Toyota Repair: engine misfire, intake manifold gasket, vacuum hoses


Question
I have a 1997 V4 Toyota Camry with 110,000 miles on odometer. One of cylinders quit during a recent driving and “Check Engine” light was on. To find the cause, I unplugged plug wires from spark plug one by one with engine running and found cylinder #1 was dead. OBD-II scan displayed a trouble code P0301, meaning cylinder #1 misfire detected. However spark was normal for #1 wire and spark plug. Also there was no change when coils #1 and #4 were swapped. Then I replaced injector #1 even though ohms test showed the original one was OK. Injector connector also appeared working confirmed by volt and noid light tests. Finally I did cylinder compression test. After all these tests from ignition, fuel injection to cylinder compression, everything seems working except that cylinder #1 remains misfire. I exhausted all options I could come up with. The only thing I have not checked is PCM. Should I replace it?

Answer
I don't think the computer would be the problem, it would not have passed the noid light pulse test. Since the compression is good and everything else mechanically and electrically seems ok then the only other problem that I can see would be a possible intake system leak, check for any vacuum hoses that may have come off the manifold near the #1 cylinder, check for a leaking intake manifold gasket, although not common, there is a possibility that the problem may be due to an air leak, check intake manifold vacuum with a vacuum gauge at idle, it should be at least 14" of vacuum on the gauge.