TheNicestGuy24
New member
I am going to provide as much information as possible so this may be a bit long, sorry in advance.
The 4Runner isn't driven a lot in the last couple of years, mostly sits. However, it does get used every couple of months (sometimes 500 miles round trip on a weekend outing), if nothing else but moved around the driveway / yard.
I purchased runner with 2K miles on it, did every single scheduled maintenance (including all suggested replacement parts, including cleaning the fuel system at one of those) at the Toyota dealership up to 120K miles. I did the 130K and 140K maintenance myself at home. It currently has just over 140K on it.
I did call my Toyota dealership and confirm that the spark plugs were changed out during the 120K maintenance that they performed (or so they claim).
I needed to use it for hauling something in the back and left the house, within a mile I notice some shuttering (shaking) as I was driving, and originally I thought it was from the road, but definitely wasn't.
Immediately turned around and came home, still no lights on dash.
So I ran it for a bit in the yard idling and could definitely tell that it was running a little rough idle. So after couple of minutes, Check engine comes on (along with Trac off of course). I run a code reader on it and get a total of 3:
P0303 - Misfire in #3
P0303 ps - misfire in #3
P0303 pd - misfire in #3
(does anyone know what the PS and PD mean? I couldn't seem to find an answer)
After doing a lot of research, the first thing I did was crank the runner and then remove the #3 wire to the ignition coil to see if the engine would dip or change sound, to prove if there was no spark at all from #3. I also did the same thing to #5 wire to the coil as a comparison. I did this 3 times each to #3 and #5. Noticed that each time, the engine dipped in sound, so it seemed to be getting something from #3, even though it shows to be misfiring.
This produces 6 new codes in addition to the original 3 for a total of 9:
P0353 - Ignition Coil C (#3) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0353 ps - Ignition Coil C (#3) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0353 pd - Ignition Coil C (#3) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0355 - Ignition Coil E (#5) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0355 ps - Ignition Coil E (#5) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0355 pd - Ignition Coil E (#5) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
Next, I labeled #3 and #5 coil as to keep track of which is which and then I swapped #3 and #5 coil to see if the misfire moved to #5. Before cranking, I cleared the codes by removing the negative battery cable for around 10 mins. Crank the runner and in about 45 seconds, the check engine light comes back on. Same 9 codes as stated above.
I then decided to ohm out each terminal using all possible combinations on #3 and #5 coil and all readings were very close to each other. I can post those readings later if needed.
I then decide to take both the coil and the plug from #3 and swap them with #1 to see if the misfire follows. I clear the codes via removing negative battery terminal. Crank the vehicle and then get 4 codes:
P0301 - Misfire in Cylinder 1
P0303 - Misfire in Cylinder 3
P0353 - Ignition Coil C (#3) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0355 - Ignition Coil E (#5) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
At this point I decided that it was time to leave the plugs as is, where the #1 plug is in #3 and the #3 plug is in #1, but swap the 2 coils back to their original spots, where #3 coil is back to #3 and #1 is back to #1. The thought process was that if #1 is still misfiring after this move, I have a bad plug. This time, instead of pulling the negative cable, I erased the codes with my reader. After running for 5 or so minutes, I still get no engine light, however it is still not idling right. I decide to take it down the road a piece, got maybe half a mile and the shuttering happened again, turned back home. I let it idle for another 5 or so minutes, still no check engine light.
However, when I try to read the codes, even with no check engine light on, it reports back 3 codes still:
P0303 ps - Misfire in #3
P0353 ps - Ignition Coil C (#3) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0355 ps - Ignition Coil E (#5) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
I have 2 questions:
1.) The P0353 and P0355 codes never showed until I unplugged the coils while it was running and now they don't want to seem to disappear. Is there something special to clear these codes out as opposed to what I am doing? Or are these codes legit since they always read them from the tool or is possibly this a sign that my ECM is going bad?
2.) Any ideas why the problem still exist (rough idle, shutter when driving) yet I can't seem to get the check engine light to come back on?
