The engine check light diagnostic indicates that cylinder #2 is misfiring. The car runs rough. Spark plugs and wires have been replaced. Mechanic is recommending replacing fuel injectors as all of them test out of spec. Should I buy new or re-manufactured fuel injectors for my 1999 Toyota Corolla? The price for the new injectors is about double the re- manufactured. This car has about 107K miles on it. I hope to keep this car for as long as it lasts, but need good mileage and reliability for work. Thanks—
Marlene
I think you had better hold up a minute. Injectors are expensive, seldom go bad anyway, and they are not going to go bad en masse.
There may be something your mechanic is overlooking here and that is step No. 1 in diagnosing a rough running engine. That step is a compression check.
Your car has mechanical valve lifters and I think Toyota does not recommend checking the lash adjustment until 100k miles plus. This of course is utter stupidity on Toyota’s part. Check the owners manual about and see what the recommended interval is. The recommended interval is not always the correct one.
The problem you may have if tight valve lash is the cause is that cylinder head/valve damage may be done if this problem has been going on for a while.
I’m trying to save you from spending a ton of money on either new or reman injectors and being left with a vehicle that still runs the same - bad. Any diagnosis of multiple bad injectors should be taken with a grain of salt.
JMHO, but I think your mechanic is doing some guessing here. And maybe a little BSing to boot.
Yep. Your mechanic is right. If you throw enough parts at a problem, you might fix it. Actually, your mechanic hasn’t finished troubleshooting. This is an ideal problem to troubleshoot by substitution (if not the more thought intensive methods). Even if the fuel injectors are “out of specs”, they aren’t necessarily “bad”. Swap another of the fuel injectors with #2. Clear the check engine light. Make two trips with the car to Grandmother’s, etc. When scanned (possibly, at Auto Zone, Pep Boys, etc.) note which position the misfire is. If it’s where #2 fuel injector was switched to, that fuel injector is probably bad. If not; then, not. There are two ignition coils (one for two cylinders). Swap them. Clear the code, Grandmother’s, Pep Boys… If the misfire moved, the ignition coil is bad. If it’s not the parts, it may be #2 cylinder, itself. Do a compression check on #2 cylinder. Can your mechanic handle this?
Ask your mechanic why he can’t clean your injectors? Then listen to the fast talk.