the MAF sensor with MAF cleaner as suggested. Also cleaned the throttle body and plate for the heckuvit. Test drove it, no change.

Replaced the PCV valve. Test drove it, seemed to run better, but still had a slight misfire on a couple of occasions but not nearly as bad as it has been. It seems to misfire much, much less, almost non-existent, but still shows up intermittently on acceleration in 2nd and 3rd gear.

There is no extension on the O2 sensor/cat, and the wires to the injectors are good. I unclipped the injectors each separately and caused the engine to run differently.

I disconnected the neg battery terminal after cleaning the MAF, and then again after replacing the PCV as you said so that the computer would relearn the fuel trims.

I guess I’m wondering why the car would run really well after initially changing the plugs, then it would go back to misfiring. Same question for when I changed the coil packs, or COP wires.

The other thing I’m wondering about is why the smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe after descending a steep hill. I have a really steep one near my house and it’s my test route after I fiddle with my attempts at fixing the car. It will kick out some smoke at other times when it misfires, but will ALWAYS kick out a large smoke cloud after leaving from a stopped position at the bottom of that steep hill.

Also, would a leaking injector cause worse gas mileage? Or no? I’m getting great gas mileage even with this misfire issue.

Thanks for the link, but if that needs done, I wouldn’t even attempt it. Best left to a pro.

[Jimmy]

Unfortunately I didn’t write down the second code (for O2) so I’m not sure, and I can’t get the CEL to come on again.

I did get those good readings from the compression test as you mentioned. As for the oil consumption, the car normally burns about 1 qt/month, but lately it’s been burning about 1 qt/100-200 miles–a very, very noticeable difference.

One other thing I forgot to mention is that the fuel economy is still fantastic…I still average 36/gal combined. I’ve seen other threads where people are experiencing poor fuel economy. This is not the case with my car.

I will start with your suggestions and report back. Probably won’t get to it until tomorrow or the weekend.

Thank you for the response.

[Jimmy]

Unfortunately I didn’t write down the second code (for O2) so I’m not sure, and I can’t get the CEL to come on again.

I did get those good readings from the compression test as you mentioned. As for the oil consumption, the car normally burns about 1 qt/month, but lately it’s been burning about 1 qt/100-200 miles–a very, very noticeable difference.

One other thing I forgot to mention is that the fuel economy is still fantastic…I still average 36/gal combined. I’ve seen other threads where people are experiencing poor fuel economy. This is not the case with my car.

I will start with your suggestions and report back. Probably won’t get to it until tomorrow or the weekend.

Thank you for the response.

[Jimmy]

I forgot to add that I rented a compression tester and performed that also. The numbers were good both wet and dry. Not sure how important that is, but I really wanted to get my hands dirty with this.

[Jimmy]

I forgot to add that I rented a compression tester and performed that also. The numbers were good both wet and dry. Not sure how important that is, but I really wanted to get my hands dirty with this.

[Author]

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