Hi. My stock 2000's CEL light just came on, showed CODE 72. I checked and this is what it means,

Cylinder 2 Misfire or a Random Misfire a condition is present that is creating a cylinder misfire

I did a search and found out that this may be due to plugs, wires, distributor , and bent valves (SCARY!!!). The car idles fine, no hesitation under acceleration. PLEASE let me know what to check first-
Plugs? Wires? Distributor? If I replace these parts, do I need to reset the ecu, and then drive around to see if the CEL comes back on? Or does teh CEL goes away on its own after i replace these parts
I was due for my 60k service (59k now), but I know the dealer will rip me a new one to diagnose the problem. Pls advice.

Thank you.

 

2nd cylinder misfire is correct. You misshift at all? probably a bent valve in there. Do a compression test

 

I may have redlined it several times lately, but i did not mis-shift.
What should I check first aside from a comp test.?

 

Reset the ECU to see if it's a random code. Make note of any recurring pattern of conditions if it comes on again.

Flip flop the #2 and another injector to see if the misfire moves.

 

well definately check the cheap things first, try changing your plugs

 

Thanks for the reply. I will do the plugs tmrw. Do I have to reset the ecu after changing plugs or will the CEL light turn off by itself if that is the problem?