Thanks in advance for any help or insight that anyone can give.
The 4Runner isn't driven a lot in the last couple of years, mostly sits. However, it does get used every couple of months (sometimes 500 miles round trip on a weekend outing), if nothing else but moved around the driveway / yard.
I purchased runner with 2K miles on it, did every single scheduled maintenance (including all suggested replacement parts, including cleaning the fuel system at one of those) at the Toyota dealership up to 120K miles. I did the 130K and 140K maintenance myself at home. It currently has just over 140K on it.
I did call my Toyota dealership and confirm that the spark plugs were changed out during the 120K maintenance that they performed (or so they claim).
I needed to use it for hauling something in the back and left the house, within a mile I notice some shuttering (shaking) as I was driving, and originally I thought it was from the road, but definitely wasn't.
Immediately turned around and came home, still no lights on dash.
So I ran it for a bit in the yard idling and could definitely tell that it was running a little rough idle. So after couple of minutes, Check engine comes on (along with Trac off of course). I run a code reader on it and get a total of 3:
P0303 - Misfire in #3
P0303 ps - misfire in #3
P0303 pd - misfire in #3
(does anyone know what the PS and PD mean? I couldn't seem to find an answer)
After doing a lot of research, the first thing I did was crank the runner and then remove the #3 wire to the ignition coil to see if the engine would dip or change sound, to prove if there was no spark at all from #3. I also did the same thing to #5 wire to the coil as a comparison. I did this 3 times each to #3 and #5. Noticed that each time, the engine dipped in sound, so it seemed to be getting something from #3, even though it shows to be misfiring.
This produces 6 new codes in addition to the original 3 for a total of 9:
P0353 - Ignition Coil C (#3) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0353 ps - Ignition Coil C (#3) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0353 pd - Ignition Coil C (#3) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0355 - Ignition Coil E (#5) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0355 ps - Ignition Coil E (#5) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0355 pd - Ignition Coil E (#5) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
Next, I labeled #3 and #5 coil as to keep track of which is which and then I swapped #3 and #5 coil to see if the misfire moved to #5. Before cranking, I cleared the codes by removing the negative battery cable for around 10 mins. Crank the runner and in about 45 seconds, the check engine light comes back on. Same 9 codes as stated above.
I then decided to ohm out each terminal using all possible combinations on #3 and #5 coil and all readings were very close to each other. I can post those readings later if needed.
I then decide to take both the coil and the plug from #3 and swap them with #1 to see if the misfire follows. I clear the codes via removing negative battery terminal. Crank the vehicle and then get 4 codes:
P0301 - Misfire in Cylinder 1
P0303 - Misfire in Cylinder 3
P0353 - Ignition Coil C (#3) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0355 - Ignition Coil E (#5) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
At this point I decided that it was time to leave the plugs as is, where the #1 plug is in #3 and the #3 plug is in #1, but swap the 2 coils back to their original spots, where #3 coil is back to #3 and #1 is back to #1. The thought process was that if #1 is still misfiring after this move, I have a bad plug. This time, instead of pulling the negative cable, I erased the codes with my reader. After running for 5 or so minutes, I still get no engine light, however it is still not idling right. I decide to take it down the road a piece, got maybe half a mile and the shuttering happened again, turned back home. I let it idle for another 5 or so minutes, still no check engine light.
However, when I try to read the codes, even with no check engine light on, it reports back 3 codes still:
P0303 ps - Misfire in #3
P0353 ps - Ignition Coil C (#3) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
P0355 ps - Ignition Coil E (#5) Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction
I have 2 questions:
1.) The P0353 and P0355 codes never showed until I unplugged the coils while it was running and now they don't want to seem to disappear. Is there something special to clear these codes out as opposed to what I am doing? Or are these codes legit since they always read them from the tool or is possibly this a sign that my ECM is going bad?
2.) Any ideas why the problem still exist (rough idle, shutter when driving) yet I can't seem to get the check engine light to come back on?
Thanks in advance for any help or insight that anyone can give.
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