Misfire Code (P0301) - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

ElderJ · 12-26-2019, 04:57 PM

2014 1LT V6 Automatic 49k miles (we bought it used at just over 40k).

Hopped in the car yesterday (Christmas!) to head to mom's house. Car sits in the garage and hadn't been driven in a few days. Have had 0 issues with it so far. Crank it up, and all kinds of indicators light up on the dash: flashing CEL, Stabilitrac and Traction Control lights, a Service Stabilitrac message, and who knows what else. I notice that the car is idling rough as well.

So I'm sitting there trying to figure out why everything is spazzing out and decide to hit the Traction Control button for kicks. I hold it down for a few seconds and then all the lights turn off save for the flashing CEL. I wait a few more seconds and it eventually turns off, so there are no more indicators displaying and the car seems to be idling fine.

I'm not sure what to do, but Christmas awaits me over at mom's, so I pull out of the garage and head over. It drives fine from what I could tell save for a possible slight lurch whenever coming to a stop (could be just my paranoia from the incident moments before).

After the Christmas get together, I crank it up w/o any issues or indicator lights whatsoever and it drove home last night just fine. I threw my OBD II sensor on there last night (really small and cheap reader) and pulled the P0301 code. I popped the hood and checked the plug wire connections to the coils, and none of them were loose.

My question is: what should my next steps be?

RankSS · 12-26-2019, 05:08 PM

Battery probably got low voltage from sitting.
Miss fires common with low battetry.

ElderJ · 12-26-2019, 08:08 PM

Interesting. The car was only sitting in the garage for 3 days since I last drove it, so if it is a low battery, I should look into why (especially since I bought this battery earlier this year).

I ran to the store to grab some MAF cleaner, and it ran fine w/o any indicator lights except for what sounded like a very faint hissing sound. I popped the hood in the parking lot while it was running and could clearly hear the sound, being more pronounced from the passenger side. When I got home I checked a couple of the hoses (one being the lines to and from my catch can), but I didn't notice anything loose. I cleaned the MAF sensor and even put some fuel injector cleaner and some more gas in the tank just for kicks.
I'm putting this puppy on hold until Sunday when I can start pulling stuff out and testing it (plugs, coils, hoses, kitchen sink, etc)

ElderJ · 12-28-2019, 08:01 PM

So, just for kicks, if I did get a hold of some bad gas and had some water in my tank, would my symptoms described above (misfire indicator lights going crazy temporarily and a P0301 code getting thrown) make sense?

I just took her for a spin on the highway and didn't notice anything wrong at all. No indicator lights are on, no noticeable issues with acceleration or idling, zilch.

CamaroBarb · 12-31-2019, 06:45 AM

I can tell you exactly what happened. You oil fouled number 1 spark plug at startup and all the freaky crap they can dream up to scare you to the dealer came up on the dash. As the engine warmed up the spark plug cleared and started firing. Mines done it many times but usually not long enough to turn on the bs lights. Mine will miss for a few seconds then clear up. Number 1 cylinder is the 1st one in line with the pcv to get oil dumped into it. It ridicules they scare people like this with all kinds of bs lights etc. It will happen again. If you pull all the spark plugs you will find number 1 looks different than the others. Turning off the TC had nothing to do with it.

ElderJ · 12-31-2019, 09:02 AM

Thanks Barb. So, would the catch can have anything to do with that, since I thought it was supposed to catch almost all of the blowback?
There's also a windy noise coming from the catch can (or hoses). Elite Engineering posts from other guys said that it was completely normal for their cans to make this high wind sound. I honestly don't recall hearing it before, but who really knows. Could just be my paranoia setting it after seeing my dash light up like a Christmas tree.

