99 Escort ZX2 P0301 code

$18 a piece is a little steep in price for plugs in my own opinion. You could try swapping the injector from cyclinder #1 with #2, clear code and see if you come up with a code for cyclinder #2. I would price a set of plugs and wires from a dealer and compare the 2. I know that sounds a little biased, seeing that I work at a dealer, but I have seen problems with aftermarket plugs and wires in those cars before. When it starts running rough, do you have spark on #1 cyclinder? Have you performed a compression test yet?

B. Cash wrote: $18 a piece is a little steep in price for plugs in my own opinion. You could try swapping the injector from cyclinder #1 with #2, clear code and see if you come up with a code for cyclinder #2. I would price a set of plugs and wires from a dealer and compare the 2. I know that sounds a little biased, seeing that I work at a dealer, but I have seen problems with aftermarket plugs and wires in those cars before. When it starts running rough, do you have spark on #1 cyclinder? Have you performed a compression test yet? I almost fell over when I bought the plugs but that was the only ones listed for the car. It is like someone flips a switch. The car runs rough for a bit then starts running fine again. The owners manual lists 2 different plugs for the car. 2 different ones for cyc 1 and 2. I have not done a compression test nor tried swapping a injector. Not sure how hard it would be to switch injectors.

use the dealer parts, there is a difference

Interesting, other then the difference in price do you have any data to backup that statement? jeff compton wrote: use the dealer parts, there is a difference

Jeff is correct, you get the best results when using what the engineers from the factory designed to go in the car. NGK is an import plug not Ford plug. Your miss might not be the plugs you installed, but's it's always best to put what came in the car from the factory.

On your next vacation, please be sure to book a tour of Ford’s spark plug factory. Believe it or not most carmakers do not manufacture and produce the parts they use to build their automobiles. Most carmakers use outside independent companies to help them design the parts used in your car. Carmakers then put them in their own boxes with their logos to make you believe that you are buying a part that the carmaker made itself. This could not be further from the truth. How do these parts become available to companies to be sold to the general public? After a certain time frame the actual manufacturers of these parts are allowed to sell them to other wholesale distributors for resale. This time however they come packaged in a box with the name of the actual manufacturer of the part. Its not an inferior part its just put into a different package and usually sold up to 70 percent cheaper than the dealer originally sold it for and continues to sell. In most cases the part will be identical with the exception of the packaging. Although not all aftermarket car parts are not made by the original manufacturer, they perform as well as the original. In many cases, the companies find a way of improving these parts so that the customer gets a part that is of superior quality. There is no need for concern. Aftermarket car parts are produced with the same machinery and materials as OEM and genuine parts. While the parts may have a few minor differences in look and feel, they basically do the same job. The companies who manufacture these aftermarket auto parts are credible. They legitimately buy the rights and specifications to manufacture those parts. It would be foolish to think that a company such as AC-Delco that makes OEM GM parts, could not make a good working part for a Ford. Even though Phillips invented the CD player, they do not make the best one, but I’m sure you get the point. CarGuy wrote: Jeff is correct, you get the best results when using what the engineers from the factory designed to go in the car. NGK is an import plug not Ford plug. Your miss might not be the plugs you installed, but's it's always best to put what came in the car from the factory.

do I have any data to back up my statement about the difference between dealer parts and aftermarket? Yeah it's called years of hands on experience! When I recommend using dealer parts for spark plugs it's not because of a preference to a paticular brand but because of bad experiences I've witnessed first hand with incorrect plugs, Ever seen holes burned in the tops of pistons from plugs that were the wrong heat range? Ever seen piston's damaged from smacking the electrodes becuase the parts guy at Auotzone's book said they would work in that application. Books are never worng right? I prefer dealer recommended because parts are updated, different heat ranges are recommended sometimes by the manufacturer to correct drivability issues and this information very rarely makes it to aftermarket suppliers for quite awhile. They sell parts based on what manufacturers books cross reference too. Will more then 1 brand of plug work, sure! Will it work as well? Maybe, maybe not but for the little difference in price why risk it. I'm not saying only buy from the dealer but use what the dealer uses and recommends. If you can buy AC delco plugs cheaper at Autozone then at the dealer then buy them there but use the same part # and brand. And no not all aftermarket parts are the same! They aren't always made to the same standards. A good case in point are alot of aftermarket catalytic converters. Are all junk, no but alot are! The materials inside a cat are what make it so expensive, so if a company can sell it for 1/4 the cost where do you think some of the savings are coming from. We give this advice from our own experience not because we're trying to put aftermarket comapny's out of business. But why waste more money on parts and labour that won't fix a car when all it needed was the correct parts. Maybe your aftermarket parts aren't the problem. Maybe you have bigger problems but why overlook something easy because of a parts error!

