SureTrack Community Fix: Cold Misfire

Sometimes the conditions under which you diagnose a problem are critical to finding a solution. SureTrack community member EddRSmith had a Toyota Camry in the shop where they had replaced the defective ignition parts to correct a misfire condition but the customer still experiences the issue. They posed the question to the community, and with the help of fellow community member ericsautomotive and others, they were able to resolve the issue quickly.

The following Community Fix summarizes the interaction between members of the community that led to the solution.

Vehicle
2002 Toyota Camry XLE 2.4L

Title
Misfire while accelerating, replaced ignition coil.

Complaint
Customer complains of misfire while accelerating.

Diagnostic Steps Performed/Parts Replaced Test drove vehicle and found misfires on cylinder one while accelerating, once you hit a stead cruise it goes away. It had two bad ignition coils and bad spark plugs when it came in so replaced the coils and plugs. Tried removing the upstream oxygen sensor to see if the cat was clogged but it still misfires while accelerating. Compression on the engine is 180 psi across all four cylinders. MAF sensor was very dirty and cleaned it. After resetting the computer had a very hard time getting vehicle to even run but it is back to running ok again. Am I overlooking something, what would make it misfire with a flashing check engine light while accelerating but it stops flashing when cruising?

Best Answer from Community Member ericsautomotive Have you considered bad new parts? What you are describing sure sounds like a bad coil and or spark plug.

Cause
Ended up being a bad coil, one of the new coils. It only happened cold and customer would never leave the car with me so I could start with a cold motor. When they finally did I was able to prove it was one of the coils another shop had installed.

Correction
Replaced bad replacement ignition coil and vehicle no longer misfires.