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P0304 on a 2002 Chevy S-10

Model: 2002 Chevy S-10 Fault Code: P0304 Posted: 2012-05-05 15:25

Ok, (today is sat 5/5/2012 apx 5:00pm) So I have a 2002 Chevy S-10 with apx 47000 miles its an automatic 4x4 with a 4.3L (whatever the stock chevy V6 is,... its the 350 that is missing 2 cylinders).... so I am getting this misfire only on cylinder # 4 I have recently had some work done on the truck... i will try to give approximate time frames back in january i replaced the Mass Air Flow Sensor.... (that was due to a code that called for MAF reading was high and low and erratic) then in mid february i replaced the plugs and wires... in march i replaced the cap and rotor after all that the truck was running good.... but i went to get it inspected and pulled a code P1345 on the way there, that said camshaft to crank shaft position correlation fault) so i canged the Crank position Sensor i changed the camshaft position sensor... turned out it need a new distributor, the teeth were all chewed up on the gear..... (the truck was running 20deg out of time r**ard at about 1000-1200 RPM) the truck sounded like a champ no one would know it was that bad by listening to it... white the mechanic was test driving for that the P0304 came up (misfire on cyl 4) so they ran a misfire screen on my truck and cyl 1 was showing maybe 10-20 misfires per 1000 and cyl 4 was showing like 50-80 misifres per thousand so they pulled plugs for 1 and 4 and told me the bosch split fires that i put in there were not really recommended for that truck so they put in some AC Delcos .... still showing p0304 I have the truck inspected now but the code keeps coming up..... i have changed sparkplugs (just switched which cylinders to see if the misfire would move to a diff cyl to indicate a bad plug) i have changed the plug wires (just like i did with the plugs) still no change i noticed i used a lot of dielectric grease on the wires so i cleaned all that out and still get a miss on cyl 4 here is the big kicker sometimes the SES light will go out but i can scan it with my scan tool and it still shows a "Trouble Code" this scanner has both pending codes and trouble codes... i was under the impression that a pending code will come up when the vehicle detects something once.... a trouble code will come up when it detects it 3 times in a certian amount of time and if a trouble code comes up then the SES light would then automatically illuminate why is this doing this? if my cat was plugged then i would have a miss on more then just one cyl right?? could it be my PCM? how do i test that? how hard is it to change? I want to drive the truck over a cliff.... any suggestions

Related fault codes
P0304
Comments (18)
Anonymous 2012-05-06 07:45

Just because the SES light goes out, the code(s) are not immediately erased from the memory...otherwise your description is correct. Put a noid light on Cyl. #4 and see if it blinks. Swap the injector with another cylinder and see if the code moves. Perform a leak-down test on that bank.

Anonymous 2012-05-07 03:26

I am not entirely knowledgeable about cars... i know enought to change my own oil and brakes.... my father used to be a mechanic and is getting tired of helping me all the time... a noid light ( i assume is a timing light?) what is a leak down test...? how do i change/swap an injector? thanks for the help so far

Anonymous 2012-05-07 06:51

A noid light (not a timing light) fits between the electrical connector and the injector...if it blinks when the engine is turned over, the injector is receiving the signal. A leak-down tester is similar (but different) to a compression tester. Discover more truck 2500 RAM Cadillac I assume you do not have access to these tools (including a manual), your best bet would either sweet-talk your Dad or take it to a pro.

Anonymous 2012-05-08 10:08

hey Mohawkmtrs, Thank you for taking the time and paitience to answer my questions. I am not sure how soon I will get to take this to a garage, (my father does not have any of these tools nor do I) with all the unknowns in this situation how harmful will it be to just keep driving the truck for a few months (as i will definatly need some time to save money)... obviously we do not know what the problem is or it would be fixed... but every now and then (and lately its been more often than not) something comes up... ie just the other day on my way to work i busted a brake line.... the rubber line that connects the right rear caliper to the steel line is what split. So in my infinate wisdom i hammered the steel line shut so that i could get it home. ( i didnt think of two other ideas until after) i could have left it alone and because of the fact that the truck has a split braking system i could have made it home on 2 wheels braking, OR i could have cut the rubber hose and crimped it off with a pair of vice grips... The best part about that whole thing... is apparntly my caliper did not want to let go so i had to pull over and pull the caliper, pads and all other hardware off on the side of the road in order to get home.... so any who... i had to not only replace the rubber hose... but i had to fix the steel line too... from what i heard these are fairly reliable trucks and you dont normally have to do much work to them.... is this a common thing that you have heard as well? Thank You again for your time and paitience

