How To Test The Fuel Injectors (2001-2006 2.4L Sebring And Stratus)

How To Find The Bad Or Clogged Fuel Injector

In this section, I'm including the process that I follow to find a clogged fuel injector. This process has save me a ton of time, frustration, and money in finding out the true cause of the misfire problem I'm trying to solve and I'm sure it's gonna' help you too.

Here are the troubleshooting steps:

1. Identify the 'dead' cylinder first.
   • You can easily accomplish this by checking for misfire trouble codes (P0301, P0302, P0303,P0304) or doing a manual cylinder balance test.
2. Make sure the 'dead' cylinder is getting spark.
   • This means making sure that the ignition coil is sparking.
   • It's important that you check that the spark plug boot and spark plug are NOT soaked (or swimming) in engine oil.
   • You should also remove the spark plug and check it for cracks or carbon tracks (this is SO important).
   • Here's a real life case study on carbon tracks and how they can cause a misfire: Carbon Tracks Are A Common Cause Of Ignition Misfires.
3. If spark is present, then the next step is checking that the 'dead' cylinder has good compression.
   • The purpose of this test is to make sure that the 'dead' cylinder DOES NOT have low compression.
   • You can find the compression test explained here: How To Test Engine Compression (2.4L Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth).
4. Perform a Noid light test on the fuel injector's electrical connector (of the 'dead' cylinder).
   • If every test above checks out OK, then the next step is to do a fuel injector Noid light test.
   • The Noid light test will help you make sure that the fuel injector is being activated.
   • The following Noid light article/tutorial may help you: How To Use A Noid Light And Where To Buy It (I know that this is not the most in-depth article on the subject, but it should give you an idea of what is involved).
5. Swap the fuel injector (of the 'dead' cylinder) with its neighbor on the fuel injector rail.
   1. If I've found out that I have a specific 'dead' cylinder and:
      1. The ignition system is not at fault.
      2. That cylinder's compression value is good (compared to the rest of the cylinders).
      3. The fuel injector resistance is good and...
      4. I think the fuel injector is clogged, I then swap out that fuel injector with its neighbor.
      If the misfire now follows that swap then I now know that fuel injector is clogged (or bad) and needs to be cleaned or replaced.

Finding the problem that's causing a cylinder misfire can seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be. If you follow the above testing steps, you'll be able to narrow down the causes to exact component (that has failed).

More 2.4L Chrysler And Dodge Tutorials

You can find a complete list of 2.4L Chrysler and Dodge tutorials in this index:

• Chrysler 2.4L Index Of Articles.

Here's a small sample of the tutorials you'll find in the index:

• How To Test Engine Compression (2.4L Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth).
• How To Test For A Blown Head Gasket (2.4L Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth).
• Ignition System Wiring Diagram (1995-1998 2.4L Cirrus, Stratus, Breeze).
• Fuel Injector Circuit Wiring Diagram (1995-2000 2.4L Cirrus, Stratus, Breeze).