98 ford esscort 2.o SOC

plumbchris

Hi my friend has this old escort but likes the car . The issue is wont smog because it shows a 302 error Misfire number 2 cylinder. I checked the plug, wire, and injector but still not helping, It seems to be dead totally on the cylinder after it warms up. I checked the compression and it is a bit low on that cylinder like 30 PSI below the others at 120 could this cause the miss code? and can it be a head gasket?

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, probably on a small bore engine like that, 90 psi is too low for effective combustion. You could switch the plug, wire and injector to another cylinder and see if the error code follows the switch. If not, then that's pretty much your answer.