P1340 please...Kids vacation at risk

I just bought a 2000 rodeo from a private party with 43000 miles on it. After driving for about 50 miles I decided to wash the car . The I also prayed the engine compartment(no detergents were sprayed on the engine. I washed the underside of the hood with soap and water). Shortly after that my check engine light came on but the car was running fine. I went to autozone and they hooked it up the the computer. Error code P1340. They told me it one of my plugs was misfiring. I bought a set of Splitfire platinumes, thinking these were the best available(I know, I fell victim to advertising) They did not have denso's, and also bought the actron autoscaning computer thing. I replaced the plugs (it had denso's) with the splitfires but the car seemed to be running a little bit rough. It is a slight change and could be just my imagination. I hooked up the computer and it gave me error codes P1340 and P0300. I don't know what exactly P1340 is(plugs?) but P0300 says "RANDOM/MULTIPLE CYLINDER MISFIRE DETECTED" I am cleaning out the denso's with sandpaper and will reinstall. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I was planning on driving it from Houston to Virginia on 12/17, this saturday. Kids are going to kill me if we have to cancel.

Thanks in advance.

Get the denso's back in there & your problems will go away. 2000+ 3.2/3.5's only run right on denso spark plugs.
G/luck
Joel

Here's denso plugs if you want new ones: http://www.sparkplugs.com/more_info.asp?AAIA=1363261&pid=9619

G/luck
Joel

Thanks, I've got the old one's almost completely clean. They look like there in pretty good shape so hopefully they'll work. Is there a way to isolate which plug might be bad if the check engine light does not go away. I have a just bought a actron ODBII autoscanner.

Maddhatter72

OBDII systems can pinpoint exaclty which cylinder is misfiring, PO301 is cyl 1 misfire, PO302 is #2, etc... Random/multiple misfire (PO300) is almost always the result of non-denso plugs in the 2000+. That P1340 code is "Camshaft Position Sensor B Circuit Malfunction" so maybe that just got wet?? Have not seen that one come in yet. I hose my engine(s) down all the time & never had a problem. Prolly just luck of the draw! Oh.. and if this truck is new to you, keep a CLOSE EYE on your oil level. Low oil level can sneak up on you QUICK on the 3.2/3.5 (1998+) You will spin a bearing very quickly with no warning on low oil. Try to do your oil changes yourself too. It's tough to trust most of the quicky-loob places.
G/luck
Joel

Yup, screw the old plugs in for now and all will be fine.

I changed mine at about 55k, and they still looked pretty good.

-Ryan

Thanks guys for responding. Put the old plugs back in after a thorough cleaning. Idles better and the P0300 code went away. Runs like normal. But after clearing the codes. The Check engine light and error code P1340 came back. Don't know what to do. Autozone is out of Denso plugs, with 1 week wait on ordering. Any ideas?

I doubt that this is in anyway shape or form related to your problem but here goes...my check engine light has come on in my Rodeo 2000 about three times. The dealer I called said it is usually a result of the gas cap not being put on tight enough. He did not even suggest putting it on a machine to check it at that time...who knows what the machine would have detected. Anyway every one of the three times the light has come on I pull over take my gas cap off and then put it back on and before long the light goes out. He also mentioned something about the light coming on if you take your battery cables off the post for any reason. Does this make any sense?!! It doesn't to me and I told him I hadn't done that so we didn't discuss the whys of that happening. I always think I have my gas cap on tight but now I wonder if sometimes I am not getting it threaded on just right. Who knows ....just an easy thing to try out. Good Luck, VJW ... I wonder if getting the battery post wet or something to do with the battery post/wires/cables getting wet would have had anything to do with your check engine light coming on? I doubt it but then I don't really understand why the dealer said the check engine light would come on if you remove your battery cables either....so who knows?

vjw,

Did your deal read the codes?

-Ryan

maddhatter- that P1340 code is not related to the spark plugs. Something is up with your camshaft position sensor. The CPS must have an intermittant weak signal condition, because if it didn't work at all, your truck would not run. To be honest, I'm not sure where this sensor is mounted on the 1998+ 3.2/3.5. I'm ASSuming it's on the driver's side cam sprocket, under the timing belt cover on that side, but I'm not certain. One or two of the years, I think 1996 or 1997 3.2's had the sensor clearly visible, sticking thru the timing belt cover. :confused:
g/luck
Joel

Thanks for all the great advice guys....especially rodeo02. You were a great help. Sorry about the delayed response. This is the first chance I've had to visit the forum.
I cleaned out the plugs and reinstalled them. cleared the codes and the car runs great but the code came back within a few minutes. I resigned myself to take it into the dealership today. But while I was driving it around late last night............about 20 miles after I reinstalled the plugs the check engine light went away. It has not been back since. I've driven it about 3 times today for about 45 miles total. Still no light. I think the computer must take a while to clear the codes out of memory even though I cleared it using the scanner. The trip is on. I called a dealer in Conroe and got a hold of a great service forman who had never heard of the code before but walked through the troubleshooting steps and said that it was the Ion sending unit that was sending the code but was most likely being caused by the plugs. I had not told him that the code went away last night. I then checked with another dealership and a very rude service secretary told me it was the plugs and hung up. Good enough for me. I'm a glass is half full type of guy. I will however monitor the car very closely. Especially the oil. Thanks for the heads up Rodeo02. I really hope the code doesn't come back.

One more question is load radiator fan noise normal on the Rodeo's?

Have a great day

Maddhatter72