Anonymous 2012-05-09 07:07

Driving with a misfire (especially a couple of months) will destroy your cat. I notice you have the CSFI (spider or poppet valve) fuel injection system so a noid light will not work. They were problematic for misfires and a newer, revised fuel injection system is available ($250-$400). A cheaper alternative would be to take it in for a fuel injector cleaning. If you're really on a tight budget, use a high(er) concentration of fuel injector cleaner in your gas (results will vary...no guarantee implied). All GM engines are susceptible to the distributor drive gear wearing out. Other than that, you have a good, reliable truck. You have a 10 year old vehicle with less than 50,000 miles on it. I believe most of your issues are because of it sitting for extended periods and not being driven enough.

Anonymous 2012-05-22 11:54

What brand of cap and rotor was used? Have you checked the spark quality and consistency on #4 cylinder? Majority of misfires are due to electrical. These engine are finicky when it comes to electrical parts. After replacing that crank sensor was a crank relearn done? That must be done when altering the crank sensor. Have you ever pulled the upper plenum and looked for fuel wash? Tells you if there is a fuel leak in the injectors. Try running some Seafoam thru the system. If you do find you have a problem with the fuel injection system. Upgrade to the new MFPI injectors, that are roughly $300. If the electrical and fuel injectors check out alright, then the next step would be to check the mechanical (valves) Here is a good read for misfire problems: troubleshootmyvehicle.com/gm_misfire_4.3L_5.0L_5.7L/ misfire_codes_gm_1.php

Anonymous 2012-05-26 18:47

ok so around the 15th or so i noticed a drop in oil pressure.... down to about 3 lbs.... then i had a really bad knock noise... my mechanic (a different one from the one who did the new distributor) determined that it was a lifter or rocker arm knock... given the previous history (previous lifter work and the torn up gears on the distributor) he recommened to replace the engine... so i did.... got a 2002 4.3L (basically the same engine with apx 60000 miles instead of 45000..... took that home last night (the check engine light came on... they checked it out it was a P0304 (same as before) so we chalked it up to the computer storing some memory of the 304 (misfire on cyl 4) just as i was about 100 yds from my driveway the light started flashing.... so i got it up my driveway and parked it... they are going to come tow it back to the shop tomorrow and look at it on tuesday.... (i scanned it when i got home and found it read trouble and pending P0304) why would i get the same code on two seperate engines...there is no noticeable difference in power no skip or anything like that............ i am literally at my whits end.... oh and get this... here is how my luck is going... i took the wifes car to work today.... some guy lost an "S hook" out of his car on the highway.. and took a chunk out of my winshield... and im due for inspection in june..... (I love my cars)

Anonymous 2012-05-27 06:35

Im going to say that you're misfire lies in the parts that u may have transferred to the new engine like intake and injectors, plugs, ignition etc or it's in the harness of the truck !

Anonymous 2012-05-27 09:58

hmmmm sounds to reason ... as far as i know the injectors came with the engine i got... (it was a junkyard engine) the plugs and wires should be eliminated because i swapped cylinders wtih plugs and wires prior to the engine swap .... not sure if my cap and rotor and new distributor came over or not... as far as the intake wouldnt that have a misfire on all cylinders? i suppose the wireing harness and computer could also be at fault.. also not sure if cam sensor and crank sensor got switched to new engine... but here is a list of new parts on the old engine cam sensor crank sensor mass air flow sensor distributor distributor cap rotor plugs wires pcv valve... thats all i can think of for now

Anonymous 2012-06-06 10:25

As far as i know the only parts that are the same from the old engine to the new one are the plugs and wires and the PCM... and i switched plugs and wires while they were on the old engine... so if it were a plug and wire issue it would have switched cylinders... i have since had another new distributor put into the new engine... .... thinking it was a computer i took it to a dealer to have them figure it out... they still seem to think the problem lies in the aftermarket distributor i just cant see why i would get 2 defective distributors..... kinda odd right? so now its been in a dealers hands for a while now... and they still havent gotten around to fixing it... im getting irritated with my truck not running.... this is driving me crazy

Anonymous 2012-06-06 18:39

I understand your frustration! The reason it may lie in the distributor or the cap is in the design of the distributor cap! It's called a crossfire cap meaning essentially how the cap appears on the outside is not exactly how the spark is routed under the cap, the terminal inside the cap doesn't line up where the ignition wire plugs in on the outside, the park has to travel through a condutor inside of the plastic of the cap often times crossing across the ionized charged gases within the distributor, the cheaper brand caps don't insulate as well and what you wind up with is bleed voltage betwen cylinders while the engine is running! The other issue is with poorly built distributors is wobble of the shaft in the bearings which causes spark jumping and all kinds of erratic issues! Lastly some of those engines used to only misfire under load because the crank would move in the bearings cauing the timing gap to change! I know it's a different engine but it's not impossible with that engine that both of the injector systems had leaking poppets or leaking lines under the spider injector! Chin up it's only a truck! Let us know if you can what the fuel trims are doing from the freeze frame data and we can point you in the right direction! any misfire that casue the light to flash is normally substantial enough that it becomes easier to diagnose!

