Code PO301, Misfire?

SAMANTHA POZUELOS

MEMBER
2016 DODGE CHALLENGER
3.6L
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
70,000 MILES

My son dropped a tanks on my car to try to make it louder. I made him reinstall them. I made sure everything was reinstalled correctly. My car keeps misfiring and choking when I idle and when I get up to gear 36 cylinder misfire code PO 301 and I change the coil pack. I changed the spark plugs. I changed the O2 sensor. The check engine light isn’t on anymore however it’s still misfiring and choking while idling and when I get up to gear three.

1 Reply

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
13,414 POSTS

I'm sorry but "dropped a tanks" isn't familiar. Do you mean he took off the mufflers or resonators? If yes, then those are likely not the cause of the problem. The 3.6 has it's share of problems and one of them is in the valve train. Here is a question. When you start the engine and listen close with the hood open do you hear any rhythmic ticking noises? If yes then the misfire is probably the result of one of the camshaft followers failing, which is unfortunately a very common thing on that engine.
This video covers the problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIzJiKLjGt0

The thing is that as you replaced the coil and plug, that leaves the injector but those are actually pretty rare failure items. The same cannot be said of the followers in the valvetrain.
David has a few videos on this issue and how to inspect for it and repair it.