I have replaced my plugs, wires and distributor cap, still having the same problem, my next notion would be to replace the dizzy rotor but I cant get it off, if the rotor was bad do you think it would cause a missfire in cylinder 2? furthermor, is there a way to test the distributor if i take the whole thing out? thanks!

 

what does the spark plug for cylinder 2 look like? is there oil on it?

 

well the old plug look a bit burnt but not bad, but when i put the new plug in, i had to pull it out again it had a very small amount of oil on it.

 

i was just thinking that it would be real IDEAL if u started the post with year and model .so we would know what we are working on ,, now that would be an IDEAL situation

 

The rotor would cause a random miss if it was worn, however, not on just 1 specific cylinder. It's obviously not spark related as you already replaced the plugs, wires, and cap.

It could be many things, such as low compression in that cylinder, bad injector, bad headgasket, distributor....

I would get a noid light and check the injector.

 

You are not the only one. I had the same exact problem that pestered me for about a year but on cylinder # 1. I replaced the plugs and wires and it would still occasionally flip CEL. It would only register the code a single time not repeatedly. It also seemed to only occur when it was pretty hot outside.

Since replacing the wires its only occurred a couple times. I would probably start by running some seafoam through the intake and 44k (from a dealership) through the gas. Never know, probably couldn't hurt to check your timing and valve lash too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ideal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well the old plug look a bit burnt but not bad, but when i put the new plug in, i had to pull it out again it had a very small amount of oil on it.</TD></TR></TABLE>
interesting - on the top or the bottom? did you look at any of the other plugs? any oil on them?

it wouldn't hurt to do a compression test to rule out a problem with the cylinder.

 

Sounds like leaky valve cover but its pretty hard to tell where the oil is coming from when you pull it out, but definitely do a compression test man!

 

well the car shakes alot more and sounds louder to, so it isnt just a CEL, the spark plug barely had any on it and it was towards the top, well the problem with this rotor is it was apparently apoxied on by the previous owner and it doesnt look right, but I guess I would be getting misfires threw all the cylinders not just one

 

Look at each wire with a timing light to see if #1 is really the only cylinder that is missing. I worked on a camry this week that Started out with #1 misfire which I verified with a light that this was the only miss. While in the process of diagnosing the problem, it got progressively worse and was then missing on other cylinders but only threw a code for #1. Timing belt jumped.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ideal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> the spark plug barely had any on it and it was towards the top, well the problem with this rotor is it was apparently apoxied on by the previous owner and it doesnt look right</TD></TR></TABLE>
if the oil's at the top it's probably just a gasket leak in the valve cover no biggie there

but on an epoxied rotor!!! is there even a screw holding it to the distributor? If not that could potentially be a problem - possible poor contact for the electrical signal

 

There is a single screw that holds the rotor in place. Its a tight fit even without the screw. The rotor fits over the distributor end (whatever its called) but isn't pressed on or anything. Take the screw out and it should come off.

That's a good idea with the timing light, or if you feel like a stud you can ground your hand to the car and hold on to a spark plug. If your arm gets numb you're getting a good spark.

 

10$ says it's the injector. start there.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by notoriousB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if the oil's at the top it's probably just a gasket leak in the valve cover no biggie there

but on an epoxied rotor!!! is there even a screw holding it to the distributor? If not that could potentially be a problem - possible poor contact for the electrical signal</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ill take a picture of it later on its pretty said, nope, no screw.

 

I cant remember the last time I changed the fuel filter, probably been like 2/3 years :s

do you think it could be causing that problem?

 

wouldn't cause symptoms anything like that, the car would lag and have no power...not to mention it wouldn't misfire in only 1 cylinder if it was that starved for gas

 

this happened on my old roomates saab 93. he kept getting one cylinder misfire, he bought a new coilpack unit and spark plugs..still had the problem...took it to a shop they couldn't figure it out. finally i told the shop to run a compression test on his car, the compression was a decent amount lower the others on that one cylinder but not enough to be bad rings or anything. it turns out his valve seal was bad which wasn't getting the proper compression in the cylinder to fire right. they replaced the valve seal and it fixed the problem. hasn't done it since.

 

I was just about to suggest valves. Sometimes carbon deposits can either break off or cause hotspots and possibly a burnt valve. I would do a compression check for sure and then go from there.

 

enough what ifs already, check that compression!