Is this engine coolant on my spark plugs? P0300
 

Hey guys I’ve been getting a P0300 the last couple weeks. It started the first cool morning I left for work after getting back from Z1 where they installed their CAI and upper intake plenum and tuned the car with ecutek.

Today I checked all my spark plugs really just making sure none had come loose and I noticed this green type substance but only on the white part of each plug where the coil pack plugs over it. The plugs weren’t wet on the bottom and I didn’t notice anything in any of the plug wells.

I guess I’m hoping this green **** is some kind of grease that Z1 puts in their coil packs…it’s got Z1 coil packs that I just put on about 3 months ago.

Any thoughts are much appreciated. I’m pretty bummed out with this P0300

What does it feel like? What does it taste like? What does it smell like?

Feels kinda greasy, smells like...not much, tastes like liver and fava beans with a nice chianti.

It is not coolant, that is for sure. It could be the grease put on the rubber insulator of the coil pack. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

That's a relief. It'd be kinda cool if they didn't use grease that was the exact same color as my engine coolant.

Could be di-electrical grease. Use it to keep the boots from sticking on the plugs. If it had a sweet taste to it. It could have been anti-freeze.

Wipe off all of the green shieeet from the spark plugs and from the coils. If the p0300 goes away then you know it was the grease. It could be causing arcing. If it still persists after that, you're going to have to join the ever since club and take your car back to Z1.

Well if it is the grease then it only started causing an issue 1) after Z1 tuned it or 2) after the weather got cooler.

Care to elaborate? Ever since what? Has Z1 changed ownership in that last few years or something?

Ever since refers to customers who come in for an oil change for example. Then, they say "Ever since you changed my oil my brakes are squeaking." They then proceed to demand a free brake job or whatever they come back complaining about. It's a term Technicians use to describe these type of people.

I wasn't saying you are that type of person just used the term.

I've been a professional technician for 8 years and it makes me laugh everytime someone plays this card.

Any luck with your Z?

Ohhhhhh I see haha so it’s more at jab at those types of people rather than Z1. Yeah I mean I have asked Z1 for their input but I live 5 hours from their shop so I don’t see myself taking it back to them.

It hasn’t thrown the code since I got it back together yesterday but the real test will be tomorrow morning.

When I started seeing that green stuff on the coils I thought surely I had a blown head gasket. So I’m just relieved it’s not that.

Car didn’t throw the code this morning.

Still not ready to say all is well though. I did a bunch of stuff Saturday while I was under the hood. Cleaned my MAFs, tightened all the hoses, checked and retightened all the spark plugs, a few of which didn’t seem to be screwed in all that tight, though none were totally loose inside the well.

I did order a new fuel cap yesterday. Which is long overdue. I have thrown codes in the past if I didn’t screw the gas cap on just right. Which is a known issue, with the early Zs at least.

So I’m just going to continue to keep an eye on everything.

Car threw the code when I left work this afternoon �� How would I go about getting a datalog for Z1?

You have ecutek? If so plug the obd 2 Bluetooth in and use the ecutek app to data log.

Yep it has ecutek. I do have a Bluetooth OBD2 scanner made by Innova. Do I need to get something else or will this scanner talk to the ecutek app?

I’ve been trying to get a data log with my current scanner but it only takes a snapshot under certain conditions and I cant figure out how to do it manually.

On another note, was my ecutek tune and license supposed to come with the ecutek scanner tool and cable? Cause it didn’t….

The kits with the cable or BT module are typically sold separate. My first tune was done locally and he just did everything himself. I got the cable used a few years later and just recently picked up the BT module from Eugene for easier datalogging. My understanding is you can datalog with just the BT module but you cannot upload tunes to the car. To flash the ROM I believe you have to use the OBDII-to-USB cable with the Deskey USB dongle.

Yeah you’re right I believe. Do you know where I should buy the ecutek dongle or cable or whatever? And do you know if I can just provide a datalog with my current scanner and the ecutek app?

Edit: also do you guys think I should still be driving my car to and from work? I don’t own another vehicle but I do have access to one if I really shouldn’t be driving my car right now.

If you buy a kit, I recommend getting a new one from Eugene (or other licensed Ecutek dealer) just to be safe. If you get a used cable kit, make sure it includes the cable AND the deskey USB dongle as well.

I'm fairly certain the Ecutek app only works with the Ecutek BT module. But I've been wrong before.

That code is a generic catch-all code, so it's probably fine to drive the car. Don't drive it if the CEL is blinking. I might avoid WOT and higher RPMs just to be safe. Are you ok with it stranding you somewhere if something goes wrong?

I appreciate your responses man. Haven’t had a flashing light yet but I do understand that if I do I should park the car.

