Hello all,

I need some help.

The CEL came on last week Thursday. Ofcourse all the dealerships were busy to even fit me in until this week Wednesday. Their recommendation was NOT to drive the car until the issue was diagnosed.
Anyways, I took the car to Midas on Friday who after checking it out claimed that the engine was misfiring on all 4 cylinders.

The shop recommended: 1) Replace all Spark Plugs, 2) Replace all Ignition Coils and 3) A Fuel Treatment package. Nonetheless - total cost $1600.

I look at it all and suggested that they replace the Spark Plugs and perform the Fuel Treatment. Total cost < $300.

Almost 3 days go by and the light comes back again.

The car is a 2001 with just crossed 44000 miles.

I got them to replace the Spark Plugs just cause it has been almost 8 years, but all the Ignition Coils seems a little excessive. I kept all the original plugs if someone wants to see them.

I have found articles online about this and boy it seems a lot of work in terms of swapping coils around and checking spaces around the Spark Plugs for lose contact.
But nothing definitive in making the issue go away.

I occasionally redline, but have not done so in a couple of weeks.
I used Lucas oil as a fuel treatment and octance booster every month - about 4 ounces of it and not the whole bottle.
I use HEB or Valero Premium gas always. I stopped using Walmart gas since it was making the car knock.

Can anybody help? I would rather much appreciate it.
Has anybody dealt with something like this?

 

BTW: There is nothing weird going on.. No sounds, no issues, revs and runs just fine.

 

can you give the code?

You should get with someone and have them swap their coils into your car, it could be a faulty coilpack

 

I had this same issue. I replaced the spark plugs, coil packs, and even tried throwing in some Seafoam to get rid of the problem.

I ended up just replacing the fuel injectors with brand new OEM ones and the s2k sits free of a CEL. I had the same issue too.

I'm actually selling the injectors from my old car, I found out that they just needed to be cleaned.

 

I would pull the code and see what it says.. then you can determine which way to go.. it may not even be related to spark or ignition..

 

yeah I'd pull the code to see exactly what it is, or maybe you just need to clear the code. To clear the code you just have to disconnect the battery for a few minutes.

 

CEL light could be anything, Faulty coils, injectors, spark plugs , bent valves... check the code for the cell light. RESET the CEL again & check the code again. if you get a CEL consistently on second or any particular cylinder. Swap the coils of other cylinders & take the CEL code again.

Basic debugging. if it is coil/spark plug.. then you are ok.

if all the coils/spark plugs work fine, then do a compression test , you should get even compression on all cylinders.

Then comes the leak test, by this time you should know why you are getting the cell.

sometimes bad fuel injectors also indicate CELL, I am not sure how to debug this.

 

gahhh......I dont even know where to start on this one.

Its not your coil packs. It a one in a million chance that all of them suddenly decided to go out at the same time. Same goes for spark plugs. Same goes for fuel injectors. If it was one cylinder, ya, those are the 3 things Id check...in that order.

If its throwing misfire codes for all cylinders or throwing a random misfire code Id start with EGR. I know you guys dont have access to an HDS so you cant watch to see when it comes on and how much lift it needs. It more than likely is just clogged. At worse the EGR solenoid is being lazy. If its not that check into an input sensor. MAP/MAF, TPS, CAS (not sure if the s2k even has one).