Table of Contents
Overview
Driving is a joyful experience, and if you are passionate about driving, it can enlighten your mood on a bad day. So, anything which spoils the fun ride should be kept at bay. A car is a lovely machine that functions with a systematic effort of various parts. Those parts can cause great trouble.
The most important part is the engine that powers the whole body. It consists of various cylinders that form a vital part of it.
A cylinder is one of the most important parts of a car. Like this, while there are some problems with your cylinder, it will stop riding soon with only one or two signals.
Nobody wants to ride with a misfiring cylinder. It can be risky and life-threatening. A sudden cylinder mishap can result in a major accident or trouble.
Despite it being so risky, people do not pay attention to the signs of a misfiring cylinder. They keep driving their cars, putting themselves and their vehicles at a higher risk in the long term. That is why you must know what to do in case of a misfiring cylinder.
There can be a lot of occurrences while driving with a misfiring cylinder. Tons of questions may come in your mind. For instance, how safe is it to drive with a misfiring cylinder? Again, what are the reasons for the misfiring cylinder? At last, how can you fix a misfiring cylinder?
We will answer all your questions and queries. Just keep reading the whole article until the end. And, you will be able to know about a misfiring cylinder elaborately.
Therefore, you should be cautious whether your car’s cylinder is functioning appropriately or not. If it is not, know why this might be happening and ways to fix it.
What Is a Cylinder?
Nowadays, most car engines work on the principle of internal combustion.
Combustion is a process that provides power to the engine to push the vehicle in a forward direction. Since the combustion takes place inside the engine, it is the most important part of a modern car. Now, the engine is not a simple metallic box. Instead, it is a complex part that consists of various chambers called engine cylinders.
A cylinder is an integral part of the engine that helps it serve the primary purpose. The cylinders are nothing but chambers where the combustion of the fuel takes place. They consist of additional parts called pistons and valves. A typical engine cylinder will have a piston and two valves, namely the inlet and exhaust valves at its top.
Let us now understand how a typical cylinder works. We know that an engine has a set of cylinders and pistons to support the function. The engine uses these cylinders in four steps or four strokes in auto mechanical terms. The engine is subjected to four strokes: Intake, Compression, Power, and Exhaust.
It begins with the Intake stroke, where the piston moves inside the cylinder. Then the inlet valve opens, the fuel and air are mixed proportionately. Next, the Compression stroke comes into the role by compressing the fuel-air mixture to make it suitable for combustion. After that, the combustion occurs, causing a spark in the Power stroke stage.
Lastly, the outlet valve opens during the Exhaust stroke. It lets the piston back down and the exhaust gases out through the same outlet. When the combustion of the fuel-air mixture takes place in the chamber, it generates pressure that moves the piston up and down, which happens in strokes. As a result, the engine derives the necessary power from this oscillating motion.
The above process shows that these cylinders are crucial to generating horsepower inside the engine. They do so by directing the movement of pistons depending on when the fuel needs to be burnt. If your car has more cylinders, that signifies more power in the auto mechanical world.
Modern cars are available in various engine ranges such as 4, 6, or even 8-12 cylinder engines. These numbers simply indicate the number of combustion chambers in them. Moreover, we can find them in different arrangements. Car manufacturers may lay these cylinders in a flat layout, V shape, or straight line.
Engine Cylinder Misfire: What is it?
We identify an engine is misfiring when one or more cylinders fail to produce the required power. The misfiring can arise due to probable causes ranging from a faulty spark plug to a clogged fuel injector. So, as a responsible car owner, you must be aware of all the possible reasons.
There are a few other common signs which could help you identify whether the engine is misfiring. The common signs include:
- A relatively slow acceleration
- Shaky vibration while accelerating
- Engine losing its power briefly.
- The engine may vibrate more than normal and function unevenly.
- The misfires can even occur when the engine is warm or cooled down.
- If the misfiring occurs intermittently, that indicates you should consult your local mechanic.
Nowadays, modern cars come encased with a check engine indicator. So these misfires will make them light up in such cases. Also, since the misfires cause incomplete combustion in the cylinders, the engine cannot utilize the fuel properly.
As a result, some other common visible signs will also include reduced fuel economy and increased exhaust emissions. Therefore, each of those signs above would be a warning signal for you to check for a misfiring engine.
How to drive with a misfiring cylinder
However, this is not a simple task. First of all, you should check is to see whether the cylinder is reliable enough to be driven or not.
In general, maximum cars are able to drive up to fifty thousand miles having a misfiring cylinder. In doing so, your car has to be precisely manufactured. And, as your car can effortlessly be replaced by the air-cooled four-cylinder engines.
