[boombox]

I had an oil change the other day and aparently when he turned the car on after I left it there the CEL turned on. He changed the oil replaced the sparkplugs and said it was fine and good to go.

I take it home it drives great for the day or so. Then it starts well. its not really a sputtering, its a small jerking along with air shooting out of the exhaust flat or hills doesn't matter it still does it. theres a burning rubber smell now and it barely accelerates. the more i try to accelerate the worse it gets.

the sputtering was bad enough but by the time i made it home, i turned the car off and opened the hood and it sounded like someone was jingling keys inside something in the engine. has anyone ever experienced that?

I had a read out and I got P301. So its an obvious misfire, I get that, but what the hell does that mean? It seems like any mechanic I have taken it to has serious issues trying to figure out whats wrong with the car. Instead of messing around with mechanics trying to spend my money, I have friends that work on cars, but to anyone who has experienced this sort of issue, any advice you could offer would be fantastic.

My car pretty much sounds almost just like an old VW Bug & I can't for the life of me stand it.

 

[lildisco]

What year what engine?

But from what it sounds like is that make sure all the plugs and wires are on there tight. Do you still have the stock ones? Can you swap them out and see if that fixes it? Try and Unplugg the Battery overnight and hook it back up in the morning. I doubt it, but the ECU might need to learn how to drive again, but i doubt it. You have got a set of bad plugs and wires.......

 

[boombox]

Its a 2000

I'll go unplug the battery right now if you think that might be an issue since I won't be able to do anything with the car until tomorrow morning anyway.

I was told the sparkplugs were stock, and I am afraid to think it but I know its highly possible that the person who owned the car before me, didn't take care of it at all.

I had stock tires with 60000 miles on the car when I got it. Nice huh?

Either way, he replaced the sparkplugs and said everything was just fine, you figure if he replaced them he would have fixed the wiring as well? Maybe maybe not? It did all this before I took it in, but not NEARLY as bad.

 

[boombox]

replaced the spark plugs and wires.
fixed the problem

thank god it wasn't something worse

 

[Focus_wrc00]

Boombox, I had the same problem with mine, only mine was the # 4 cylinder. I had the P0304 code. Under throttle, and a few thousand r's the car sounded like a Subie with an exhaust due to my cat back. I fixed my problem with new plugs, wires, and a coil pack. I opted for a set of new Motorcraft plugs, and I added the 8.5mm super conductor MSD wires, and the MSD coil pack. I'm glad that you got your's going good again with a new set of plugs and wires. Just don't spray your engine off with water. I had a crap load of water on my spark plugs from water on automatic car washes and everything. That was part of my problem. I didn't know this until I pulled the wires off the plugs. Good luck with your fix. Hope it works out for you.