I can see where you are coming from, as I understand that you work at a dealership. Which attracts more newer cars then the older ones. I see more of the older ones then newer ones, as I do not work at a dealership. I do agree that part errors do happen, but more often then not they are minimum wage errors rather them parts errors and if you have to depend on the 20 year old kid behind the counter to get the right part that could be a problem down the road. I have personally never had issues with spark plugs, but then I know what types of plugs seem to work best engine to engine. Lots of people run into problems with aftermarket plug wire sets, and this is mostly because they buy the cheapest ones they can find. Same goes for brake rotors, there is a big difference between the $25 and $55 rotors in how they are cooled when they are being made and this affects they way they get tempered, other then that there is no cost difference to make them. Then you have the factory aftermarket rebuild parts that have no advantage at all buying from the dealer as some dealers are selling rebuilds anyways. Such as Ford with alternators and starters and yet they still charge more then aftermarket rebuilds even though they get rebuilt under the same roof.

I think we're both kinda on the same track! Where I see problems is with the do-it yourselfers who use what the parts store chain minimum wage kids to do there parts selection for them. I've spoke with guys on other forums who worked at Autozone who were paid a bonus to push Bosch Platinums for every application but I in my own experience and it's not just dealership limitted have yet to find an application that they work well in ! let alone better then what the 0e uses, combined with a higher priced platinum plug used where a regular copper plug should be that runs worse with the more expensive plug and it's no wonder customers get there head too far wrapped around a drivability probelm because they assume the most expensive plug was the best plug. I very rarely purchase 0E parts like starters and alternators unless the price is very comparable or the warranty is much better but I always stick to the OE recommended part # for plugs, sensors etc. I agree totally with you about ign wire sets there is alot of garbage out there in that corner of the market. I have had jeeps towed in with brand new Wells brand crank sensors that only needed a mopar sensor to make them start! Same with coil packs. The 2.4 ltr engine from Chrysler is a perfect example! It has some issues with carbon buildup and chrylser has addressed this with a different heat range of plug but I've yet to talk to a parts guy anywhere outside of the dealer network who knows about it! Same with the 4.0 ltr Jeep that in some applications uses NGK's from Factory and others still uses Champion. Is one brand better ? No but I trust the dealer for the latest updates on part #'s. I very rarely buy frt end parts, brake rotors, mufflers etc from the dealer because alot of it is repackaged aftermarket sold through the dealer network at a higher price to cover warranty expenses. I've been in independant shops and alot of them phone me daily for drivability advice on mopars in there shops, They're fixed well over half the time with a parts brand change or a software update to the pcm but only after they've changed parts unneccesarily because the parts guys book said those plugs would be fine! I love the aftermarket for well over half of my parts purchases but like I said there's some things that I trust only the dealer with! For the difference in price most of the time I'll trust the dealer on plugs and sensors! It's a bias based on experience not arrogance!

Hi greezy Were not here to debate who makes the best plug, were just here to help each other out. Were only telling you what we see everyday that comes into our shops. I can't tell you how many times a customer comes in with his vehicles missing and says he just tuned it up, letting the kid behind the counter talk him into those good aftermarket plugs and wires he's selling saying there just as good as any other. The customer usually doesn't know what to say when I hand his parts back to him telling him to try and get his money back and I installed the factory parts back in it and then they tell me it hasn't ran this good in a long time. I'm not saying thats what your problem is, you might want to try some of the suggestions that B.Cash gave you by moving the injectors around to see if the miss moves with it and do a compression check on that cylinder, but when it happens you need to see if your loosing injector pulse or spark on that cylinder also. good luck

Thanks for the help. Exactly how hard is it to move the injector from one port to another? I would like to try this and also will go to the dealer and purchase their plugs. The owners manual list 2 different plugs for cyc 1 and 2, and 3 and 4. Not sure why but maybe this has something to do woth it.

are you sure they don't mean 2 different possibilities for plug part#'s, never seen an engine facotry equipped with 2 different types of plugs installed in the same engine from one cylinder to the next. Like I said try the dealer plugs and wire, Switching the injecotr shouldn't be too difficult but you could check compression while you have the plugs out!

The plugs in cyc 1 1nd 2 end with EE and the ones in 3 and 4 end with FF I believe. Don't know what the difference is but maybe this is part of the problem. I am going to the dealer tomorrow to purchase plugs and wires thanks

I have seen this on ford 4.6L engines, where cylinders 1234 used AWSF-32PG plugs and cylinders 5678 called for a AWSF-32P(96 crown victoria). I know that the 91-95 4.6L engines for a reason unknown to me wears out spark plugs in cylinders 2,3 twice as fast as the rest of the cylinders. jeff compton wrote: are you sure they don't mean 2 different possibilities for plug part#'s, never seen an engine facotry equipped with 2 different types of plugs installed in the same engine from one cylinder to the next. Like I said try the dealer plugs and wire, Switching the injecotr shouldn't be too difficult but you could check compression while you have the plugs out!