Got a problem guys. About a month and a half or so ago, my engine light came on and so I put my reader on it and 0354 message, cylinder one passenger side of the firewall. I took off the manifold and replaced the plug and the coil. All went well for a while until it happened again. Reading showed the same cylinder with the ignition coil. So I took it apart again, and I switched the plug and the coil from the cylinder one to one of the cylinders on the front of the engine. Basically trying to see if it was the coil. So I did that and of course it’s still sputtered a bit
But no engine light so I replaced the plug in the coil from the front cylinder and all was fine. Until today. When it started it again. Put on my reader and now I get the same reading. By the way, I also traded out the connector that plugs into the coil on that cylinder one. When I am driving down the road, I have power but not 100% power if I put it into neutral while I am driving, RPMs will only go up to 2500. As it is now, I have the engine light on again with the same darn reading and I have run out of ideas. Does anybody have any ideas? Thank you in advance!

 

1) Check Pinpoint-JF first. When asked to check on Pinpoint-JB or Pinpoint-Z then download them.
2) Check Pinpoint-JE. Check Reference_Values.pdf when asked.

 

We have learned to not switch coils when we suspect a possibly shorted coil.
A shorted coil will destroy the driver in the PCM. If that defective coil is switched to a different cyl position it WILL destroy a second driver in the PCM making things worse.
A good part of the time poor connections are involved.
Verifying these connections can get quite detailed and most folks are not able to conduct these tests.

 

Yeah, that does make sense. I’m not a great mechanic, but I can usually get by but this one is tough. When I replaced the connector on that rear coil, it was so hard to do because all the wires were so burnt and fried and I fear, I may have to trace those wires further back to try and get a better connection. And I’m not sure I can do that on my own. But I may have no choice. And I cannot afford to have somebody do this for me. At my age kills my back to try and lean over that engine and work. Thank you very much for your input. I greatly appreciate it. Looks like I’m going to have to dig into this again whether I want to or not.

 

Looks like I’ll be digging back into that and possibly trying to get a better connection on that connector to the coil. Had a very hard time getting into it and I cannot afford to have somebody do this for me. Thank you very much for your reply! It is very much appreciated.

 

It helps a lot if you are not pressed and can take your time.

We don't know what kind of equip you might have to work with, but we might be able to offer some helpful suggestions if you get stuck on something.

 

Thank you! The last time I tore into this was last Saturday and I’ve got all the right tools although my reader is very basic, an Amazon cheapie special. I had it apart and put together in about three hours. I don’t know if that’s good or not. I try to take my time and remember which steps to take putting it back together. My brother has been trying to look into to what might cause us also and somebody was telling him to also check the camshaft position sensors and also the airflow sensor to the throttlebody. I did have a warning light come on, that happy little wrench light that comes on with a throttle body code a couple weeks ago also but it has been fine since then. I was thinking of changing that out also, but I don’t know if any of this will affect what is going on.

 

Throttle bodies can be expensive to replace., so we need to be sure it requires replacement before replacing a good part.

Do you have any idea of why some of those wires were burned/overheated ?

The coils all get power from one wire from the ign sw and the PCM is what supplies the ground to fire the coil. The power wires are generally RED in color and the grounds from the PCM are various colors to the individual coils.

If Heiko can supply a wiring diagram of the ign system it would make tracing those burned wires much easier.

 

I have no idea why they may be burnt/fried. I figured it was just because the darn thing is close to 20 years old and is now showing its age.

 

If they got too close to a really hot part like the EGR tube, they could get overheated that way. Otherwise , it might be due to excessive current draw.
How many wires are we talking about?