Lately my car has been missing while running at an idle and under moderate acceleration. I noticed when I give it more gas it goes away. I think it might be that I have a spark plug wire going bad any thoughts.
Most likely either a plug or wire.
2.2 97 Cavalier......the "Crapalier"
Generally, increase throttle means increase cylinder pressure. If the problem is a bad plug or wire the problem should get worse when you step on the gas.
dennis
Ahh, I got on this topic because I thought that I was going to see that you lost an engine.... lolz the topic names around here...
Awww! I thought u were going to be like "dude I woke up and my engine was gone!"
Is the oil light coming on when the engine is misfiring? If so, you could be looking at an oil pump problem. Oil pump could be bad. If that is the case, the pump may not be providing enough oil pressure to keep the valves open at low rpm. In that case the valves will "Collapse" and cause the ignition sequence to change a bit if one cylinder is not firing correctly due to a collapsed plug. Is it a 2.2 OHV or a 2.2 L61 Ecotec? The 2.2 OHV has a famous reputation for gunking in the bottom end. Try cleaning out your pickup screen when you drop the pan to change the oil pump if that is the issue. Also try sea foam on a full tank of gas. Just my $0.02 and knowledge. Hope it all works out for ya.
Tyrone Boswell wrote:Is the oil light coming on when the engine is misfiring? If so, you could be looking at an oil pump problem. Oil pump could be bad. If that is the case, the pump may not be providing enough oil pressure to keep the valves open at low rpm. In that case the valves will "Collapse" and cause the ignition sequence to change a bit if one cylinder is not firing correctly due to a collapsed plug. Is it a 2.2 OHV or a 2.2 L61 Ecotec? The 2.2 OHV has a famous reputation for gunking in the bottom end. Try cleaning out your pickup screen when you drop the pan to change the oil pump if that is the issue. Also try sea foam on a full tank of gas. Just my $0.02 and knowledge. Hope it all works out for ya.
"Due to a collapsed VALVE" not plug... I hate typos -.-
Tyrone, Good idea, but at an idle, our engines do not need anywhere near 100% valve lift... The lifters at full collapse are only worth about 0.185"... not enough to cause a miss...
I would second the plug wire idea as thats the easiest to check for. When I had a coolant pipe that passes in front of the head drip coolant into the plug oriface in the cyl head it cause the wire to fail through the boot... I had a miss at idle, smoothed right out while driving.
Buildin' n' Boostin for 08' - Alex Richards
True. You don't need 100% lift. You do need some lift though. Only reason I brought it up is because I had a similair issue on my 95 Cav. She would miss and almost sounded like she was "Camming" at an idle or low rpm, but at around 1,500 rpm, she would straighten out and run smooth as baby bottom. Checked the oil pressure circulation by using a cheap SunPro Oil Pressure Gauge and monitoring oil pressure throughout the rpm range. At high rpms, I was still getting somewhat of a low reading. At idle, I barely had any and I mean almost none. Engine would choke itself out when coming to a stop or at idle without giving it some throttle. Sure enough, oil pump was worn out and wasn't putting out enough pressure. The intake valves on cylinders 2 and 4 were literally starved and couldnt lift enough to keep it running. Plugs or cables are probably what the cause is though. It wouldnt be an ICM because the misfire isnt occurring during normal rpm range. He should pull the plugs, look for any cavity build up on the plugs, as well as check for any abundant amount of oil on the plug socket when he pulls the plug. If he finds alot of oil, could be a bad O-Ring or piston seal that failed allowing oil to leak and hit that plug and foul it out causing an uneven firing order. Whew, that was alot to say. Just doing my best to provide solid info and tips. Sorry for the book lol.
I replaced the spark plug wires a few days ago and it's been purring like a kitten and my gas mileage has improved.
