You know what, I've been thinking about this all day. I'm wondering if I should try another $11 bottle of the Red Line before I install a $53 injection coil I can't return once I install it. If the Red Line improves the situation, that would probably prove a diagnosis of a clogged injector, wouldn't you say?

 

After a new spark plug and a new coil pack (plus some new tools since I was at my father-in-law's, and he didn't have anything metric), it turned out that the wire was causing the P0305. A new set of wires solved the misfiring. The engine runs very smoothly once again.

Had they been old wires, I would have gone there before trying the coil pack, but these wires were purchased and installed just over 6 months ago. They had never been pulled before yesterday, and I know to pull them at the end of the boot. Sure 'nuf, as I pulled wire #5 off, the connector was just about hanging out of the boot. Grrrrr. These were BELKIN wires. That will be the last time I ever allow Belkin wires on my vehicles.

So, many thanks to all who responded. Especially to Tizzy who correctly identified the bottom nut securing the power steering reservoir to the frame as a 10mm nut; it would've been hell trying to figure out the correct size. (Why didn't they engineer that so that the nut was in front?)

Last question: Will the Check Engine light go out eventually, or do I need to find an OBD II reader to reset it?

 

Just remove and reinstall the battery cables, the light should go out,
Hank

 

 

dsolorio,

Before I replaced the coil pack, I checked the connections and, yes, they were secure on both ends; at that time I did not notice the connector being loose from the wire. It was only when I removed the wires to replace them with new wires that the connector was hanging loose. 20/20 hindsight, I probably could have tugged on the connectors with needle nose pliers when I inspected them.

 

For future reference, what should home mechanics use to test spark plug wires? I'm thinking of something where both ends are off of the vehicle and hooked up to a device that sends current through one end and measures it on the other.

 

That device is called a ohmmeter.

 

I check all the wires with a spark tester, it one doesn't spark, I move it to another coil terminal that worked with another wire, still no spark, bad wire.