I was in a spirited driving mode a few days ago. I had been gunning the car for a few mins around town, got on the highway and decided to redline 2nd and 3rd. Got to 3rd gear and I got the flashing CEL light of doom "misfire" after CEL stayed on. The next day when I started the car to go to work, CEL was off. Gunned the car a few times, no cel. Then yesterday I redlined it twice, no blink. CEL is still off.

Car history:
New engine 12000 miles ago, new manifold intake along with new oem coils, NGK plugs and wires. I just cleaned my MAF 2 weeks back and replaced air filter. Also reset the ESS after. Oil is 600 miles old, and nothing but Castrol gtx 5w30 has been in there every 2k miles.

I have been running catless since the new engine, so that can't be an issue.

My question is: Is it POSSIBLE the coils were getting really hot on a summer day and one of them misfired because of overheating? The whole ignition kit, engine and intake manifold have 12k miles on them. It's practically new!

Anyways, I ordered a new set of coils plugs and wires from ebay just to be safe. Is it worth installing them? It cost me 300$ so its not the end of the world. I usually change them every year just to be safe.

But after reading the misfire sticky, it says that if you have a flashing CEL, something is def wrong. Could my reman engine be slowly crapping out already?

Inputs?

 

Yes, it's technically possible that it was a fluke. Here is what the OEM documentation has to say about misfire calculation:
It's not an exact science.

Largely you got the main points to worry about. The other possibilities: Bad gas had trouble igniting, momentary burp of oil into the intake interrupted the spark, intake temps jumped up higher than the ECU was expecting, etc...

Since you got the major things, anything left is going to be momentary in nature. Just keep an eye on it and if it shows back up then worry about digging for a cause.

Note: I wouldn't recommend this if you had any of the major common points unaddressed, but you do.

 

OP,

That's exactly what happened before my cat goes out, just fyi.
I've never had any misfire before that within my 8 years of ownership.

Just my 2 cents.

 

OP as in oil pressure or oil pump?

 

"original poster"

 

Hi all, if the CEL blinks, and that is usually a misfire, wouldn't there be a stored code even if it's not lit anymore?

 

No, misfires won't store a code when it's just blinking, typically. There may be a pending code, but it's going to P0300 (random misfire) P0301 (front rotor misfire) or P0302 (rear rotor misfire). Doesn't really tell you much with our engines since most causes of misfires aren't rotor dependent.

You can pull a mode 6 (i think that's the test) and get the misfire count since last reset though.

 

Thank you.

 

could be a fluke, but you would be wise to look at/clean the ESS and the coils/plugs wires.

or in other words, you should make sure its a fluke instead of assuming it was

 

a fluke

it can happen anytime

 

it always stores a pending code, P0300 most of the time.

if it's rotor specific, usually something is wrong with the coil,

if it's random, it's probably plugs AND coils or just a fluke,

usually I just take 2 leading plugs out to check, and test the coils with test tools(or just ask the owner if it has ever been changed, 90% of the time is ooh I never changed it for the past 50K ...

Mode 6 records is a list of whatever the PCM (ECU) sees for different sensors, like cat efficiency, etc.

but certain earlier model does not support this and will give u an error when u try to access it. and it looks like it's a JDM specific problem.

 

usually it's a sign of dirty intake/failing cat or ignition that is becoming weak.

if it was a failing fuel pump under a high load you would probably be on engine #3.