Ok, I'll TRY to make this as brief as possible... But im at my wits end and need help .

About 2 years ago in a huff, I pulled out of my driveway in reverse and then popped it into drive and floored it... My car backfired which scared me to death. It drove a little strange on my way to the gas station about a mile away. When I opened my gas tank door I noticed a bunch of dirt there which I shrugged off... I got on the freeway but it started stuttering so I exited and drove home and had to deal with the drama I was trying to run from... Which then got me wondering if "someone" who didn't want me to leave in the first place had put dirt in my gas tank. Still an outstanding mystery.

I left the car undriven for 6 months or so until I finally got a code reader and showed codes P0205 P0305 and P0316 and had a flashing CEL. So I replaced the 3 front coils and plugs which would be for injectors 4, 5 and 6 hoping that would solve the problem. I started it up and took it for a ride and everything seemed great.... For about 10 miles and then the dreaded check engine light came on. Did the code reader and the same numbers came up.

I don't drive the car often as proven my milage which stands at just over 74,000. Because i couldnt afford to bring it in to get it fixed it just sat in the driveway and maybe driven 2-5 miles a week to the grocery store... With the occasional longer trip but never more than 30 miles .. Car honestly runs fine... Occasionally when it hits a certain speed it might start vibrating but lifting my foot off the gas and then pressing it just a little harder fixes the problem. I've driven on freeways at 70 miles per hour without a problem but again, short distances.

Today I was forced once again to deal with this as i need to get a smog certificate to renew my registration. I know it's going to fail and want to take advantage of California's $500 CAP program to help pay for my repairs. So I took my car to the smog place today to get a FAILED smog result which I need to submit with my application for CAP. The tech tells me I have a different VIN number on my PCM than what the car's VIN is and can't perform a smog on it. He says the state recently stopped Smog places from overriding the vin number due to fraud. I explain I never changed the PCM and I bought the car used 4 years earlier and didn't have a problem getting a smog the last time. Again he said it was a recent change and suggested going back to the dealership and having them flash the PCM with the correct VIN number. I drive over the Galplin Ford where I bought it used and they researched it and accused me of changing the PCM as all their paperwork shows only the correct VIN number. I never changed the PCM.... i asked them if they could just flash it with the correct VIN and they said you can't do that... Its hard coded. Then said go back to the smog place that they most certainly can override the VIN number in the smog system. I said they told me they couldn't and he assured me they could.

So who's lying? Does anyone know? I mean how am I going to get my car legal again if I can't get it smogged?

Secondly... I know driving my car on and off for 2 years with a misfiring cylinder can't be good and from what I've been told probably ruined all 3 catalytic converters... But I never see any smoke or smell anything odd from the car. Oh and by the way, I recently went ahead and changed the back 3 coils and plugs to see if that fixed any thing but it didn't... So could it actually be the fuel injector #5? Everything I've read and researched online says it's usually the plugs or coils on those codes and not the actual injector.... But wrapping this whole story up, could it be when it backfired it did in fact damage the fuel injector? It only backfired that one time 2 years ago.... And finally... What about the dirt? If someone put some dirt in my gas tank, would it cause these problems? I've tried over the years a few injector cleaner products and can't tell if it helped or not, but that check engine light is on and the codes remain.

Sorry for the long winded post.... Im just losing my mind over this. Any insight or advice would be sooooooo welcomed.

Thanks guys.

 

If someone introduced dirt into the fuel system, usually cutting open the fuel filter may show some evidence, and if so,, the contamination should be addressed straight off..

 

IDK about 2003 but my 2009 had the PCM replaced by dealership due to a transmission issue under warranty. It has been smoged in 2017...unless this new "vin thing" started in 2018

if your 03 has an accessible fuel filter, pull it and cut it open to see if crap is in it. The 09 does not have an accessible fuel filter. If someone put dirt in your tank it would be full of crap and likely cut down fuel flow/pressure considerably which would make the car run lean...pcm would then try and dump as much fuel as it can to offset...if it could

 

Well I replaced the fuel filter this weekend.... Car does seem to run a bit better. However, as usual, when I started the car the CEL was solid and after driving it a mile or two it started flashing . This is what its been doing for the last 2 years ...

I'm going to call a California state smog referee tomorrow and ask about the mismatched VIN.

As for my misfiring issue I think next week's project may be to replace the actual injector. I read online about possible wiring issues causing the misfire which judging by the condition of wire harness could be a possibility. I'm Not all that knowledgeable about electrical things so maybe having someone else run some tests on the wires should be considered.

 

Did you open the filter up and check for unusual contamination?

Sometimes just laying out a white cloth, and tapping the filter 'inlet' end against the cloth will dislodge and deposit internal samples onto the rag..
When the CEL is flashing, its a lamp flash indication that a rich enough condition exists that can/will damage the convertors. Best not to continually drive it with the CEL flashing..
If you suspect, and the filter examination proves that someone tampered with the fuel, certainly the filter will do its job, but depending on what was dumped into the tank, an injector/s could easily fail from the debris or other liquids if they happened to be in the mix, like water or others...

 

Hey guys, had some time this weekend and decided to take on the job of replacing the #5 injector to see if that would solve my problem. I was so happy to do a resistance test on the old injector and learn that it was in fact dead! Installed the new injector, put everything back together and the car started right up and sounded great!

Now the bad news...

My friend yelled to me, "stop the car!!!" .....gasoline was pouring out under the car, on the passenger side! I stopped the car, and the flow of fuel coming out from under the car slowly stopped. Now before I started working, I depressurized the fuel line by removing the fuse, the relay, and even disconnected the fuel wiring under the floor plate behind the drivers seat. I am confident I put everything back together properly. The car started a few times just fine before my friend noticed the fuel leak.

Any suggestions on what I did wrong or where to start looking? I will say Putting the fuel rail back on over the injectors was tough, and I did not replace all the o-rings on the other 5 injectors. I didn't get under the car to see where the leak was because I hosed down the ground real good.... So I figured I'd let it dry overnight and dig in tomorrow.

Any pointers would be appreciated. I'm so bummed cuz I thought I solved my problem ... Only to create a new one.

 

likely when you put the fuel rail back on one, or more, of the injector "O" rings is bad or is not seated right.

Might want to pick up a set of O rings and replace on all. A little oil on them to install would help