Cylinder 3 Misfire...

[Kaldonis]

Alright so this morning on my way home my car started running very rough and threw a CEL. When I checked it at home it was P0303, Cylinder 3 misfire. I have an idea what caused the problem, but I am not sure how likely it is. In the week prior I had noticed my steering become stiff so I checked the power steering fluid and sure enough it was almost empty so I filled it back up. When I opened the hood today to check on my new problem, the power steering fluid was almost empty again, and it was quite obvious that there had been some fluid spraying around the reservoir. There is a small plug near my power steering pump which was fairly soaked with fluid and I notice this plug leads up to my spark plug wires etc. I unplugged it and dried it up a bit before plugging it back in, but the problem persists. Who knows what else the fluid could have got in to...

I was hoping you guys may have some alternate ideas of what I should be looking for... I recently installed an AFC v2, how likely is it that to be the source of the problem? Also, which cylinder is number 3? i.e. do I count from the left or the right?

My other dilemma is that the car is under extended warranty (just powertrain), but I don't want to take it to the dealer if the cause of the problem was my AFC install because obviously they will want me to pay for it.

Here's a picture of the plug I was referring to at the start of my post:
http://members.shaw.ca/jrans/fluidleak.jpg

[BaD_HeX]

I think what you circled is the connector to the Power Steering Pressure Switch. This part watches the pressure in your PSP and causes the car to increase its RPMs at idle when it detects above normal pressure. You will also get a CEL if this switch isn't working correctly. If the fluid is coming out of that part it's fairly easy to replace it.

My guess from the fluid all over the car, is that the seal around the shaft of the pump is leaking and it is getting on the belts. This will cover pretty much the entire passenger side of your engine bay. Rebuilt pumps usually come with everything but the pulley (it is a pita to get the old pully off the old pump, gl)

Cylinder 3 misfire is probably not related. When is the last time you changed your spark plugs/wires?

[Kaldonis]

Cylinder 3 misfire is probably not related. When is the last time you changed your spark plugs/wires?

Well that's somewhat reassuring... And I've never changed the plugs/wires but I've only owned the car for 7000 miles or so. I'll have a look at the plugs today.

[B1GHAM]

agreed - pull the plugs and take a look... how many miles are on the car as it stands?

at some point (soon) I would also fix the PSP and clean the fluid off of the frame of the vehicle. also once clean you should be able to track down the leak - hopefully it ISNT from the seal @ the pump but if fluid is reaching where youre pointing to I wouldnt have my hopes up.

[MX5RACER]

I had an issue with a coil pack going bad and throwing a similar code. I ended up replacing the coil packs with new units from Autozone at $17.44 a piece. Not bad, I am also going to replace the wires shortly as well.

[Kaldonis]

agreed - pull the plugs and take a look... how many miles are on the car as it stands?

Just shy of 96000km (60k miles)... which means it's due for some regular service anyways. I was about to have the 96000km service done (not doing it myself for warranty reasons) so I think I'll wait and see if the issue clears up after the service is done and the plugs etc are replaced.

[Kaldonis]

So I am starting to think about what I will do if my misfire problem isn't solved by replacement of the spark plugs/wires... Since my car is covered under extended powertrain warranty, at what point would this misfire problem actually become covered? Obviously if it's just a spark plug and I took it into the dealer they would replace the plugs and charge me because it's just a wear and tear item... same goes for the plug wires I am guessing. So would it be covered if it was a coil pack? Basically I just want to know how far to go with trying to solve the problem myself before taking it in and trying to claim it under warranty.

Also I want to ask again... is there any chance this is related to my AFC install / ECU wiring? The car ran like a champ for 3 weeks or more after the install so I would like to think it's not related, but the last thing I want is to have the dealer checking my ECU wiring to find out that I've been in there messing around.