12-26-2019, 04:57 PM	#1
ElderJ Drives: 2014 Camaro 1LT Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Central Florida Posts: 372	Misfire Code (P0301) 2014 1LT V6 Automatic 49k miles (we bought it used at just over 40k). Hopped in the car yesterday (Christmas!) to head to mom's house. Car sits in the garage and hadn't been driven in a few days. Have had 0 issues with it so far. Crank it up, and all kinds of indicators light up on the dash: flashing CEL, Stabilitrac and Traction Control lights, a Service Stabilitrac message, and who knows what else. I notice that the car is idling rough as well. So I'm sitting there trying to figure out why everything is spazzing out and decide to hit the Traction Control button for kicks. I hold it down for a few seconds and then all the lights turn off save for the flashing CEL. I wait a few more seconds and it eventually turns off, so there are no more indicators displaying and the car seems to be idling fine. I'm not sure what to do, but Christmas awaits me over at mom's, so I pull out of the garage and head over. It drives fine from what I could tell save for a possible slight lurch whenever coming to a stop (could be just my paranoia from the incident moments before). After the Christmas get together, I crank it up w/o any issues or indicator lights whatsoever and it drove home last night just fine. I threw my OBD II sensor on there last night (really small and cheap reader) and pulled the P0301 code. I popped the hood and checked the plug wire connections to the coils, and none of them were loose. My question is: what should my next steps be?

12-26-2019, 05:08 PM	#2
RankSS Drives: 2010 Camaro SS Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Saskatoon SK Can. Eh Posts: 365	Battery probably got low voltage from sitting. Miss fires common with low battetry. __________________ 2010 Camaro SS RS, Maggie with 3.4" pulley, 60# injectors, ADM dual fuel pumps, ADM Stage 2 Cam with Brian Tooley springs and pushrods, black CAI intake, Stainless Works long tube headers w/gutted cats, ZL1 Diff w/offset bushings, Pfadt lowering springs, Pfadt sway bars, Pfadt solid sub frame mounts, BMR trailing arms and toe rods, Hurst short throw shifter, Painted on Hugger Orange stripes, Forgestar F14 Piano Black wheels, Nitto NT05 rubber.

12-26-2019, 08:08 PM	#3
ElderJ Drives: 2014 Camaro 1LT Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Central Florida Posts: 372	Interesting. The car was only sitting in the garage for 3 days since I last drove it, so if it is a low battery, I should look into why (especially since I bought this battery earlier this year). I ran to the store to grab some MAF cleaner, and it ran fine w/o any indicator lights except for what sounded like a very faint hissing sound. I popped the hood in the parking lot while it was running and could clearly hear the sound, being more pronounced from the passenger side. When I got home I checked a couple of the hoses (one being the lines to and from my catch can), but I didn't notice anything loose. I cleaned the MAF sensor and even put some fuel injector cleaner and some more gas in the tank just for kicks. I'm putting this puppy on hold until Sunday when I can start pulling stuff out and testing it (plugs, coils, hoses, kitchen sink, etc)

12-28-2019, 08:01 PM	#4
ElderJ Drives: 2014 Camaro 1LT Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Central Florida Posts: 372	So, just for kicks, if I did get a hold of some bad gas and had some water in my tank, would my symptoms described above (misfire indicator lights going crazy temporarily and a P0301 code getting thrown) make sense? I just took her for a spin on the highway and didn't notice anything wrong at all. No indicator lights are on, no noticeable issues with acceleration or idling, zilch.

12-31-2019, 06:45 AM	#5
CamaroBarb Banned Drives: cheby Camaro Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: usa Posts: 575	I can tell you exactly what happened. You oil fouled number 1 spark plug at startup and all the freaky crap they can dream up to scare you to the dealer came up on the dash. As the engine warmed up the spark plug cleared and started firing. Mines done it many times but usually not long enough to turn on the bs lights. Mine will miss for a few seconds then clear up. Number 1 cylinder is the 1st one in line with the pcv to get oil dumped into it. It ridicules they scare people like this with all kinds of bs lights etc. It will happen again. If you pull all the spark plugs you will find number 1 looks different than the others. Turning off the TC had nothing to do with it.

12-31-2019, 09:02 AM	#6
ElderJ Drives: 2014 Camaro 1LT Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Central Florida Posts: 372	Thanks Barb. So, would the catch can have anything to do with that, since I thought it was supposed to catch almost all of the blowback? There's also a windy noise coming from the catch can (or hoses). Elite Engineering posts from other guys said that it was completely normal for their cans to make this high wind sound. I honestly don't recall hearing it before, but who really knows. Could just be my paranoia setting it after seeing my dash light up like a Christmas tree.