Curiousity

Hey everybody,
after browsing for a good few weeks and not finding a solution to my issue, I decided to take the step forward and register to the forum.
Recently(about a month ago), the car started having the blinking CEL, followed by a hard brake pedal and a very rough idle. I have checked every fluid i could and changed the coil packs and spark plugs. The issue at first just occurred maybe once a week(didn’t know as it’s my wife’s vehicle). Then as i was driving it, the cel started blinking and obviously i shut off the car and didnt move it afterwards.
What I have noticed is, that once the car is up to operating temperature, the issue starts occurring. The Codes for it are P0300: Misfire on multiple cylinders detected, P302(Cylinder 2 misfire), P304(Cylinder 4 misfire), P306(Cylinder 6 misfire). So at this point i am very confused as to what kind of issue i am facing.
To summarize it: Car runs completely fine until up to temperature. Then misfire starts like crazy, pedal goes hard and car just wants to shut off.
Also when the car is up to temp and misfiring, the right tail pipe is smoking like mad and it smells like raw gas/coal mixed.
Any help/advice would be welcome as I want to get this car going as soon as possible.

LeX2K

How many kilometers? There are several possible causes but give us more info like how may KMs, maintenance history and general condition of the car.

Curiousity

Currently has 270k km. Bought it off of original owner that has kept all maintenance up to date. Timing belt, water pump and all fluids done on time. I should have the records in my folders if there is something specific i would have to look into.

LeX2K

Do you have a code reader? Looking at short term fuel trims would be very helpful. Very poor running conditions are often because of bad VVTi solenoids.

Curiousity

I do have a code reader, what readings should I receive when the issue is the VVTI solenoid?

LeX2K

Look at short term fuel trims, watch as the engine warms up. If at some point they go way out (should be 0-10% on a pristine engine) then pull one of the solenoids and have a look. The screen could be clogged up, same with the solenoid.

Also pull the front 3 coils and look for cracks. FYI there is a possibility your engine is full of sludge.

Curiousity

I dropped the new coil packs in today, which is why I was really confused of whats going on😅
I will definitely connect the reader to it the moment i get the chance to do so. In case of sludging, is there anything I can do to clear that? I change the oil every 5k km just to avoid exactly that.

LeX2K

Red flag, where did you get them? Did it change anything?

Once the engine is full of sludge it's pretty much game over. But if the engine legit has a 5K OCI then it won't be an issue.

Curiousity

I have ordered them from amazon. It’s not OEM but i didnt think much if it when ordering them.
Last time I turned the car on during the cold snap, the misfire would be there immediately. So the coil packs definitely did change something for the first 15-20min. Just as i drove to the gas station it started misfiring again. But yeah, it was the same way with new spark plugs too. First 10-15mins worry free and as i took off to the gas station, it went bogging again.

LeX2K

Almost without exception nothing but OEM coils are worth a damn. It's a hard and expensive truth. There are almost no OEM parts on Amazon even if they are sold as such. You're better off putting the old coils back in. Rockauto has Denso coils I've never tried them.

If you keep those Amazon coils in the car expect to have nothing but problems. Please tell me you didn't buy plugs on Amazon.

Curiousity

thank you for the heads up. Will take them off tomorrow first thing and order the denzos off rockauto. But would defective coil packs have misfire like that after warm up? To my knowledge defective coil packs are screwy across the board. Maybe im mistaken.

LeX2K

I'm not a fan of firing the parts canon without knowing what the problem is. If it was my car to start I'd put the old OEM coils and plugs back in.

Aftermarket coils tend to not work properly at all.

Curiousity

Sounds good. I will only do the code reader test and report back tomorrow again!

booboofoo

A syndrome commonly known as "blindly throwing parts at the problem".

At all times our goal should be diagnosis first, hunches last.