Misfire On A 2004 Ka

[CG1996]

Nearly two weeks ago I was driving my KA through the Lake District and ended up driving through a puddle that was at least 8 inches deep. Half an hour later the engine light came on and the car was only firing on four cylinders. I ended up limping it back home which was a good 70 miles away.

Since then I have changed the plugs, leads and coil pack which solved the problem with the car misfiring on idle but it still misfires under acceleration, especially up hills.

I plugged a fault code reader into the car and it came up with code 0302 (Cylinder 2 misfire). Since then I have cleared the code and the engine light is put but the car is still misfiring, any ideas? ☺

[MONDEO TXS 2.2]

'' Only firing on four cylinders '' ?

[CG1996]

Three cylinders I meant to put

[stef123]

possible that you have damaged that cylinder when you drove through the deep water.

[Omendata]

Sounds like you have sucked water into cylinder 2.

You need to perform a pressure test.

Buy one of these then check all of your cylinders for pressure.

Its a tap-in if you pardon the pun.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BERGEN-AUTO-TRANSMISSION-AND-ENGINE-OIL-PRESSURE-TESTER-TOOL-SET-KIT-B5302-/151886334109?hash=item235d21889d:g:mWgAAOSwbqpTwEDw

Bear in mind the cheaper kits like these are !Removed! and will probably only last one go you would be better buying one of the more expensive testers if you want

to do this regularly - I am on the dole and a bit of a tight @rse so i like to save money!

lol

Ford Ka Cylinder pressure should be around 150psi if my memory servers me right.

The newer Ka uses the rocam ohc engine now in both 1.6 and 1.3 form, the old OHv lump has been put out to pasture now so you will have to check your manual for the exact psi to check for your engine!

[Omendata]

A code P0302 may mean that one or more of the following has happened:

Faulty spark plug or wire
Faulty coil (pack)
Faulty oxygen sensor(s)
Faulty fuel injector
Burned exhaust valve
Faulty catalytic converter(s)

Running out of fuel
Poor compression

Defective computer

You may have sucked water into the Cat and buggered it up!

Read more at: http://www.obd-codes.com/p0302
Copyright OBD-Codes.com

[andybadcats]

The oxygen sensor (front) is probably gone. It's the sudden changing temperature being splashed from the water that kills them. About £18 if you fit yourself. No more difficult than fitting a spark plug.

[Omendata]

Hmm its actually quite difficult as it requires a special tool unless you do it my way and that was to snap the top off making sure none of it falls into the manifold then using normal socket to get the rest of it out. Its also quite high up in the engine so you would have to have been doing 70mph through a lake to get the water up there!

If its gone then the obd should pull up the code again - it hasnt so i think it will be something the ecu cannot monitor.

[andybadcats]

IT won't flag up fault after re-set for about 30 or more miles

Yes you can get a special tool. http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=131202251815&alt=web

Being high up on the manifold won't protect it from extreme temp changes. Deep water. = knackered lambada Probe. It could be other things but this would be my hunch.

[andybadcats]

Lambada probe compatible for Ford ka is

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=251313223115&alt=web

If all else fails.

[Omendata]

Yes i know i saw the price of the tool and being a natural tight@rse and needed to do it right away so decided to do it the cheap way and it worked fine!

Just dodgy if you drop some of the splintered ceramic into the manifold , if that gets into the cat hmmmm

We can only hope he posts back and lets us know the outcome but like most they never do so we shall probably never know Andy!

How has your Streetka been since you bought it - how much have you had to spend on it in terms of repairs and how many faults has it had.

It would be interesting to know to compare it with mine as its been one a week lol

The heated seats are now playing up - still not found the water leak in the drivers footwell and the AC is empty.

Got a nice blue facia and an mp3 player to replace the nasty stock radio cd player.

Punted the cd radio on eBay for more than it cost for the new gear - are people really that crazy?

[andybadcats]

OK in order

Tyres... kuhmo

battery...Silver Calcium

Heater control valve

Thermostat Full housing.

Windscreen washer bottle

Near side Abs sensor

Air con re- gas kit from e-bay

Lambada Probe ( after going through deep water)

Auxiliary belt

Water Pump OEM Quintin Hazel

Alternator OEM Quintin Hazel

I did all the work myself at home in the drive using original ford supplied jack. It was interesting to understand how difficult it was to get at the Alternator

You have to remove front manifold. Then it's easy.

The Alternator I took off was only 2 years old. Worked out it had been damaged by poor earth to bodywork causing it to overheat. It earth's using its body ie the part that bolts to frame so always clean this part up first. Also never use a lead acid battery with Street ka's only calcium otherwise all the electrics will slowly fail.