What’s more, a car can definitely run up including a misfiring cylinder while it is computer-controlled. Plus, it can settle your car on limp mode. In this case, it lessens your engine’s performance.
That is to say, you had better check the cylinder by a mechanic quickly before It’s too late.
Switch your ignition key on. After that, you should get the most uneven journey of your life at the time of driving with your misfiring cylinder.
How Safe Is It While Riding With A Misfiring Cylinder?
First of all, I must let you know that it is not safe at all to drive with a misfiring cylinder. If you do this, it may result in a serious defect to a car engine. In this way, the experts recommend that we should not drive having a misfiring cylinder. Okay then, you may ask, what are the causes of a misfiring cylinder?
The major causes of the problem are:
- Bad spark plugs.
- Imbalanced air.
- Fuel mixture.
- Clogged Fuel Filter
- Poor Engine Compression
- Vacuum Leaks
- Faulty Ignition System
- Improper Fuel Delivery
Understanding The Risk Of Running With A Misfiring Cylinder
As you know, a car cylinder is one of the most necessary factors of your car engine. And, the proper quantity of combustion is a must for providing the essential power to the car to run at a high speed. Depending on your car’s engine, it might be about 12 cylinders within it. Once any of the cylinders misfire, then it can affect the whole system.
Driving with a misfiring cylinder
As said earlier, riding with a misfiring cylinder can awfully affect the vehicle. Then the question may arise, how long can you drive with a misfiring cylinder?
Having more of your cylinders in poor condition, it’s not wise at all to drive far. Even, if you have only one misfiring cylinder, yet you can drive slightly more. But it is not wise to drive for a long distance, cause it may result in higher damage in your car.
That is to say, it can cause a crucial power loss in your vehicle. That means, when a car is having four cylinders and all are in good condition, then it should run with 100% power. When any one of the cylinders is damaged, after this the car’s power can drop by 25%.
How to Fix Misfiring Cylinder
Below the steps and procedures, by which you can diagnose and fix this problem.
Way 1: Pull Your Trouble Codes
The first thing you need to do is to pull the trouble codes. Many of the mechanics include code readers. In general, you can pull the codes for free by them. But, before that, let us know what a trouble code signifies.
A trouble code in the mechanical world is known as a DTC. It is short for Diagnostic Trouble Code. You can use this code to diagnose any malfunction in your car. The other heavy types of equipment also come with the same feature.
Modern cars have a check engine light, a MIL, or Malfunction Indicator Lamp. While the MIL tells you that there is an issue you need to pay attention to, a DTC focuses on identifying the location of the issue. So, if you pull your trouble codes, you can know about the engine misfire in time to fix it.
The DTC is also known as an engine fault code as it helps identify the engine faults like the misfiring cylinder issue. You can read the code with the help of a scanner plugged directly into the car’s port.
Whenever there’s a fault in your vehicle, for instance, a misfiring, the car’s OBD system generates the DT codes, wherein the OBD stands for On-Board Diagnostics. So, having a basic understanding of the codes will help you pull them at the right time.
The OBD of your car diagnoses the fault first and then displays the trouble codes through visible warnings to the driver. Such warning includes the check engine indicator.
The OBD is also responsible for permitting external devices that supplement the diagnostics. Those devices may include an OBD scanner that interacts with your car’s onboard computer system.
Presently you can find two major standards for reading the DTCs, namely, OBD2, which is best suited for light and medium-duty vehicles, and J1939 which is best suited for heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and movers.
The OBD 2 is the one under wide usage currently. But, various manufacturer-specific codes also exist. So, you must be aware of the same. Certain car manufacturers can create specific DTCs that augment their list of universal codes. So, depending on whether your vehicle demands it or not, you can use them.
However, these are usually specific codes that may be difficult to interpret without prior knowledge. Therefore, you may require the help of your mechanic or the code readers for the same. You will buy the trouble code readers at a reasonable price. Here are my recommended code reader from Amazon.
Way 2: See and Check the Codes
If you perform with a proper code reader, you will be able to know what your trouble code means. However, using the cheaper code readers, they will show you only a numerical code. Then, check-in Google to understand which code do you deal with. Following are the traditional codes for engine misfiring:
- P0300—Random misfire
- P0301, P0302, P0303, P0304—Various cylinder misfires
- P071—Air/Fuel Mixture lean
By knowing about the trouble codes, you will be able to understand, what should be your next focusing items.
