Spent 2 hours chasing a phantom misfire on my '05 Civic last weekend

Karen Nelson · 2026-04-24T05:20:02.805135+00:00

Was getting a random P0301 code on cylinder 1 and figured it was just a plug or coil but after swapping everything it still ran like garbage lol. Turns out the connector to the injector had a tiny crack that only showed up when I wiggled the harness just right. Anyone else ever been fooled by something that simple after throwing parts at it?

xena_kim5mo ago

always the dumb stuff" - story of my life bro.

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spencer_hayes713mo ago

Gotta disagree with you there man... chasing that stuff is half the fun of working on old cars. If the fix was obvious everyone'd be a mechanic. @xena_kim might say different but the real satisfaction is outsmarting a 20 year old Honda that's trying to hide its secrets.

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nancy_butler5mo ago

Spent 2 hours chasing a phantom misfire" - yeah, I feel that pain in my wallet. Had a similar thing on my '03 Corolla, chased a vacuum leak for three days only to find the PCV hose was barely cracked. It's always the dumb stuff that gets you, never the obvious part failures.

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