Anonymous 2012-06-08 08:06

well another new cap and rotor and plug wires didnt do the trick .... i purchased and installed them previous to seeing your post.... i got premium parts from CarQuest.... i let the truck run at night when it was dark out and the spark was going everywhere... i saw it coming off the coil wire.... it was coming off the wires where they come out of the distributor... and i saw it jumping all over the place ... more prominantly on the pass side of the vehicle (the side with cyl 2 4 and 6) there was still some going on on the 1 3 5 side too.... i did not look into the wheel wells to see how much spark jump i had going on there... i guess i will have to bite the bullet and pick up some actuall AC Delco wires but they are literally 3 times the price i just paid for the wires i got before... also i do not have access to anything to check the fuel trim i will see if i can get my mechanic to check that out for you ... no guarantees.... i will pick up the wires but wont install them for a couple of days to see what i get for a reply...no chance of me getting anything done before monday i speculate....

Anonymous 2012-06-08 19:52

Even though you're going to hate to hear it I'd pick up a delco cap while you're getting the delco wires!

Anonymous 2012-06-10 07:51

hmmm... i already thought of that... went on line to www.advanceauto.com and actually they had a pretty good online sale going... i ordered my wires for about 130 (dealer was charging 180) and then if i wait 10 days i get $50 off my next $100 order... so i will order the cap and rotor (DELCO's) then which is about 50.... plus i need to take care of an ABS issue which i will also order those parts at the same time and basically get them for free... i took a second look at my "light show" most of my arcing is coming out of the main wire that goes from the coil to the cap... and it is arcing to the heater hoses that go to my heater core.... there really is no other place to route this wire dont get me wrong i am still seeing some arcing by the cap and mostly where the plug wires are clumped together.... its nice to hear someone give an explination as to why i should by a name brand part over a no name brand.... thank you for taking the time to explaine that to me... the guy at the chevy dealer just said put delco's on it... no explination i think on tuesday i have to drive my truck back to work again.... i will scan it with the scanner at advance auto and see what parts i need to get for my abs issue i do not remember the codes but the basic just of the situation was that i had a ............. MISSING,and ERRATIC wheel speed input or something like that... there were three codes on that.... i will start another forum once i get that scanned in and write down the codes thank you again for taking the time to help me

Anonymous 2012-06-19 08:58

ok so here is the update I put a new set of AC Delco wires on and i also put some wire loom over top of the wires to help insulate them.... i can not see any arcing coming from under the hood i have checked a few times the only thing i have not tried is to squirt some ammonia on the wires... ( i heard this from a friend... never heard of doing it before so i did not try) anyone else ever heard of doing that to try to see any arcing from the wires. i should be ordering my cap and rotor tomorrow to see if that helps any advice will be greatly appericiated

Anonymous 2012-07-08 14:30

hey i have learned some other news... a guy hooked up a better scanner to my truck the truck would idle around 500 RPM he commaned it to run at 1000rpms and it went up to 700 then he told it to run at 1200rpms and it went to 800 then he told it to run at 1500rpms and it went to 900 he also showed me the dollar bill trick.... to cover the exhaust with a dollar bill and i could here a misfire that i could never hear before.... so... he thinks he has a solution but he need to actually bring it in to diagnose it ... he alreay spent about 30 mins on it for nothing ... which i thought was pretty awesome... so we shall see what happens unless someone knows something.......

Anonymous 2012-09-10 10:10

Did that mechanic ever figure out what was going on?

Anonymous 2012-09-10 13:48

yeah he did figure it out.... lol sorry i havent posted the answer.... we put in a new fuel pump the old one was running 8psi low.... so the new one took care of that.. and the fuel filter had been replaced i would say 3000 miles previously hence why they went to the pump.... took care of the problem then a week or two later i had another mil on for a bad O2 sensor... that got replaced too and truck has been running awesome since... ive been getting 2-3 mpg better ever since they replaced the pump thanks for checking