I'm posting this for a friend on my fishing forum...

"
One of our ranch trucks the check engine light came on and
pulled the code "Cylinder 1 missfire" when I put my computer on it.
its a 97 F-150...can anyone tell me what this means?

thank you in advance for the help."

Thanks guys

 

What motor does the truck have? If it has a 5.4 you can check the COP buy switching cylinders to see if the code will move. You can also unplug the COP to see if the truck runs any different.
If its a 4.2 or 4.6 I would take the coil pack to the AutoZone and have it checked.
If coils check ok I would pull the plug and look for any signs that its not firing correctly.

 

Put a long hose to your ear, and the other end to the injector. Listen to all of them on Bank 1 (Passenger side). You will hear them click. If you don't hear it click, it's your injector not getting the signal.

Pull your plug and wire for that cylinder. Swap that (plug AND wire) with the plug and wire from cylinder 5 (front Drivers side). If the misfire goes to the the opposite cylinder it should show code P0305, instead of the P0301 that you are getting now.

To save time, if you don't want to switch plugs and wire to test the misfire, simply pull the plug. With the plug seated in the boot, ground it to the accelerator spring (or any good grounding source). You should see a large, strong, blue/white spark. If you don't then you'll know where the problem is.

If you have COP, simply switch them and your plug with another COP and plug and see if your misfire goes to the other cylinder.

Check your coolant. With the engine warm, slowing take the cap off the radiator reservoir. Have your buddy give the truck a couple bumps on the gas pedal. If you see bubbles, then it could be a head gasket leak and the coolant is leaking into cylinder 1 and fouling the plug. If you are losing coolant, then this would be a good place to start.

Check the oil, and look at the color. Is it watery? Is it grayish in color? OR is it normal?

Here's a link for trouble codes:
http://rockledge.home.comcast.net/~r...llery/DTCs.pdf