misfire

[Jomo60]

My wife drove her 98 camry home today and had only one complaint-the radio
(and clock) stayed on after taking out her keys. I drove the car later that night and the check engine light came on, sometime flashing, and the car was running rough. This is a sign of misfiring, correct?
My question is how to tell if the problem is in the wires, plugs or ignitors?
And yes, it rained most of the day!
Thank you,
Jomo

[Mister_Perkins]

- fuel filter = low probability of replacement failure
- fuel injectors = not likely to be random
- fuel pump = not likely to be random
- spark plugs, new is unlikely but possible - Check gap, check for fouled plugs, clean and reinstall... Keep note of what they look like too. A Fouled spark plug will cause a random misfire
- BUT Ignitor/ignition = 40,000 volts . More probability than other stuff

Yes when the check engine light is flashing and your motor is fluctuating this is usually a sign of a random misfire.

Grab yourself a Repair Manual and a Digital Multimeter to test each thing individually. Your Repair manual will list each thing, and a procedure on how to check it. Usually measuring Resistance (Ohms) or voltage

You'll know when its fixed if you've got an ignition or injector problem. You can test the ignition coils with a multimeter. The best way is to check the injectors and coils. Pull your plugs a to confirm which cylinder(s) has the misfire, then check your injector with an ohm meter. Pull the harness connector off(squeeze the tab first) and put the 2 probes on the terminals. If your injector reads a short, high resistance or open, the injector is bad. A good reading should be 13-14 ohms. If your injectors check out fine, then the coil is most likely the problem since injectors don't usually go bad in pairs. The resistance on the plug wires is good. 1st coil should be the same or close to the second. Good luck

[allanlaw]

First, buy or borrow an OBD2 code reader and check to see what is causing the MIL to set. This may give you a good clue as to what is wrong. I had a P0304 code this week - cylinder 4 misfire - which clued me in pretty good as to where to look (it was the coil pack). If it's a random misfire (not a specific cylinder each time), then the procedures noted above are in order. Good luck.

[AliRazoR]

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[Mike Gerber]

"later that night and the check engine light came on"

If you have Autozone in your area they will read the code(s) from the check engine light for free. If you don't have Autozone, make a few calls to other auto parts store in your area and ask if they offer this free service. It's important to jot down what the code or codes are and list them here. Then somebody will be able to give you some direction.

Mike