I need y'all's help. Today has been one of those days. I was kayak fishing, and my kayak flipped. I lost all my bass rods and reels, as well as my iPhone. Stopped at a nearby McDonald's to use wifi on my iPad to get directions home.

Within a half mile of getting back on the road, my check engine light came on. P0304 - misfire in cylinder 4.

I walked back to McD's to get wifi, but I talked to some guys at the auto parts store next door. They thought it wouldn't hurt to drive it home (30 miles), but honestly the engine felt like it would barely give any juice at all. I have a Harbor Freight folding trailer with my kayak on it, so hauling an extra 5-600 lbs doesn't make things better.

I'm going to call a tow truck and get it towed home. Because I can't afford to take it to a dealer - the fact that I have to replace my phone notwithstanding.

I know it's taboo to not read through threads and figure it out, but I apologize in advance and need somebody to help me out.

Things I know:

2009 MINI JCW
Mileage about 90k
Jut went through a debacle where my water pump was replaced, thermostat replaced twice. HPFP replaced as well.

None of these things seem relevant to me, but I figured I'd throw it out there.

Really hoping that I can just order some parts from ECS and fix it myself this week without getting it towed to Nashville.

Thanks in advance!

 

Quite often a misfire code is either the spark plug or coil. I would start simple, pull the plugs. There was a thread here a while back that he found a thin filament of carbon crossing the gap. If plugs ok, swap number 4 coil with number 3 and see if the code changes. You could get lucky..

 

Any update on this? Yes, if you haven't already, definitely make sure you check your spark plugs and coils. Swapping the coils around to see if the misfire follows is a good test, as suggested above, to see if the coil is at fault. Here is a good DIY to help with the replacement. Also, here are some other good suggestions and solutions.