Knocking after getting detailed

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How many miles do you have on this vehicle?

Swap your number #1 coil onto another plug and see if the code changes.

 

Check the 12V battery voltage. The detailer may have run down the battery while detailing the car by leaving the interior lights on or playing the radio. It doesn't explain the knocking sounds, but a low 12V battery is known for throwing bad codes.

 

Would have said water worked past the plug boots when they washed it, but that should have cleared up pretty quickly.....

so...at a loss.

 

Is it possible water got into the engine bay, got onto the top off te block and then into the #1 slot, messing with things?

Did they wash the exterior or also do a engine bay detailing?

 

How are you reading these codes?

Please list *all* of the current codes retrieved.

Which codes are we talking about now, so far you've mentioned :

• P030X
• P0351
• P03XX

What were those X's ??

 

Well my guess...total guess is that it's one of two things....
Either a total coincidence that this problem whatever it is arose after being detailed OR...
When the engine compartment was cleaned, something did get knocked loose.

I'm NOT putting my money on 12 volt battery, because I've read a lot of threads of them causing gremlin like problems if drained or weakening, but I've never heard anything about them causing engine knock.

That being said, testing the 12 volt is pretty easy to do, and rules it out...so it couldn't hurt.

Does anyone know what those codes refer to?
That might help in what area to look for something knocked loose.

 

Googling indicates ignition coil problem, various cylinders.

 

Makes me suspicious that it is something knocked loose due to engine compartment cleaning.

I wonder how the detailer cleaned the engine compartment.
I use to live relatively close to one of those coin operated high pressure sprayer car wash set ups.

And I don't know how many times I saw somebody high pressure "cleaning" their engine compartment, then later stranded at the car wash with the hood up, trying to figure out why the vehicle wouldn't start.

My feeling is you have to be VERY careful with all modern engines.
I don't even really bother with any major cleaning of the engine.
Every 2 month or so, I'll open the hood up and wipe down the easily accessible parts. With just a spray bottle of water, and a towel/rag.
That keeps it looking nice enough to me, without risking exactly this type of problem arising.

 

Yeah reading closer, @Big Nick has inspected coils, says everything is dry, now. Maybe it wasn't so dry, at some point, and that shorted something?

 

Odd that P0304 (cyl #4) wasn't also reported.

Still not sure how you are reading or retrieving these codes, now might be the time to invest in a mini-vci cable (or similar) and get techstream up and running.

Those DTCs (P0301 - P0303) indicate multiple logged misfires on three (3) cylinders, is it known if they're current or historical?

Have you disconnected the 12v to clear the codes?

Pretty sure @edthefox5 has previously mentioned the rubbers on these COPs giving out over time and having issues with 'carbon tracking', you might be able to clean them or not. It could be your detail shop didn't cover up critical components, or used a type of surfactant or dressing which left a residue during/after higher pressure washing.

DTC P0351 points to coil #1. If you swapped/moved coil #1 (as mention above) to another spark plug/cylinder (let us say #2) and then retrieved a DTC of P0352 we might assume that something is wrong with the coil you're moving around. But everything stayed the same, with P0351 being reported again (but now with coil #2 on cyl #1).. which sounds like a signalling issue, you might first check for tracking on the plugs/cops, then look into the connection/ground/harness signalling issue (see repair work up, below), as it would be doubtful that multiple COPs would all be bad

Here is the whole article where the snippet below was taken from : Under the Hood: COP Patrol – Tracking Down Coil-on-Plug Misfires

Life on the Street
Due to the lack of component accessibility on many applications, diagnosing COP ignition systems often requires a variety of diagnostic strategies. When used in an OBD II application, a defective COP ignition will usually store a P0300 misfire trouble code in the PCM’s diagnostic memory.

In Photo 2, the scan tool screen shows misfires in all cylinders because the spark plugs are worn. But, most important, the misfire history indicates that the number three cylinder has been misfiring repeatedly due to a bad spark plug, coil, fuel injector, valve train defect, leaking cylinder head gasket or low cylinder compression.

Using this screen as an example, let’s keep in mind that many OBD II PCMs will indicate an open condition in the primary circuit by displaying P0350 through P0362 diagnostic trouble codes.

In this case, the only available DTC is P0303, which indicates a degree of misfire that’s potentially damaging to the vehicle’s catalytic converter. Although the misfire history indicates misfires in the remaining cylinders, none have reached the threshold needed for storing a general or cylinder-specific misfire code.

Criminal Patterns
The most common failure in COP ignitions is carbon tracking or “flash over” on the spark plug insulator. See Photo 3.​

Although carbon tracking is usually caused by oil, dirt or moisture creating a path to ground over the spark plug insulator, a severely eroded spark plug electrode will increase firing voltages to the point that the spark will seek the point of least resistance, which is either through the spark plug boot or down the insulator to the metal shell.

If a carbon track is found on a spark plug, an identical track will be found inside the spark plug boot.

If the boot is serviced as a replacement part separate from the coil, the boots should be replaced at the same intervals as the spark plugs. If the boot is available only with the coil assembly, the spark plugs should be replaced at the recommended intervals and care should be taken not to contaminate the boot or insulator with dirt or oil.​

And for reference here is the repair and work up for P0351, and for DTC P0300 thru P0304

 

Thought I posted something, will try again: