Cylinder 4 misfire question

[neroxix]

Hey guys, so I bought this car about a week ago with a 3yr powertrain warranty and I keep getting the cylinder 4 misfire error p0304, I have to wait a month before bringing it into the shop unfortunately, but was curious about this issue.
I have a bad solenoid was originally the vics (white solenoid) so I swapped the vics and vtsc solenoids because I read that the vics is far more important. I plan on ordering the new solenoid this Friday but wanted to know if my cylinder 4 is misfiring because I swapped out the solenoids.
Other info I may add is that it seems to be giving the code on cold starts. Not on the commute to work or the way back. Just on the first start up of the day. I will note that the plugs are also fine.
When that warranty kicks in, they will hate me.

 

[protege3690]

replace the plugs with NGK iridium plugs. gap them to 0.028-0.033 . if it continues then move onto swapping out the coils and wires. should be about $80 at autozone

 

[neroxix]

Thanks for the reply, I will be doing this on payday. Guess it is a known problem?

 

[protege3690]

not so much that its a problem. but if you bought the car from a dealer who "claims" they do a maint. run prior to sale. and if they did the spark plugs or if the spark plugs havent been done in quite some time from the previous owner. they may be fouled. plus a lot of people confuse the MSP spark plug gap with that of a regular protege which in the manual says to gap them at 0.044. which is wrong for the MSP and will develop misfires and sputter.

 

[neroxix]

Ahh I see. Yes I bought it from a dealer that claimed to do the maintenance, seems to me they only checked the fluids. :/
Thanks for clarifying the plug gap, I read debating articles on the gap probably due to the misunderstanding of the vehicles haha.

 

[protege3690]

yep, what mods have been done to the car? if u have questions feel free to ask. someone is always bound to chime in. these cars are fun, and quick around the turns. so dont be surprised that theyre not fast in the straight away. if its a daily. and want to make it a fun daily theres a few highly recommended mods. #1 a SSAFC then a wideband and boost gauge. followed by FMIC and a full exhaust and the car is a completely different machine.

 

[BOOSTR]

Forget about the Iridiums and get the NGK VPower stock no. 4291. Correct gap is range is 0.028 - 0.031.
Copper plugs do not last as long but perform better and only cost $1.99 at most parts stores. Laser Platinum Iridiums came with the car from the factory and cost a lot more.

 

[mazdaspeedp]

whatever you do dont get coil packs from the dealer ship. if anything check at a local scrap yard. P5 coils will work too as long as its a 2.0l

 

[thuzil]

Ditto on the vpower copper core plugs. Also dealership prices for a lot of protege parts are cheap because Mazda wants to get rid of their stock after the cars are 10years out of production.

 

[neroxix]

Thanks for the info on the coils. By the way my car is stock. I will head over to auto zone today and pick up some plugs. I see the SSAFC term being used a lot around here but don't know exactly what it is/means. Some kind of stand alone ecu?
Do they still make them? And how much are they going for? Also will I need this before FMIC and a CAI?
Sorry for the newb questions, the search feature is buggy on my phone. :/

 

[BOOSTR]

It all began as the DSM/AFC. Its sold by split second. Its an air fuel controller and not a stand alone. They still make them but most people buy them used. You do not need one to make any modifications to your car before or after. Keep it simple before throwing money at your car. Get it running right and confirm that you have a healthy engine before throwing money at things that you may not even need.

 

[hornsfan10609]

Every stock or close to stock MSP needs an AFC, IMO.

 

[neroxix]

Thanks for the info guys. That cleared up a lot of my questions. I will be shopping around for the AFC after the tune up and warranty check.
I'm using it as a Daily driver so I want it to be running healthy, I have no need for 10+ psi for the place that I live in. Stop light city haha. Anyone know the compression that this engine is supposed to be at?
Also I've read to be wary when ordering from protege garage. Any recommended site to buy the ssafc from? I'm planning on buying it new by the way. Also I read it is installed by tapping in to the computers wires. Any tips/advice for doing this install? What should I be worried about? Any known issues when installing the AFC? Sorry for the dumb questions, this is my first "tuner" car.

 

[hornsfan10609]

You can order the AFC directly from Split Second or CR3 motorsports sells them. To install you need to solder the wiring into the stock harness or buy a patch harness (~$275) and solder the wires into that. There are only 6-7 wires to solder IIRC. FSDE compression ratio is 9.0:1 but if you are looking for compression tester gauge readings they are all different it depends on the gauge. You are looking for consistency between the cylinders.

 

[neroxix]

Ok, I will be bringing it in to the shop for a couple days (hopefully this week) Noticed it was drinking oil like crazy, so yeah. Not a happy camper. (pissed) I'm pretty sure cylinder 4 is shot. I will get some of the info from the guys at the shop and let you know what they found.
If everything turns out well, after they fix whatever is wrong, I am planning on buying the SSAFC or a cold air intake soon after. The wife wants the cheaper part but I'm sure there is a reason why the SSAFC is $400. Im actually quite decent at soldering, but have never messed with an ECU in a car whatsoever. I was looking into some of the instructions and most of it looked like gibberish to me.
Couple of questions that I have are:
1. Do i NEED a wideband for the ssafc install?
2. Does it come pretuned? I saw maps on here but I think that was for the Unichip but I could be wrong.
3. How much deconstruction of the car will i need to do for the wiring and wire routing?
4. Will it save on gas mileage, and help the annoying kick that I've been getting while under low RPM boost? (Please say yes LOL)
5. Does anyone have any type of picture reference of the wiring or any type of guide?
6. Do i really need the datalogging SSAFC, because I am in no way a tuner
I know its a lot of questions, but I'm a total noob when it comes to tuning as this is my 2nd car. I will get the intake eventually just because i love the bov/bpv sound. But I think priorities come first, and that is to stop the hesitation, backfiring, and kicking. Thanks for the constant replies and thanks for reading.

 

[hornsfan10609]

1. installation does not require a WBO2 but tuning will and it is a good thing to have
2. It should come with the super stock map loaded unless you buy it used
3. You just have to pull the ECU which is on the passenger floorboard under the dash, pull the kick panel and door sill then pull back the carpet and remove 4 10mm nuts securing the kick plate and the ECU is attached to the back of that plate. Be careful the edges are super sharp.
4. It will run amazing when you are done, you won't believe how smooth it pulls. It runs how it is supposed to from the factory. Your MPG will likely stay the same
5. there is a thread on this site and an installation page included with the afc if you buy a new one. That same page is photocopied in the install thread on forum as well
6. The V2 with datalogging is the only unit currently in production, you don't have to use the feature if you don't want but it is good to have

 

[neroxix]

Thanks Hornsfan, that answered all of my questions. I saw one of the installation guides when I checked on my pc, but the pics were dead. I will be digging into it a little more once I put it on order. Thanks again for the quick replies and help.

the misfire: so i got it out the shop today and the issue was cylinder 4 coil driver circuit. It was an issue with the ecu, it apparently had a broken coil. So they repaired it, and my car is running 10x better now. So with that being said, the ssafc will most likely be getting ordered soon. So glad to get that check engine light off and stopped the sputtering. My wife wants me to research the wiring a little more for the AFC. Also did I read that it had a vacuum line? Or was that the unichip?
Thanks for all the help.