P0301 Ford Code - Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected

Hi, started off with a rough idle, then the light came on so i scanned to see if a code would pop up and PO301 came up. I have changed all plugs & plug wires and the dam thing run's worse than it did before I fixed it, LMAO. Can not find any vacuum leaks and had the coil tested at Auto-Zone, they said it was good but not convinced they really know what they are doing. Guess we had it to good in the old days 70's & 80's. I'm afraid to drive the darn thing to work!

Ignition coils are not easy to check, you should have a tech inspect the coil for you instead of AutoZone.

I have a 2009 Ford Escape I replaced all my coils and spark plugs and it's running worse. Lack of power and the engines shakes while trying to get up to speed.

Next step it's probably perform a cylinder compression test.

Would a bad exhaust leak cause that as well?

Theoretically may be possible, but it's very unlikely that the exhaust leak it's the problem

If the compression is off how much would it cost to fix since it's shooting codes P0300, P0301, & P0302

Depends what the problem is. If the problem is the head gasket, it could cost you up $1000 to get it replace.

I have a 2006 Ranger 5 speed manual with a 2.3L engine with 185,000 miles on it. Last week it began to idle very rough and began to misfire and lose power while accelerating and the check engine light started flashing. I took it to a shop for a diagnostic test and error code P0301 cylinder #1 misfire was detected. The first thing they did was replace plugs and cables since they were the originals... it made no difference...in fact the plugs looked excellent after 185,000 miles! I asked the mechanic if he replaced the coil stack. his answer was that no error codes indicated it was bad and the coil resistance checks were within spec., so it was not replaced. After limping home with an unfixed truck I did a little research about P0301 causes and learned that coil stacks do go bad and would cause misfires. I went to Pepboys and bought a new coil stack, replaced it, and bingo!...problem fixed! Although the coil resistance checks were satisfactory, apparently the coil insulation was breaking down under duress from thousands of volts. The only way to properly detect this type failure is to perform a DC hi-pot test on the coil windings to ground. Since most shops would never have this kind of test equipment, they would never be able to detect bad coil insulation. So my advice for a P0301 error code is to replace the coil stack 1st, costs about $75, and can be replaced at home in about 10 minutes with a just phillips head screw driver. If that doesn't do the trick then move on to the more costly and labor intensive plugs and cable replacements.

Thank you for the information!

2002 Ford Ranger Edge 2wd 5 speed. Engine won't turn over, bump starts fine and runs. Replaced starter relay still nothing when turning key. Strong bat, everything works except starting. OBD CODE: P0301. Any help?

Is there an excessive smog when start? what color? you could have a leaking injector that is flooding the engine or a blown head gasket. If possible you could start by performing a compression test.

No you missed it, the truck runs GREAT when I bump start it, it just won't click or try to turn over.

I have a 2009 Ranger 2.3 5 speed manual that started running rough/bucking pretty hard when accelerating at lower rpm in a higher gear, like 25 mph in 4th for example. Check engine light came on so I scanned it. Spit out code P0301. I pulled the plug wire and the plug well was filled up with coolant. A bunch of corrosion on plug and boot for plug wire, etc. started researching and people say it's the intake manifold. Took that apart and it appears to be in good shape and so do all the seals. Took the valve cover off as well and no evidence of issues there. The plug itself had most of the corrosion above the threads on the plug end of it, not the business end below the cup/cone type seal which leads me to believe it isn't filling up from below. Any ideas? Really hoping it's just intake manifold failure and not a cracked head or blown head gasket. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

Unfortunately it does sounds like a blown head gasket. The only way to be sure the problem is the head gasket, is to perform a compression or leak down test.

That's next on my list of things to check. I'm going to replace all the gaskets on the valve cover and intake manifold since I've already got it all taken apart, slap it all back together, and do a compression test. Fingers crossed.

Hello. My problem started after recent oil, filters and sparks plugs change. The car is an european Ford Focus MK2 with 1.6 16V Ti-VCT (variable timming) petrol engine.
Most of the time when starting with the cold engine, I'm feeling some irregular vibrations at idle, that disappears after the engine gets warm. Since then I've cleaned the throttle body and the Maf sensor and replaced the spark plugs wires and once again the spark plugs, but no change. More than that after first cold start the engine has an hesitation (tends to stop for a moment) and then runs normally (with described vibrations). Using an OBD 2 scanner I've found a P0201 error few days ago, deleted it and didn't came back. Yesterday while the engine was running at idle I've disconnected the MAF cable and the engine almost stopped (the symptom was very similar like when you unplug a spark plug wire/coil). After that I've got a P0100 and a P0301 errors. The MAF seems to be ok since I've checked it with the scanner and it showed about 3g/s at idle and about 11g/s at 3000rpm.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Many thanks!