Yeah, I'm hoping it's just that...but I doubt it (I have really crappy luck with cars). I just ordered a set of MSD wires off Summit today, should be here in a couple days. Getting the new plugs tomorrow as well and we'll go from there if that doesn't solve anything.

 

im pretty certain its not the coil as it uses a waste spark type setup. and i would also think that it would be occuring all the time, not just intermittenly. there is a wire that needs repaired in the plug going to the coils, but that caused another code and would cause the car to stall. i am leaning more towards the lifter as there is a noticeable knocking noise for about 25 second after start up, its from the center of the engine, towards the rear. usually the code pops up shortly after the knocking stops. it used to only do it for about 5 second after start up, but has progressivly gotten longer, but is only for a few second after start up. and for some history, it has been overheated, possibly more than once.

 

I am trying to think how a lifter could cause that but the car not have just a dead miss. Even a completely collapsed lifter will open a valve enough to fire at idle. If the lobe was gone there would be no tick or tap. Just a dead miss.

Unless things have changed a lot with GMs direct ignition the coils pulls power from one side and fires out the other. If you get carbon tracking inside the coil itself this will cause random missfires. It will still pull the spark its the exit side that normally fails. The carbon tracking is normally cause by plugs and wires being left on too long and making the coil run at max volts just to keep the car running. Normally what happens is we replace the plugs and wires everyone is happy cause the car runs better. But the damage is already done to the coil. Think of it as cracks in the Dam. The dam may fail a year later but it will fail. Of course there is no way for me to be sure. The test is easy, 5-10 minutes? I am thinking you want to be real sure its not a coil or an injector before you pull the intake

 

well, ill give it a try. i was asking a few of the techs at work, and they said a collapsed lifter can cause that noise. one was in a 96 suburban, same code, but was a 350. they replaced the cam and lifters and it corrected the noise and code. if the plugs, wires and coil swap dont help, ill pull off that side valve cover and check the valve train over. that side gasket still needs to be replaced, so i might as well check that before pulling the intake

 

Wow, are you rude -- good luck getting help from anyone with your attitude.

 

^ The "text book" explanation actually has a ton of good information regarding the issue...takes 10, 15 minutes to read, gives a lot of good leads to solving the problem.

 

Liberty I hate you and your research crap that never helps. All you do is annoy people and most of the time, you get it wrong lol. I don't need all that technical crap to tell me how to troubleshoot a code. Why not just say it shortly and in terms people can understand?

It's probably an ignition coil. Swap coils around and see if the misfire moves with it

I will gladly help her. It's annoying when you post all that **** that doesn't help her at all.

 

1. That wasn't my only post, and you can lead a horse to water, but...
2. Rude is rude.
3. Those expecting things handed to them on a silver platter are always going to be disappointed.
4. As another said, the technical troubleshooting from GM ESI (or even AllData, or similar) is useful, if you are not completely lazy to read. It does help, and has helped me many times.
5. P0306 is covered under P0300, something she did not get. Blind eyes will not understand what is read.

 

...but the lake was dry. That long litany was primarily focused on searching for a Random misfire, when she clearly had a single cylinder misfire that was pinpointed by her error code.

 

Simply untrue. Read it again. It also addresses a single cylinder misfire, AND the blinking MIL.