Hello all. Seeking help on this issue as I have spent a majority of the day trying to diagnosis/fix this. It started just after replacing my bank 1, sensor 1,
O2 sensor
(got an error code and CEL about a week ago for this). Since I had to jack the car up and get inside the wheel well, I decided to change out all of my
spark plugs
today as well. Once the car was lifted and the
O2 sensor
was replaced I went to change my
spark plugs
on the bank 1 side. The plug in cylinder 3 came right out and I replaced it with a new one. The cylinder 2 plug would not move for the life of me. I tried every trick I could find online but there was so much resistance in trying to loosen it that I eventually gave up as to not cause any (or further) damage. I move on to cylinder 1 and same issue as 2. I inspected the old
spark plug
I replaced and it actually did not look that bad so I figured I would attempt to change the remaining 5 out at a later time. Dropped the car back down and after starting it, it did not sound normal. Idle was pretty rough and sure enough a blinking CEL came on. Grabbed my scanner and got the following error codes:
P0300 : Random/multiple cylinder misfire detected
P0302 : Cylinder 2 misfire detected
P0301 : Cylinder 1 misfire detected
Jacked the car back up, removed the coil packs and inspected both the cylinder 1 & 2 plugs sitting inside and the packs themselves. Everything seemed normal but I still tried to "re-install" everything as precisely as I could. I read some forums and threads online and thought it may be something with the O2 sensor so I reset the ECU as well. Started the car up (left in park) and although still sounding rough, the CEL did not come on. Upon backing out of my driveway the blinking CEL did come back on. I decided to drive just down the cul de sac as a test and to no surprise shifted and handled equally as rough as it sounded. During part of the drive the CEL did actually turn off but still performed just as poorly with it on. Did some more reading online and could not find anyone else having a situation like this. It was either one cylinder or the whole bank of 3. Never saw anything with just 2.
If you have any pointers/thoughts/tests I would absolutely listen as I am officially lost. My thought are either I damaged the spark plugs when trying to remove/reinstall, or there is an issue with the o2 sensor I received.
FYI - iCarsoft POR-II scanner was used. Car is a 2012 987.2 Boxster.
UPDATE:
Since I was not getting any error codes on cylinder 3 (with the new
spark plug
), I swapped the coil pack from cylinder 3 with the coil pack from cylinder 2. Started up the car and went for a short test drive. Still just as rough and although not getting a CEL, my scanner still said misfires on cylinders 1 & 2. I believe this rules out the coil packs so my thought is either an issue with the
spark plugs
in cylinders 1 & 2 or the new
O2 sensor
. Could there be a timing issue as well?
based on what you did , it has to be related to the two plugs you could not get out. thinking out loud - Did they get damaged in some way , could they be altering the firing because one is new , two are not ?
Bad
O2 sensor
even though "new" I don't see how timing could come into this , you did not mess with that
I agree. My money is on that I damaged the plugs when trying to remove them. I'm taking it to a shop tomorrow as much as the DIY'er in me doesn't want to as to not cause any further damage and let a professional take it from here.
I believe you posted this on ******** also? And I suggested the plugs might be the issue?
UPDATE 2 : Car is back from the shop and running even better than before! I did indeed crack both the
spark plugs
in cylinders 1 & 2 (wish I kept them to show a few pics). Learned some tips from the guys at the shop about removing the plugs so hopefully will avoid this in the future. Thank you all for the comments and insights.
Can you share some of these tips for removing the plugs? I'm planning on doing this soon, so I figure it would help for me to know...
Make sure to start them by hand (no power tools) and that you are absolutely center to the
spark plug
so you avoid cross threading. If they are seized or stuck you need to almost work it back and forth between tightening and loosening to make sure it threads correctly. From now on I will probably change them every 30k miles too to make sure they don't get seized.
Cool thanks for the tips.
How many miles were on yours?
I've heard about the seizing issue on these cars... not sure why it happens, as I have always used a TINY dab of anti-seize in all my other cars with no issues, so I'm wondering if these are installed dry or there is some other issue at play?
Don't judge but around ~70k. Lesson learned. And when I was reading about
spark plugs
on these cars it sounds like Porsche recommends installing them without anti-seize. I guess there's something behind their philosophy that the anti-seize can be conductive which is why they recommend to install them dry and change every 30k miles.
No judgement - thanks for being honest!
Many manufacturers say not to use anti-seize, but I have always used a very tiny bit and never had a problem. Like you said, I think it's concern that the antiseize will get onto the ceramics on either end, and cause breakdown and poor performance. I think you just need to be careful... I've never had an issue in the past. As a DIYer, I take my time anyway, and try to make everything "perfect" anyway, so that probably helps too, haha!
