hello, I have a 99 v70 glt 172000 miles. Accelerating on the highway last night, I noticed a nasty car smell that continued untill I got home. It wasn't until I slowed down at the driveway that I noticed the vibration in the steering wheel. I hooked a computer to the obd and got p0303 cylinder3 misfire code. So i pulled the ignition coil off cylinder 3 and inspected for cracks, none. I pulled the spark plug and it looked fine, i sanded it anyway. put it back in, and swapped ignition coil with cylinder 2. Then i cleared the code. I started the car and let it idle for 15 minutes, came back out and the cel was on again. pulled the same code p0303 cylinder 3 misfire. i swapped the spark plug with cylinder 2. same code. any ideas where to go from here? wired look fine. any help is appreciated. thanks
-Ed

 

Make sure the wires are not backing out of the coil pack connector.

 

Last time I had this it was a broken wire on the loom.

 

You know while a misfire usually is caused by an ignition problem, it is not the only thing that can cause it. I would ck the compression on cyl 3 next.

Also just because the plug looks good doesn't necessarily mean it is; swap it with another cyl or replace w/new.

 

thanks for the replies. I havent been able to mess with it, and I'll be busy for a while. The car is goin to the garage friday, and Ill have them check the compression. Gdog I did swap the spark plugs between 2 and 3 and the misfire remained in cylinder 3-or so my code reader said it did.

 

compression in cylinder 3 was 70 psi. I was told if it had 70 psi and the problem was piston rings, that the car would be smoking alot from burning oil, so that it was probably a valve. I hate to say goodbye to the car but I think thats where I am at. Thanks for the help

 

Unless you have a lot of other pending maintenance or repairs you could have that repaired. It would be a lot cheaper than car payments.

 

thanks rspi, it does have other issues. the pcv needs replacement, shocks, the turbo pipe has oil in it. since I bought it, it has stumbled at idle between 800 and 900 rpms. last year it didnt pass inspection due to an evap emission leak code.-the mechanic put a sticker on it anyway.

 

That's when most people bail. I call it the straw that broke the camels back.

 

exactly. I love the car, this past year has been pretty tough financially, I havent been able to put the money into it that I wanted to. Thanks