2002 Toyota Camry with code P0301

[HTSS_TR]

My friend's sister asked me to sell her 2002 Camry LE I4 for her. She bought 2012 Camry a week ago.

The car had head gasket replaced and some other works done 3 weeks ago to a tune of $1800.

Today I tested drive the car and CEL was on, the scanner showed P0301 cylinder 1 misfire. I don't know how old are the current plugs.

What should I do next ? Replace all 4 spark plugs ? Or swap plug 1 to 2 to see if the code will change to P0302 ?

What are OEM plugs ? Amazon lists these plugs:
NGK (3764) BKR6EIX-11 Iridium IX Spark Plug
Denso (5304) IK20 Iridium Spark Plug

 

[artbuc]

I had a P0302 on my 99 Avalon - turned out to be a bad injector. I'd start by swapping coils and then disconnect #1 fuel injector and see if it makes a difference in engine idle. More likely to be a bad coil or injector than a plug based on my experience.

 

[Vikas]

Go back to the mechanic who replaced the head gasket and complain! For $1800 one would think they would stand behind their work.

Is that 2.2 or 2.4 engine?

 

[HTSS_TR]

The Engine is 2AZ-FE I4/2.4L

The shop is in North LA, too far for me to drive there.

According to the Owner Manual the recommend spark plugs are Denso SK20R11 and NGK IFR6A11 with gap 1.1 mm (0.043").

I'll try to swap plug 1 with next plug too see what will happen.

Luckily I have a code reader, no need to drive to Autozone to read the code.

 

[yonyon]

If it isn't the plug look to the coil next. If it was laying in an oil bath for a while pulling it out could have killed it. Make sure the electrical connector at the injector is fully seated and spray a little throttle plate cleaner around the bottom of the injector to check for a ripped lower o-ring.

If all that checks out, then it's time for the compression test. Something may have gone wrong with the head gasket job. If compression is low, get on the phone with that shop. I can't imagine they'll want to pay for two way towing and a rental car. Much more likely they'll pay for another shop closer to you to fix it. Try to make that shop a Toyoa dealership unless you already know a good Toyota shop or engine shop. If the outfit who did the work is part of a chain or a trade association they may require you to use another shop in that chain or trade association provided there is one local to you for warranty work.

 

[HTSS_TR]

This car isn't mine, if the plug isn't the problem then I will let the owner know. I will tell what are possible causes and we will go from there. I just hope that the plugs are too old and changing 4 plugs will cost less than $30 for parts and my labor is free.

I knew her brother for more than 40 years, we are buddy for so long and I treated her like my own sister. I tried to help as much as I can, but I can't spend too much money or times to debug the problems that I am not capable of.

Thanks for all advices so far. I'll report what I found when I remove the number 1 plug. I need to know where the heck is number 1 plug is on the 2AZ-FE 2.4L engine. Looking to the engine from the front bumper, is no. 1 the left most plug or the right most ?

 

[bdcardinal]

What I want to know is what "mechanic" did a head gasket job and didn't put in new plugs.

 

[yonyon]

Look to your left, the car's right.

#1 is almost always the one closest to the front of the engine which is the end of the engine where the belts are. The back is closer to the trans.

Be happy it isn't an old Saab. They had a better idea about where the front and back should be once.

 

[MysticGold04]

Yup. As your looking at the engine standing in front of the bumper.. #1 is the most left-hand plug, as the belts are on the left side of the engine as well. It will be interesting what you find...I'd hope the mechanic didn't put back old plugs.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
What I want to know is what "mechanic" did a head gasket job and didn't put in new plugs.

The shop is "The Professional #1 Auto Repair" in Canoga Park, CA.

The receipt shows 4 spark plugs for $24, but no brand or type. Probably cheap plugs.

Part $700, labor $600, Gas+oil+grease $480 and tax to the total of $1780.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I'll try to swap the left most plug with the right most plug.

I cleared the code, the CEL didn't come back after 6-7 miles drive, but the engine is shaking a little violently while stop at red-light, I can easily feel it inside the car by the steering and the seat too, idle is at around 700 RPM which is normal range. But no shaking while driving.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: MysticGold04
I'd hope the mechanic didn't put back old plugs.


I hope the mechanic did put back old plugs. Or maybe put in new ones and one was flawed and failed early? That would be pretty cool. It's something that's a lot easier to fix than...oh say...a stretched bolt that bottomed out before acheiving clamping load or a tiny crack in the head that went unnoticed or an exhaust valve just a little too tight or maybe some fibrous material clogging something that ought not to be clogged.

A stupid mistake that causes an easily repairable problem is better than an easy to make mistake or unforeen problem that costs a lot of money and downtime to correct.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I'll try to swap the left most plug with the right most plug.

I cleared the code, the CEL didn't come back after 6-7 miles drive, but the engine is shaking a little violently while stop at red-light, I can easily feel it inside the car by the steering and the seat too, idle is at around 700 RPM which is normal range. But no shaking while driving.


Does it also do it idling in neutral? Could be a stressed motor mount.

Does this car have a tach? A dirty throttle body (which should have been cleaned while it was off) could give you a low idle which would feel rough. Does it feel worse with AC on than off?

Of course, late timing could give you a rough feel at low RPM too. Decking the head to compensate for warpage would tend to back the timing off just a hair, but if the machinist overdid it....

 

[sunfire]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
The receipt shows 4 spark plugs for $24, but no brand or type. Probably cheap plugs.


x4 Iridium plugs would cost than $24. When I changed my plugs I stuck with NGK Iridium. I have ~10K on them now. IIRC, Camry and Corolla owners at toyotanation emphasize using only NGK and Denso made plugs in Toyotas.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/104-5t...ugs-2az-fe.html

There are a lot of similar type of posts in the Toyota forums.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/104-5t...park-plugs.html

You're lucky if its the spark plugs. The entire valvetrain, timing chain, VVT-i, intake/exhaust was disturbed when they replaced the head gasket.

 

[HTSS_TR]

The shaking is worse at idle with transmission in neutral.

The Tach shows 700 RPM idle either in park or neutral, I didn't try A/C as we have cool weather in So Cal the last few weeks.

I priced the NGK iridium and it is about $8-9/ea at local stores. So the shop used cheap plugs.

 

[yonyon]

Inexpensive spark plugs aren't always junk. I've purchased Denso dual ground electrode spark plugs from the local Toyota dealership for just over a dollar a few times recently. If your mechanic shop was close to a Toyota dealership with similar pricing they could have put in something decent, applied a ridiculous markup, and still come in under $24. They could also have bought a set of whatever was ceapest at the local parts wagon and dropped one. It's all speculation until they come out.

 

[sunfire]

Originally Posted By: sunfire
x4 Iridium plugs would cost MORE than $24.


Oops missing a word.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
The shaking is worse at idle with transmission in neutral.

The Tach shows 700 RPM idle either in park or neutral, I didn't try A/C as we have cool weather in So Cal the last few weeks.

I priced the NGK iridium and it is about $8-9/ea at local stores. So the shop used cheap plugs.


Shaking worse in neutral means it isn't a mount. Unfortunately, probably not likely to be a plug or coil either. I guess the gap could be too close on an otherwise good plug, but how likely is that? Definitely swap #1 and #4 though, just because it's easy and something to hope for.

Worse in neutral, normal idle speed..... A scuffed bottom injector o-ring or leaky intake gasket could definitely do that, so check it with throttle plate cleaner.

A dirty injector could do that too. Maybe some crud got in there while things were apart. If you have access to an OBDII scan tool (not just a code reader) expect long term fuel trim to be little high at idle. Hard to verify without pulling the injectors. Call the shop that did the repair before you go pulling the injectors out on your own.

Of course, any problem that drops compression could do this too. I'm getting a bad feeling you're going to end up at a compression test.

 

[JMJNet]

It is probably the spark plug wire? Try it first, cheaper than the coil.

The NGK G-Power has proven to be good in a Camry, only around $3 each.

 

[The Critic]

Try swapping injectors from cyl 1 to 2 to see what happens.

I'm going to guess the $1700 repair was from the infamous engine block problem on the 2AZ-FE. Family friend traded his for this reason, as it was starting to leak coolant externally. Toyota fix is a new short block, aftermarket fix was to put helicoils in.