I’m definitely avoiding driving the car hard.

My gut tells me it’s a fueling issue. Either fuel pump or fuel injectors. I’m tempted to just start throwing parts at it….like just replace the fuel pump and all the injectors. Then if it still does the same thing just sit back and have a cry about it.

Don't start throwing parts at it. That's the last thing you want to do with this code - it can be a black hole. First thing to do is troubleshoot and triple check any and all work that was done recently. Or call up Z1 with the "ever since" details lol. Datalogging is not a bad thing to do either. Then you can make smart decisions for the next steps. The law of unintended consequences may come back to haunt you if you just throw random parts at it.

What on earth makes you think it's fuel related? Not that it would help in this scenario, but if you don't already have a fuel pressure gauge, I recommend grabbing one from phunk (CJ Motorsports). The tap is out of stock currently but says it should be available in the next month or two.

I don’t know, honestly, just a hunch. Partially also wishful thinking since I’m confident I could replace them myself lol.

It’s weird because the car ran like a peach on the drive back from Z1, a 5 hour drive. Keep in mind Z1 also extracted a crap ton of power out of this car for the mods installed. It didn’t start acting up until I left for work the first cool morning. I also filled up with gas the day before it started acting up. On my next fill up I intend to go to a different station and I was thinking of adding a bottle of the Chevron fuel system cleaner BS. Just to rule out bad gas.

I’m just anxious to get it fixed, it bums me out hard as hell when my car isn’t running right. This is why I’m tempted to just start throwing parts at it lol. I’m not going to, but it’s tempting.

Another weird thing it’s doing. On a cold start, it revs really damn high for a good 3-4 seconds. I mean like almost 2000rpms. Then it’ll settle down to around 1200rpm. Then eventually it’ll settle down to around 750-800rpm so long as the code isn’t active. If I don’t clear the code it idles around 1200ish, per normal P0300 idle.

Also, between upshifs, I feel like the revs are hanging up longer than normal. Like it takes the RPMs longer to drop than it normally does

You might have some crap gas in there if that is another "ever since" item.

Interesting idle symptoms. Because my Z does some weird idle stuff too. It has been doing it for years and never thrown a code. Literally since 20K miles when the car was completely stock. After 100K miles I've done various mods, tune, relearn procedures, etc and it still does it. Shifting while driving is normal.

It will often rev up multiple times before settling down at the 750-800 range. My experience is it is worst when the car is hot and then sits for an hour or more. It will rev up to around 1200 and hold for 3-4 sec, then drop to 800 for a short sec, then rev up to 1600 for 2-3 sec, then drop to 800 for a short sec, then rev up to 2000 for a sec and then slowly increase to 2500+ before dropping to 800 and a normal idle after.

Haven’t made much progress in figuring out what’s going on. I did try new MAF sensors, which made no difference, at least I don’t think it did.

I did order the ecutek diag/map flash cable so I’ll be able to provide Z1 with a real datalog, and possibly get an updated map, if that’s what’s needed.

Does anyone have any experience with the Z1 OBD2 diagnostics tool? That thing looks pretty legit in its functionality.

Car threw P0305 today, so cylinder 5. So there’s something other than P0300 at least. Car still runs like **** of course. Ecutek cable comes in tomorrow. I’ve still got the old coil packs I took off the car a few months ago….you think I should swap one of the old plugs and coils in? Maybe check the injector on cylinder 5?

Try swapping that coil around and see if the problem moves to the other cylinder? That would at least confirm the bad coil.

True true. Good idea lol. Thanks.

If you have the ecutek Bluetooth obd Ii interface and the ecutek app that’s all you need in my opinion. I run data log nearly every time I drive my car with my ecutek setup.

Ecutek dongle came in the mail to day and I already got Z1 a couple 3rd gear pull datalogs and a couple others just cruising around. They let me know which parameters to be sure I had activated in the app.

So now just waiting to hear back.

Is it possible something in the tune itself is wonky and causing it to misfire?

I will definitely update this thread when a solution is found.

Does it make any sense that I feel like the car runs better as the fuel tank gets more and more empty? Because I've been through two tanks of gas now since this issue started and I feel like I've noticed this both times the fuel level got closer to a 1/4 tank.

I also feel like the car is running better now since I've been using the ecutek dongle. I know it ran an update the first time I plugged it in and got it connected to my phone.

This ecutek bluetooth dongle coupled with the phone app really is quite an amazing product. I was able to record datalogs and send them straight to Z1 from the app.

Car hasn't thrown the code on the dash since I got the ecutek dongle...it pops up sometimes in the DTC report in the app but it clears on its own after a drive or two.

Weird..