P0301–P0312 Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected
One or more cylinders are not burning their fuel properly, so the engine loses that cylinder's contribution and pushes raw fuel into the exhaust.
Can you drive it? This class of fault can cause real mechanical damage if you keep driving on it. A persistent misfire also destroys the catalytic converter, which is the expensive part.
Which code is which
Same fault, different cylinder or bank — diagnosed the same way. Several set together usually means one shared cause.
| Code | Definition | Severity |
|---|---|---|
P0301 | Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected | Do not keep driving |
P0302 | Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected | Do not keep driving |
P0303 | Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected | Do not keep driving |
P0304 | Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected | Do not keep driving |
P0305 | Cylinder 5 Misfire Detected | Do not keep driving |
P0306 | Cylinder 6 Misfire Detected | Do not keep driving |
P0307 | Cylinder 7 Misfire Detected | Do not keep driving |
P0308 | Cylinder 8 Misfire Detected | Do not keep driving |
P0309 | Cylinder 9 Misfire Detected | Do not keep driving |
P0310 | Cylinder 10 Misfire Detected | Do not keep driving |
P0311 | Cylinder 11 Misfire Detected | Do not keep driving |
P0312 | Cylinder 12 Misfire Detected | Do not keep driving |
The definition
P0301: Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected.
P0301 is a powertrain code (the engine or gearbox), defined by the SAE standard - it means the same thing on any make of car, and any generic OBD-II reader will decode it.
What to check first
Cheapest and fastest checks first:
- Swap the coil pack with a neighbouring cylinder and clear the code. If the misfire follows the coil, you have found it.
- Do the same with the spark plug, then the injector.
- If the misfire stays with the cylinder, do a compression test before buying parts.
Reading the code is the easy part
A code names the circuit that complained. What tells you why is watching the sensor behind it while the engine runs — and that is where a code reader stops and a diagnostic tool starts.
VAGPULSE reads your engine ECU's fault codes and the live measuring blocks behind them, and clears the codes once you have fixed the fault. On the engine it also does what a generic OBD reader cannot on a VAG: coding, adaptations, and Stage 1–3 flashing on Bosch ME7 petrol ECUs, with a backup saved every time it reads your ECU.
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Common questions
What does P0301 mean?
P0301 means Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected. One or more cylinders are not burning their fuel properly, so the engine loses that cylinder's contribution and pushes raw fuel into the exhaust.
Can I drive with P0301?
This class of fault can cause real mechanical damage if you keep driving on it. A persistent misfire also destroys the catalytic converter, which is the expensive part.