Re your heated seats check the fuse rating and also the relay box. From memory it's one of the 3 green relays top right in engine bay near battery.

The leak in passenger footwell.

If it was me I would check.

Window angle adjuster. Remove door card its a spring screw at btm of window frame. You can get a nice seal to top rubber trim if you have patience.

Failing that. Remove wipers,,. plastic trim and clean out all the crap that blocks the water drain holes.

Even though I have replaced all above parts it didn't cost that much and you learn a lot on the way. The more time you spend on a street ka the more you get attached to it.

There are fewer on the roads than last year and only 3 on autotrader under 35000 miles. People give up on them and scrap them. They still turn head's.

To me they are great value for money and very responsive. Not selling mine. Lol

.

[stef123]

Hmm its actually quite difficult as it requires a special tool unless you do it my way and that was to snap the top off making sure none of it falls into the manifold then using normal socket to get the rest of it out. Its also quite high up in the engine so you would have to have been doing 70mph through a lake to get the water up there!

If its gone then the obd should pull up the code again - it hasnt so i think it will be something the ecu cannot monitor.

Fitted loads of lambda sensors, not yet used a special tool for them.

Im inclinded to think the fault here is not a lambda sensor but more like an injector or low compression - duff lambda probe shouldn't just affect one cylinder inparticular.

[Omendata]

Yeah Andy i've had a fair few faults but its cost less than a tun since i do all my own work.

Didnt know that about the battery thats a rather unique fault!

Yeah you need a socket with a long shank to get the lambda primary sensor out or just snap the top off.

If it is just one cylinder then Andy might have a point!

I would start with the compression tester I first went with and then move on.

[CG1996]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I have done a compression test and I've got around 220 psi for each cylinder. Also since I reset the fault code the engine light has stayed off but the misfire fault is still there. I'm still using the car for work everyday, which is about 16 miles.

[Omendata]

I like to go with Sherlock Homes on this one.

Once you have eliminated all possibilities then what you have left must be the answer so next test would be to take cylinder i^{njector out and test see what you get. Measure the voltage first then take it out and see what the pulse is like.Or swap the injectors over 2 to 1 and see if you then get a misfire on cylinder one that way you can be sure.}

[CG1996]

Right guys, since my last post I have changed the fuel filter and drained the fuel tank. I've also changed the injectors and I'm still having the same problem. I've took it to a garage today and he said everything mechanical is fine . He suggested that the ECU might be knackered?

Any ideas??

[Omendata]

Did he plug in a diagnostic obd tool?

Have you checked for any more obd errors?

If none then its probably a non obd detectable fault - Ecu sounds about all thats left or a valve!

My commiserations these type of faults really do my nut in!

[CG1996]

Yeah I've plugged in a OBD reader and a laptop. Since I deleted code 0302 the engine light has stayed off and no codes have come up since. It's really beginning to p*ss me off

[Omendata]

Yeah ive been there many times - when even a garage cant fix it you know its going to be serious and cost an arm , leg and perhaps yer dobber as well.

>;o)

Might be time to lift the head and check the valves as an ecu swap might be expensive as the keys and ccu etc will need to be swapped as well.

I can recommend a good cliff!

.;o)

[stef123]

If the issue isn't there constantly I would be surprised if it's a valve. No need to remove the head to check them either, a compression test will confirm.

[CG1996]

Yeah its not a constant issue (only when under acceleration), and the compression is 220 psi on all cylinders. I'm not too clued up on cars, I'm on apprentice bus mechanic but I've still got a lot to learn

[CG1996]

Yeah its not a constant issue (only when under acceleration), and the compression is 220 psi on all cylinders. I'm not too clued up on cars, I'm on apprentice bus mechanic but I've still got a lot to learn

[Omendata]

Only under accel then it is either a petrol or electrical issue!

Getting to sound more like ECU!

[Omendata]

Just had a word with my pal who is a Ford mechanic and he says a pressure test wont always pick this up and he reckons you have a Burned and sticking exhaust valve!

Hmmm i would still go for Ecu but as the water seems to have caused the problem he may be right!

But as code 0302 does have burned exhaust valve as one of the symptoms and you have checked all else then what remains is the solution according to Holmes.

Lemon entry my dear Watson!

Head off - get it checked.

Are you sure the misfire is on one cylinder only or multiple - thats crucial otherwise you may be throwing us all off on the wrong direction as it could be the fuel pump if its misfiring on all cylinders!