random misfire #2 cylinder, 97 Lumina

[redcar]

Hello, I've been reading this site trying to figure out my problem. 97 Lumina with SES light on, Auto zone read as random misfire #2 cylinder. Changed plugs, wires,#2/5 coil, no change to SES light. Jiffy Lube Injection System cleaning yesturday, and finally SES light went out. Today it came back on. Any ideas would be GREATLY APPRECIATED. Thank You, in advance, great site!

[jeffcoslacker]

Random thought. I have a '97, light came on a couple of years ago, with no apparant loss of performance. It stayed on for probably six months before my wife got a different car and I started driving the Lumina full-time.

One day, on open highway, I cranked her up to 85-90 mph for a few miles, and the light went out. It stayed out for several months, then reappeared. I repeated the drill, went out for a good hard flog, and after a couple of miles, light went out. This happened a couple more times, and each time the hard run cleared it, becoming less and less frequent, now it hasn't happened for some time. I always suspected it might be a code like yours, caused by injector fouling, but never had it read.

The wife's ZX2 started idling rough and SES came on a couple of months ago, So I tried it on that one. I didn't even get to the bottom of the entrance ramp, WOT, before the light went out. Hit the next exit, came to stop, idle is perfect.

The old "get it out and blow the carbon out" wisdom still has some merit, it seems. I think sometimes they just spend too much time in heavy traffic, and stop and go driving for things to clear out. Injectors and Catalytic convertors, O2 sensors and other things need to be run full flow and hot to burn off deposits, is my theory. At least, that's what I tell the cops.

[lpthree3]

about a month ago i came across the same thing. #2 cylinder misfire code. pepboys checked my car out and said they could not find anything worng. my light has been turning on and off form about 2 months now.

[Lumina man]

Had the same problem last year. Changed plug (twice), wires, coil and ignition pc board. Same problem. Finally convinced mechanic to change the #2 cylinder fuel injector. Problem Solved!!!

[smither]

I agree with the other guys that it could very well be the fuel injectors. I had the same problem with mine. I have a 97 with a 3.1. If you have the same set up as me(aluminum fuel rail,) in order to get to one injector you can just as easily get to them all. I took all mine out and took them to NAPA to have them checked and cleaned, and that took care of the problem. It caust me about 180.00 to have them all serviced. It costs about 1/2 that much for one new one. So, in my case I feel I did pretty good having them all done.I ran into problems getting things back together, but got some good advice here at the forum. If you check the archive you'll see a thread on fuel injectors, if you read that with the reply's it might help.

[redcar]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I'm going to try a servicing of the #2 injector at NAPA. The SES goes on and off every couple of days, and I can feel the miss sometimes while driving. I'll be reading up on removing this injector. I'm hoping its not as big a job as removing the rear plugs and wires. Thanks Again for the help.

[tblake]

The intake plenum has to come off, as well as all six injectors, and fuel rail. They are kind of a bitch to get out, and can be even worse to get back in. I've read someone used vaseline on this forum to grease the o rings on the injectors before they put them back in. Just a though. And since all six have to come out to get at one, you may as well replace all six o rings to avoid a vaccuum leak, and get all 6 injectors cleaned to avoid having this problem again. Good luck