Way 3: Test the Ignition
Your car engine cannot perform without an ignition system. A poor ignition system can be the cause of your engine misfire. Therefore, you must check the ignition system. The main function of an ignition system is to ignite the fuel mixture. In a petrol engine, the ignition system consists of spark plugs, an ignition coil, a high volt battery, etc.
The spark plugs are responsible for causing the sparks in the combustion chamber or cylinder that leads to the combustion. At the same time, the battery is present to supply the electric current needed to cause the spark. The ignition coil simultaneously plays the role of converting the battery’s initial voltage to a higher volt that can achieve the spark. You can check if the distributors and rotor caps in the ignition system require any replacements. Modern vehicles may require a spark plug replacement only
Once they reach 100,000 miles. Plug wires may Require a regular replacement. But that wouldn’t be a problem if your car had an individual coil-on-plug system. The scenario will change drastically once a significant amount of time has elapsed. You must keep in mind that, in most cases, an engine misfires happen for the ignition problem. Then, while the car is old enough and has a distributor, make an inspection on it first.
To replace your distributor cap, you don’t need to cost that much.
While having a modern car with ignition coils, you will be able to detect a misfiring cylinder simply. Turn on the engine and then try to listen to how it whistles. After that, of your engine.
Start again the engine.
Now, you will listen to a unique variation in its sound. Provided that, there is no difference in sound. Then, there are misfiring cylinders.
If you get a dead cylinder, then again use the ignition with a different cylinder. Meanwhile, perform this test again. If this happens, then your ignition is effecting the misfire. You should replace the ignition.
Moreover, there may be problems with spark plugs. Just switch the spark plugs in between two cylinders. If there are some issues, all you have to do is just replace the spark plugs.
Way 4: Test whether there are Intake Vacuum Leaks
This is an easy system. At first, begin by opening the engine. After that, pull a can of starter fluid.
Next, spread it around the intake manifold gasket. While you get a leak, you can listen to the engine’s rev.
If you can’t do it properly, then go for a car mechanic.
Way 5: Test the Compression
In this phase, you will need a tool. Do you have this kit? If you do not, take one as per your requirements from Amazon.
Regardless of your car’s fuel type, all engines, whether they work on gasoline or diesel, require compression for optimum operation. In the engine compression process, the mixture of fuel and air is subjected and pressed into a small volume within the cylinder’s area.
That squeezes the fuel molecules under high pressure, which is the basic step to complete combustion. If your vehicle operates on a gasoline fuel-type engine, it may require only a relatively moderate compression to work optimally. The requirement usually ranges from 140-160 psi/pounds per square inch. However,
your car may require high compression of more than 220 psi if it is what the application demands from the vehicle. So, you can get the very compression factor from your manufacturer.
Engine compression is the main process that drives the car. The fuel-air mixture gets ignited for combustion inside the cylinders to generate the needed horsepower. So, a malfunctioned compression can cause an engine misfire too.
In gasoline engines, if the compression goes beyond the safe limit, it can damage the internal parts of the cylinders. Such a scenario can be dangerous and is called a pre-ignition event or detonation.
On the other hand, diesel engines do not work on spark plug ignition. Instead, they require the compression itself to ignite the oil. As a result, we find the diesel engines larger and louder than petrol engines. They may usually require an engine compression of more than 350 psi.
Checking your engine’s compression is important to avoid a misfiring engine. Generally, if the engine operates roughly and cannot generate the optimum power, it is time to check for faults in its compression.
According to various technicians, mechanics, and car manufacturers, whenever you tune up your car as part of its routine maintenance, it is recommendable to subject the engine to a compression test.
By doing so, we can detect any internal malfunctions, cylinder failures, misfires, excess carbon accumulation, etc., at the earliest stages. Getting aware of those will help the owner to avoid irreparable damage.
If you ask me to suggest, I would recommend using the Innova 3612 from Amazon. Check it in a while. You first need to remove the spark plugin in your dead cylinder to check the same. Then, plop the sock from the compression tester into the spark plug gap. After that, open the ignition source as the motor can’t fire when performing this test.
You have to put the key in the ignition for 5 seconds. See what’s the pressure reading. After that, keep some motor oil in the spark plug hole. Then again, insert the compression tool. Plus, handle your ignition as well. Record again. Again, replay the steps above with different cylinders.
Way 6: Test Fuel Delivery
The fuel delivery system is an important aspect of the engine’s function. It is a system that consists of various components responsible for supplying the engine with fuel. Hence by checking the fuel delivery system, you can fix a misfiring problem as it could be what’s causing it.
The elements of a fuel delivery system include the fuel tank, fuel filters which could be more than one in number, a fuel pump, and the fuel injectors. Before getting to the testing ways, let us first know about the fuel delivery and its components in detail.
The Basic Injection System
If your car operates on a modern petrol engine, it may
use the indirect injection system. In such a system, the fuel is sent by a special pump. The fuel is transported from the tank to the engine under pressure and distributed to the cylinders individually.
You can find certain cars with a multi-point fuel injection system as well. Depending on the variant, a separate injector feeds one or both cylinders in such systems. The traditional technology utilized a carburetor to control the air and fuel mixture instead of an injection system. That was imperfect in delivering the fuel effectively.
One of the main drawbacks of the carburetor systems was that they could not deliver each cylinder with a precise uniform amount of the fuel mixture. The main reason was the distance from the cylinders, so a twin-carburetor system was introduced to resolve the problem. But they also failed due to their difficult tuning.
The engines now mostly use a fuel injection system that delivers a precise quantum of bursts. Such engines are more efficient due to fuel conservation, and they are powerful because of the uniform busts.
Also, they are more economical and contribute towards a less poisonous emission. The fuel injection ensures a fine mist of fuel that works similarly to a spray. The fuel gets combined with air in a petrol engine while the injector transports it through the inlet manifold.
Diesel Fuel Injection System
In a petrol fuel injection, the inlet manifold comes into play. The injection takes place indirectly there. However, on the other hand, diesel engines use a direct injection system which allows the fuel to enter directly into the combustion chamber or the cylinder. Instead of getting mixed with air before entering the chamber, the fuel is injected into the chamber that already has compressed air in it.
However, some diesel engine variants also utilize a direct injection. The fuel is passed through a narrow passage to enter a pre-combustion chamber in those engines. After that, the heated air is drawn by the compression that self-ignites the fuel injected as a spray.
The Injectors
The fuel injectors responsible for spraying the fuel are usually seen screwed with their nozzles first. It can be directed either into the inlet manifold as in the petrol engine or the cylinder head. They are aligned to an angle that only allows them to spray the fuel towards the inlet valve.
Modern manufacturers offer two types of injection systems; a continuous injection system and a timed injection system. The continuous injection system squirts the fuel into the inlet port whenever the engine operates. It functions as a spray nozzle wherein a mechanical or electrical control unit can regulate the fuel amount.
On the other hand, the pulsed injection system delivers the fuel in bursts. It does so to make sure that bursts coincide with the cylinder’s induction stroke. You can also control the timed or pulsed injection through a mechanical or electrical unit.
Fuel Filter
The fuel filters filter the fuel entering the fuel injectors through the fuel pump. Therefore, a clogged filter can cause a malfunction in the entire fuel delivery system. If your car operates with a clogged fuel filter, it can cause the engine to receive a reduced fuel pressure. That can most significantly block the fuel injector.
Once it’s about fuel-related misfires, if there’s a fuel pressure case, then you should test the fuel regulator. Ensure that nothing is clogging up your fuel filter(s). Overall, ensure that the fuel pump is operating appropriately.
Nonetheless, while there are issues with the cylinders, there may be a bad injector for the reason mentioned above. Firstly, ensure there is power to the injector. Turning on the ignition, perform the process with a voltmeter. When there’s the power to your injector, do it just as you did for your ignition coils and spark plugs. Shift your injector with a different cylinder. Check whether there is a misfire in your new cylinder or not. If there is a bad injector, then just replace the injector.
FAQs
Is fixing a cylinder misfire Costly?
The total cost of fixing a cylinder misfire will depend on the problem that caused a misfire. It will be inexpensive if it occurs due to a small issue like a faulty spark plug. However, the misfiring cylinder can cause additional damage to other parts if not fixed soon, increasing the overall costs. However, if you want to diagnose the root cause on average, a mechanic may charge you $100 to $200.
How long can you drive with a misfire?
Though driving with a misfiring cylinder is not recommendable, you can ride without some serious damage depending on the cause. If the cause behind the misfire is minor, you can drive for a longer period, or else you need to stop right away.
What are the common causes of a cylinder misfire?
The cylinder of your engine can misfire due to t various reasons. But the most commonly occurring causes include
- Inadequate Engine Compression
- Vacuum Leaks
- Defective Ignition System
- Inappropriate Fuel Delivery
Conclusion
The best decision would be to fix the misfiring problem as soon as possible. If you find any of the symptoms mentioned above in your car that indicates the possibility of a misfire, you must consult a mechanic. Though some of the diagnostics can be done by you, it is recommendable to take the help of an expert. Moreover, you should avoid driving a car with a misfiring cylinder till it’s fixed. It would help avoid serious engine failure.
