The other day I ran my car low on fuel and it starting bogging and running like poop and the cel came on when i was driving down the highway. Not a dead miss but it is misfiring, picked up a fuel filter and plugs and installed them today. The problem was not fixed but the old filter had water in it and was pretty clogged. I put fuel injector cleaner in the full tank of gas that I now have but still not running too great. I took it out to Autozone and they scanned it for free, coming up with a p0303 code, cylinder #3 misfire. I was not surprised because when I changed the plugs everything looked great except the number 3 cylinder plug was pretty black. When I drive the car it drives fine sometimes but bogs down sometimes under acceleration, load, or when I am coming off of higher RPMs. All this leads me to think that I have a fuel injector stuck open but people on the board also suggest an ICM. Since it is located in one cylinder only, the shared coil pack cylinder is fine, the plug wire shows the same resistance as the rest, I am thinking about switching the injector to the number 2 cylinder and seeing if the problems moves. Does anyone have any better suggestions?

PS I did not do a compression check because it is too inconsistent. Also is it okay to drive the car now since it is a little cold to be riding the motorcycle

 

Swapping the injector sounds like a good idea to try out. It should at least confirm something for you, even by elimination. New plugs, coil fires fine on the other cylinder, and the wire ohms out fine, it seems like you're on track with either an injector or the ICM. Make sure to post up a followup with what you find.

 

An ICM wouldnt cause a misfire on only one cylinder though right? Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Any input on how it could be ICM related if it is concentrated in just one cylinder?

 

ICM would cause more than one cylinder. im betting injector

 

Ok an update for anyone who gets this thread in a search down the road. I ordered an injector for the car and drove the car pretty hard while I was waiting. I figured if the injector wanted to give the cylinder extra fuel, I might as well use it so I didn't burn up the cat (not abuse just keeping it up into the 4k range). On my way to work the other day I got off the major highway and she was running fine. Obviously the fuel injector cleaner did its job, 100 painful, embarrassing miles later. The check engine light went off on its own the next day (a few starts after it was running fine) and everything is still working well. I am planning on changing that injector anyway when it comes in but it is good just having my old car back to normal. I wonder if my mileage will go up now that the injectors are cleaner, I noticed that the mileage had dropped from a consistent 24.5 mpg to about 20 before the problem arose. I will update anything else when it happens.