My New Car!!! Misfire problem Ideas?

[pwgus]

Ok, so I got the new Aspire tongiht. It's a Red 97' 5 speed with a REALLY GOOD BODY (for an Iowa car, only one very minor rust spot, not even all the way through!). It's pretty basic, with AC and rear defrost being the only options, lol, but I'll fix it up and make it nice. $600 dollars for 108,000 miles. Anyways, it runs pretty darn good really. The only problem really is it has a #1 cylinder misfire. The distributor cap looks new, wires are new and securly attatched. Haven't really tried to see what else is wrong but I'll get round to it. Any ideas, or things to check? The autozone guy who was plugging in the OBD-2 computer said he thought he was hearing a vacuum hiss too, but wouldn't that cause all the cylinders to have issues, not just the one, right?? Anyways, I will take a better look when I have light tommorow, but ideas on specific things to check would be greatly appreciated!

[Roboskittle]

Obviously check the spark plug hell try to swap it to another cylinder to make sure. Make sure all your wires are fully seated. These cars are plagued with distributor and MAF problems. Doesnt sound like your problem though. Good luck.

[Britstiva]

Start with the basics first... Get yourself a new set of wires. See if it still does the same thing. Move on to spark plugs. Clean up the contacts in the dist cap....

then if all fails... start hunting down that "hiss". Keep us posted on what you find out!

[pwgus]

hmmm, ok, I think the wires are good cuz those look very new. I didn't even think about the MAF, I'll have to check that. How would I go about this?

[takeone51]

you may also have a fuel injector not operating..

[pwgus]

really? I always thought that was very rare. If thats the problem, I can swap fuel injectors, and plug OBD-2 computer back in and it should show up as cylinder-x as the problem then, right? also, I can't remember for sure, but the cylinder order is 1-2-3-4 from left to right, is that correct?

[quaddawg]

Start with the basics..

Pull one spark plug wire at a time and see if you can find the one that doesn't make any difference when it's pulled.. that's your dead cylinder...

THEN go on to see if its a plug, or wire. First things first... If it's not those.. start checking to see if the injectors are firing...

If they all check out, I would run a compression check to see if one cylinder is down on compression......

[1988redfordfestiva]

i say misfire check plugs if they dont look right pull and do a compression test then change plugs wires and car and rotor then if that dont help cam or crank sensor and then disty

[quaddawg]

i say misfire check plugs if they dont look right pull and do a compression test then change plugs wires and car and rotor then if that dont help cam or crank sensor and then disty

nah... don't just toss money at it.... take my advice and pull the wires one by one to find out what is wrong BEFORE you start chucking money at it..


I am old school I guess.. FIND the problem before trying to fix it...

[1988redfordfestiva]

hey if they havent been changed and 100,000 past allready i think its do for sparks and wire and cap and rotor and a nice oil change at least

[quaddawg]

hey if they havent been changed and 100,000 past allready i think its do for sparks and wire and cap and rotor and a nice oil change at least

Prolly so....

but my 35 years of troubleshooting and mechanic experience have taught me this very clearly..

FIND the problem first... period.

Parts changers change parts... Mechanics diagnose and troubleshoot...

[pwgus]

what will the proper compression reading be? and since my current cash on hand in the bank and otherwise is about $40 dollars, lol, I'll be doing as much diagnosing before I fix

[pwgus]

and should I be performing a wet or dry compression check?

[FestYboy]

if the code is for cyl #1 (P0301), look there first (pull plug/inspect, and while running, take long metal rod and listen to the injector). if injector is clicking, plug should be discolored and/or wet.

[1988redfordfestiva]

true i've diagnosed but mainly i do see for some parts but i cant tell cause i'm not there