Hello all,

I am new to the forum and must say I have absolutely enjoyed reading all of the fantastic info on these threads. Thank you all for the time and effort to put this together.

I ran out of gas while I was installing a new radio. It was a cold evening so I had my Disco running at idle in my driveway to keep me warm. Well obviously I went and got more gas (3 gallons) and started it back up. When I started it back up the engine started misfiring and shaking. I took it to the gas station after that to get more gas but still the same problem. I also have a flashing SES that will flash intermitently but will not turn off. I had the trouble code checked at a local Autozone and I got the P0308 code. I have been doing a lot of reading and research on this forum but could not find anything definitive on this code. It could be a number of things I guess having to do with the #8 cylinder.

Well I wanted to get a little more clarity on this so I took the truck to a different store to check the code and they said its a random misfire on all cylinders? I am hoping a new fuel filter and some Seafoam can clear this up. Could it be I got trash in the injectors or fuel rail? Maybe a clogged fuel filter? My problem is definitely fuel related as this thing was purring like a kitten before it ran out of gas. Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

 

Okay first the code is a misfire on cylinder # 8 and not a all cylinder misfire! Good news for you!!!


This truck does not have a in line fuel filter. Just the sock/filter on the pump.


Now your cylinder #8 is on passenger side of engine closest to the firewallI. You need to pull that plug and inspect it, if you have 7mm wires and old plugs you may consider 8mm wires and new plugs.
The chance of sucking up debris is there but you need to inspect that plug and let us know what you find.

Please look at the sticky for major service & try to get caught up.

 

If you had misfires after you ran out of gas - this may have only occured for less than a minute.

Running out of gas - is not normal standard operation and will cause misfires.

So, clear the codes.

Then see if they come back.

The fuel system only has fuel going in - not returning .
So it may take time for the air to purge out the injectors.
And there are your misfires.

 

I pulled all of the plugs one by one and all have even wear and nothing abnormal. The wires were 8mm but I have no idea how old they are. I went ahead and replaced all of the plugs and wires. I know that everyone uses the Magnecore and Bosch 4's but I cannot afford that setup right now, so I went with OEM Champion plugs and Belden Blue wires in the interim.

I have noticed a considerable difference in acceleration and responsiveness but still have the miss. Now... I went to a third Autozone and had the codes checked again and this time it pulled up codes P0300, 0307, 0305, 0306, and 0308. So am still having a random misfire on almost all cylinders. It's just not as bad since I changed the wires and plugs. So I guess that only leaves the coil packs, weak fuel pump, or debris in the rail. Again... this truck ran beautifully before I ran out of gas. This all happened after that. Which is why I am having a hard time swallowing it being the coils or ignition related. The truck always starts on the dime.

I saw that major service thread, thank you. It just didn't have the answer's I was looking for on this. I am very mechanically inclined and I always work on my own cars. I'm just hoping for some solid direction on this but I am afraid it will be a process of elimination.

 

The fuel pump has a sock filter in the tank, so unlikely you have anything extra in the rail. If you can look under the hood in complete darkness, you may see arcing around plug wires or coils. Does the misfire happen all the time or just when engine heats up?

 

I had this problem random misfires 300...308, After much ado it turned out to be a bad cylinder caused by a cracked ring. The way a motor detects a misfire is actually very complex and not that exact and severely out of balanced motor can throw multiple misfire codes.

A misfire can only be caused by 4 things,

1. Bad ignition; plugs, wires or coil packs or wires running to the coil pack

2. Bad Injector

3. Bad compression from leaky valves or a worn cam lobe

4. A bad cylinder caused by worn of damaged rings

Period end of story

 

The misfire is most noticeable upon acceleration, at idle it's pretty smooth. It misses when the engine is both cold or hot. Also the SES light will only flash upon acceleration (don't know if that matters).

 

Okay.... Got it! It was the ignition coils. I replaced the whole assembly and voila, runs beautifully again. It was such a coincidence that the coils crapped out right when I ran out of gas. The timing of it all really threw me off. I am so relieved and want to thank you all for your input.

 

Congrats, glad you figured out the problem and not having to visit the stealership.

 

Good morning- new owner of a 2001 disco. Bought and drove it from OR to AZ- along the way it went to the M -S and D flashing. Thanks to you all I was able to spray WD40 and it went away (pops up from time to time) now The engine light is flashing. Multiple misfires in multiple cylinders- Going to replace the coils / wires and plugs. Any suggestions on where to get the coils? Or brand? Thanks everyone