I've been considering this as a possibility as well. The wires on that connector don't appear to be in the best shape. I've been trying to find info on the wiring for that connector but find conflicting info. Some stuff I've read indicate that the coils feed the spark plugs in the firing order (1&6, 2&5, and 3&4) others indicate the coils feed the plugs nearest to them (1&2, 3&4, and 5&6). The latter would make sense in my situation since its always cylinder 6 misfire but 5 will pop up occasionally too.
Do you know whats right between those 2? Or are you aware of any good sources to get that info from?
I think a little bit of both is true rereading your question, firing order is the first list and the second is the plugs that share coils so both are true and if you are having difficulty with 6 and occasionally 5 that could point to the connection being dirty and having some corrosion. The coil rail you replaced with no change so I would not rush to blame the aftermarket one right away.
where did you get your factory cam position sensor? I think even the ones sold at dealerships now are made in China, I’m not 100% positive on this but believe I read this here. Do you have the original? If you have the factory sensor and the replacement didn’t help or make any noticeable difference you might consider slipping it back in, the aftermarket/Chinese ones have a habit of being temperature sensitive I believe and along the way you could have fixed you problem only to introduce it again if this sensor is acting up in the cold?
if you run out of things to look at and have not inspected and cleaned your crank position sensor that might be worth a try? Mine on the 2006 is back by the bell housing on the passengers side i think 2001-2006, you get at it from underneath. You can fit one arm in through a hole by the frame and one arm shoved in between the exhaust pipe and where ever works best. Release the red connector clip, slide off the connector, use a short 3/8 ratchet and socket (I don’t remember the size 7/8, 13mm??) it needs to be deep enough to reach over the sensor but not so tall as not to fit, the bolt is above/behind your view. I’m not sure exactly what year they switched yours could be on the drivers side the connector is then reached from above back by the fire wall and the sensor is again down by the bell housing. Most of the YouTube videos I found were for the drivers side location on the earlier Tj’s I think the passenger side was fairly easy, watch for an O ring but mine didn’t have one. Something that is confusing is the cam and crank shaft sensors get names get switched around by accident I think making it a little confusing. Mine was pretty clean but some I saw were pretty gunned up and I think that could degrade performance.
researching My latest code a p0016, I think the code was from my Crown cam position sensor ( I just put my old MOPAR one back in), dirty engine oil was one thing to check I guess if it’s dirty enough it can interfere with the signal similar to a layer of gunk, probably a both situation In some cases.
as far as the leak down test I have no idea, but anything different deserves another look. You are talking cylinder leak down not intake exhaust?
I watched one video where a shop used a pressure relay threaded into the suspect cylinder and they charted the compression electric impulse on a chart using a scale of 10 psi/1v the line graph showed the beginning of the compression stroke as a high sharp peak in the compression strokethat began and ended with a dip, rising to an m without the middle leg for the exhaust and intake stroke dipping down negative into another compression stroke. On the chart it was easy to split the four strokes up showing exactly what was happening and where based on relation to the baseline and phase.
a local shop may have the tool to do that if you were to get so far as considering a look inside, this might work instead? But I sure rule out anything simple even if it means putting an old part back in until you hit you problem.
for smoke tester I ordered this one off Amazon and it works great all you need is unscented mineral oil from Ace hardware or similar, there is a variety of models and prices, YouTube has diy plans you can make your own.
the page for this one is gone now.
a disclaimer this is just more stuff I’ve tried too, I’m still searching I think although it’s running even better now with my old cam sensor, drove it around town and the freeway and no codes or pending codes yet… the codes changing I think is pointing me in a direction to believe I both solved one problem and introduced another with the cam sensor???
hope this helps and isn’t just more confusion?
