Problem solved on cylinder 2 misfire

Well, after changing the plugs, wires and coil I had a full scan done. There were no electrical problems found and it still pointed toward cylinder 2. The compression was at 115. The truck has a valve that's sticking when the truck heats up. Now the engine has 165k on it. The way I look at it I have 3 options. Take it in and have a full valve job done, probably not. Tear it down myself and take it to a machine shop and have it done or buy a new engine. Don't really have the money right now so I'm at a crossroads. My wife's uncle is a mechanic and he said carbon buildup could cause the valve to stick. Pour a small amount of water into the intake and it turns to steam and will rid the buildup. Has anyone else heard this method? Any suggestions?

 

I have heard of water or seafoam being used to melt away carbon. You have to be very careful about hydrolocking. No experience with this myself, but further research might be an option. I'd try most things within reason before a tear-down.

 

That's my thought going into it. The problem will only get worse if I ignore it.

 

I don't understand.

Is the misfire solved, code cleared, not repeated?

Or has the code returned, still for #2? But the electrical stream seems ok?

 

Sorry for not clarifying. The code is still there and the problem isn't fixed yet but the problem has been narrowed down to a valve that's not seated. Compression test on cylinder 2 was at 115. No electrical problems. The plugs and wires were old and it didn't hurt to change them but that wasn't the problem.

 

Ok, that's what I thought you might be saying, but I didn't want to assume.

Keep in mind that your misfire, combined with the compression, is an indicator that the exhaust valve is the culprit. You could get lucky that carbon is the issue and be cleanable externally. It's certainly a cheap try, and I'd use Seafoam to do it.

The bad news is that the valve may be burnt. In other words, instead of hanging open on carbon, it just can't seal anymore. Replacement is the only fix if that's the case.

You might consider a reman head from a source like http://www.cylinder-heads.com/ With that in hand you can do an R&R of the offending head much quicker. I've found their prices to be very competitive to local machine shops.

While you 'could' take a shot at pulling the head, swapping one valve and reassembly, you don't know what else you'll find in the teardown. Depends on how the dice lay out.

But if the rings test good on all cylinders, I'd certainly take the refreshed head route over the junkyard-I'm-not-really-sure-what-I'm-getting route.

 

Thanks for the info man. That's likely the route I'll go if it's not cleanable.

 

Took it for a second opinion this morning at my wife's uncles place and he's 99% sure it a bad injector. Hooked up his tool and there's no tapping in the injector for that cylinder. It's getting a signal but no tap. I called Firestone and chewed them out for just bypassin that and saying I needed a new engine. I guess that's what I get haha. Off to replace this thing and hope it's fixed!

 

Very misleading thread title....

Good job on calling firestone on their BS!! Man i hate it when shops do that kind of shit! Hopefully it is just as simple as the injector.

 

You could move the injector to another cylinder and if the misfire moves with it then you know 100% sure its the injector

 

Tcloudy, how did the new injector work out?