So I took the truck up to Autozone and they ran it on their diagnosis thing and came back with a " Cylinder 3 Misfire"

I have read that it could be spark plugs wires or injectors...

What my truck is doing is when I press the gas it sputters (for lack of better words) and loses power ... not completely but just lose of acceleration

Any idea what this could be?

Has this happened to anyone else?

 

check your plugs and wires then clean out your maf sensor. if problem is still there do a leak test on all vac lines, upper and lower intake manifolds with a can or carb or throttle body cleaner. if engine revs youve found your leak. good luck.

 

Same thing happens to me! Cylinder 3 misfire. Dealership i work at said i need a new coil pack and plugs and wires...

 

the EXACT same thing happened to me. it read cylinder 3 misfire, I changed the plugs and wires and that did not help (it was the first time i changed them and my mileage was about 90,000). my truck would sputter and run terrible for a week and then another week goes by and its perfect and then it would get bad again

I think it was bad gas, water in my tank. i had numerous mechanics check it out and because of the inconsistency of the sputtering, they thought it was bad gas. I went to buy some gas tank water remover from advanced (use 1 per tank) and after adding one to every tank for the next 5-6 tanks the problem had finally gone away, give it a try, good luck and let us know.

good luck

 

I changed my plugs and wires the other day due to the same thing, but mine was cyl 4. Time for new plugs a wires more then likely. How many miles? If its over 80k thats probably it. 2/6 of my plugs were completely toast and out of the 4 only 1 was decent still.

 

Well my problem is whoever had my truck at 100,000 miles didn't change the plugs and wires. So 160,000 with original plugs and wires, I'm pretty sure that's my problem. I use the fuel additives every once and a while and it still seems to do it...

 

if you are going to try and get the water out you need to do it practically every fill up until its gone it took me about 5-6 full tanks before it finally all went away. Dont just get fuel additives and use them whenever you feel like it, you need to get gas line antifreeze/ water remover like this Heet 28201 Antifreeze/Water Remover ,thats what i used. it was not a fast fix i could not really tell until the third tank or so but finally it all went away. I would buy like 3 or 4 at a time and just keep them in my truck so i could always use them consecutively.

 

2005 Ranger 3.0

My check engine light comes on if I let it idle with the A/C on. PO303 and PO316
I replaced plug wires, plugs, coil pack, #3 injector, fuel filter and pump unit and checked injector wiring with noid lights, I also bought the kit to clean MAF sensor and throttle body.
I really thought the pump replacement had fixed it because it starts easier but I drove it 30 miles after replacing the fuel pump and filter and stopped and let it idle with the A/C on and the check engine light came on. It runs great on the highway but it has a somewhat rough idle.
What do I replace now? O2 sensors??

 

I know its a older thread but if researching issues and this pops up its good to see what the results were from the posters??
fixed?
sold?
crushed?
gave away?
still sitting in the back yard not fixed?
so many questions and no answers....

MAYBE........

Not saying it couldn't happen,
BUT
I do not think water in the tank would affect just the one cylinder?
also they should be looking for a leak in head gasket or the intake?
remove all the plugs when doing compression tests and compare each to the other cylinders, if one is leaking it could give false reading from adjacent cylinder giving the compression reading.
also could do smoke test for vacuum leaks.
if only one cylinder and it is worse during cold warm up and not as bad when warm I am going to lean towards a intake/head gasket. (it does not have to show water in oil or oil in the water for proof could leak and blow straight out tail pipe)

just a second opinion as ill be doing mine next mis-fire in cylinder# 3
as I am hoping its plug, or wire not sure its coil pack as I get good spark from there.

fingers crossed

 

I bought a leak down tester and have done 2 tests on cylinder # 3 and the results were great.
I changed coils again and it goes a lot longer without a P0303.
I have a Motorcraft Coil Pack ordered and it should be here mid week.
I have bought 3 aftermarket ( probably Chinese ) coil packs. 2 from Amazon and 1 from eBay. The eBay coil is better.
I am going to try a Motorcraft and see if it makes a difference.
So far I have done the following:
New crankshaft position sensor
New injector for # 3
New Autolite Irriduim plugs
New wires
New PCV valve
New plenum and throttle body gaskets
New Cat sensors
New Fuel Pump
New Fuel Filter
Cleaned camshaft sensor
Smoke tested
Compression tested
Leak down tested
Checked injector wiring with noid light
Swapped injectors
Swapped plugs
Swapped wires
Cleaned MAF
Separated Catalytic convertor from exhaust pipe to see if cat was clogged – still got a p0303
Put seafoam in gas tank
If it still runs bad after the new coil pack I am going to pull the intake and look for leaks in the gasket.

 

so finally had weather and a chance to dig into my mis-fire issue with cylinder #3
so........
I did the water spray bottle trick on intake and exhaust gasket areas, tell tale showed good (no breaks leaking from outside gaskets).
I did the brake cleaner trick around all vacuum areas, tell tale showed good (no leaks).
I bought new motorcraft coil pack (seller said new HA!!!) ports# 1 and 5 no output put old one back in.
I bought new motorcraft plug wires (seller said new HA!!!) wires# 4, 5, and 6 no output would not OHM out put old ones back on.
I bought new spark plugs (seller said new YIPPIE THERE NEW!!!)
found the ceramic on plug #3 (the mis-fire cylinder) was broke in half, replace old one hooked everything back up,

running like old new.

hope someone else has the luck (not the luck of bad new parts) of finding it to be a simple spark plug replacement

 

Thanks for sharing your solution, glad you got it running right again!

 

of course check plugs and wires. Also check your oil to see if there is gas in it. If there is gas check your injector for cylinder 3. More than likely this is a combination problem with bad spark on and your upstream O2 sensor. They are bad about heater circuits going out slowly. Does a change in outside temperature make it sputter any more or less? Cooler temps it should sputter less and warmer temps should sputter more if its the 02 sensor heater circuit. I have seen this happen a few times. Please post and let us know your results
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hello from 2024, I have a 2004 ford ranger with the exact same issue, unknown if anyone will see this but I’m wondering what your solution was?

 

My number 3 cylinder misfire was a wore out camshaft synchronizer .
I pulled it out and it had a lot of play so I replaced it with an aftermarket one and it lasted a few months and it started misfiring again so I bought a Motorcraft camshaft synchronizer and it is still working.
I Replaced EVERYTHING , coil pack, wires, injectors, crank position sensor, and I spent a lot of money and it was the camshaft synchronizer.