Bad day for my Canyon

rjpoog1989

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
116
So I was driving the truck to go out to eat and I noticed the check engine light was on. So that made me really happy. I get out of the truck and start walking towards the restaurant and I noticed my grille that I just plasti-dipped was smashed, not sure wtf happened to that. I know it is unrelated to the check engine light but ya two things at once to piss me off.

After dinner I went to Auto-Zone to scan for codes. p0302 cylinder 2 misfire. Awesome... I cleared the code, it didn't return on the drive home. I guess I will start by changing spark plugs. I also had several abs codes that I knew were there and I cleared those as well. The CEL came back on when I drove it an hour ago.

Btw: Truck is an 05 with 80,177 on the clock.

P.S. it seems through searching the Denso Iridium Plugs are the way to go, so I ordered those off of Rock Auto just now.

P.S.S. i felt compelled to check my oil, being all this was going on. It is about halfway up the marks on the dipstick with 4,000 miles since I changed it. I don't think this is really relevant info but I thought I would share it anyway. I also ran fuel injector cleaner in my last tank of gas if that means anything.

P.S.S.S. I will probably switch the Cylinder 2 coil pack with the Cylinder 4 coil pack when I replace the plugs. This will hopefully let me know if the coil pack is at fault. If it's not that, I know what the problem will most likely be (I'm really trying not to jump to that conclusion too fast), but in that case I'll be searching for an 07 3.7l I5 to swap into my truck. Also, if that is the case, this will be my last GM vehicle.
 

rjpoog1989

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
116
I forgot to add that the cel came back after I cleared the codes the other day.

I drove the truck quite a bit today. CEL was on when I first started the truck, but it turned off before I reached the end of my road. Then proceeded to drive all over gods creation and the CEL did not return. I still plan to change the plugs on Friday.
 

Answer069

Member
Dec 4, 2011
84
GM has had a lot of problems with the heads on the Colorado/Canyons, particularly on the I5s. You may check with your local dealer to see if there are any recalls/TSBs that will cover what is going on with your truck. You could end up getting a brand new head for free.
 

rjpoog1989

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
116
Answer069 said:
GM has had a lot of problems with the heads on the Colorado/Canyons, particularly on the I5s. You may check with your local dealer to see if there are any recalls/TSBs that will cover what is going on with your truck. You could end up getting a brand new head for free.

No chance of GM covering any of this. Their extended warranty on the heads of these was 7 years or 75,000 miles. Their are quite a few people over on 355 nation fighting with GM over this and getting no results. I'm not sure weather my head was replaced in the past or not, I don't know much about prior maintenance on this thing. If it turns out to be a head issue I will be replacing the whole motor with an 07 3.7l because the issue was limited to 04,05,&06. Also bigger motor with more hp and torque is never a bad thing.


Any who, so I changed the spark plugs, cleaned the TB, cleaned the MAF and the truck runs fantastic! What a difference! Much smoother idol and the truck idols a bit lower now. My TB was very dirty, probably never cleaned before. It did not throw any codes after a short drive, but I haven't actually seen the CEL since tuesday and I hope it stays that way. Just for good measure I did flip flop coil packs 2 and 4. If the misfire comes back on cylinder 4 I know the coil pack is at fault.
 

rjpoog1989

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
116
After all that, the CEL is back on. P0300 and p0302. Which tells me that it's not the coil pack that is bad. As to what is next, I don't know anymore.
 

rjpoog1989

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
116
I haven't really been keeping this thread updated, as I'm no longer desperate for advise, but I figure if anyone looks in the future they should know what went down. Here is the short version of the story:

So yesterday I called the dealer I bought the truck from. I asked them to run my VIN # to see if the cylinder head was at some point replaced under GM's extended warranty on the part. I found out it has never been done. I asked them if they were going to do anything for me. They said no:hissyfit:, and I'm 5 months past the 7 years part of the 7 year or 100k warranty. They gave me GM Customer Service's phone number.

I called GM Customer Service:hissyfit:. They sent me to a local GMC dealer to get a Leak Down Test. The Leak Down Test confirmed I have the head issue, duh... My case has now been forwarded to the District Manager of GM Customer Service. They are to call me sometime today.
 

Phantom

Member
Jun 17, 2012
277
rjpoog1989 said:
After all that, the CEL is back on. P0300 and p0302. Which tells me that it's not the coil pack that is bad. As to what is next, I don't know anymore.

The coil pack is bad. the p0300 is a general misfire. when you changed the coil pack from cyl 2 to 4 did you reset the codes? if not then the p0300 would come on as the computer thinks that more than one cyl is misfiring. best bet is to clear the codes and then i am almost willing to bet that it will come up as a p0304 when the cel comes back on. same thing happened to my trailblazer and i switched the number 3 cyl coilpack with number 4 and i didnt reset the codes and i got a p0303 and a p0300. i cleared the codes then got a p0304.
 

rjpoog1989

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
116
Phantom said:
The coil pack is bad. the p0300 is a general misfire. when you changed the coil pack from cyl 2 to 4 did you reset the codes? if not then the p0300 would come on as the computer thinks that more than one cyl is misfiring. best bet is to clear the codes and then i am almost willing to bet that it will come up as a p0304 when the cel comes back on. same thing happened to my trailblazer and i switched the number 3 cyl coilpack with number 4 and i didnt reset the codes and i got a p0303 and a p0300. i cleared the codes then got a p0304.

I reset the codes several times and kept getting p0300 and p0302. From what I've read p0300 is random cylinder misfire and will come up first until the computer can figure out which cylinder is misfiring. Since flipping the coils I've never had p0304. The dealer already did a Leak Down Test to confirm it is the Cylinder Head.
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Oh fun. Best of luck to you.

The i5 and the i6 are very similar, what did they botch on the i5 heads?
 

rjpoog1989

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
116
Sparky said:
Oh fun. Best of luck to you.

The i5 and the i6 are very similar, what did they botch on the i5 heads?

They are very similar, basically the same exact engine minus a cylinder. That's why I bought this truck because I already knew the basics of the engine having owned a trailblazer before it. The 04,05, and early 06 i5s have some issue with the valves not seating correctly. GM extended the warranty but only to 7 years or 100k miles. I'm 5 months past the end of the 7 years.
 

rjpoog1989

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
116
Now, I don't take this as official until I hear it from GM but;

I just got off the phone with the dealership that did the diagnosis. I wanted to schedule getting this sucker fixed weather it was on GM or on me. The service manager informed me that he talked to the district manager earlier, and he was surprised I did not hear from them. He said they were willing to kick in about half the cost of the repairs. I guess that's better than nothing. He said the repair will take about 10 hours so the truck will be in the shop about a day. Parts will be in on Monday, truck to be repaired on Tuesday.

Good enough...
 

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