engine problems

[trellex]

So, I'm a newb technician wanna be, and I want to try and fix my shitty corolla so it works a few more months.

Problem:

It just happened randomly... but my car seems to be misfiring, and I have no idea how to fix it or diagnose the problem. The symptoms include:

1) when in idle/neutral, the engine is vibrating alot, and the strokes sound 'uneven'.
2) after being in idle and motoring on, there's a black poof of smoke out my tail pipe.
3) after revving it above 5000 rpms (I don't actually know, because my manual trans car has no tach - has anyone had this before?) and coming down to idle, it sounds like it's going to fail.

any body have any ideas on what it might be to have caused this?

Thanks for any help, Juan.

[kcwa]

The black smoke and running rough makes me think of the spark plugs and/or wires are bad. Black smoke indicates the engine is running rich...too much gas. Blue smoke is oil. Start with the plugs and wires...and lets see what others smarter than I have to say.

[macst19]

Originally Posted by trellex

So, I'm a newb technician wanna be, and I want to try and fix my shitty corolla so it works a few more months.

Problem:

It just happened randomly... but my car seems to be misfiring, and I have no idea how to fix it or diagnose the problem. The symptoms include:

1) when in idle/neutral, the engine is vibrating alot, and the strokes sound 'uneven'.
2) after being in idle and motoring on, there's a black poof of smoke out my tail pipe.
3) after revving it above 5000 rpms (I don't actually know, because my manual trans car has no tach - has anyone had this before?) and coming down to idle, it sounds like it's going to fail.

any body have any ideas on what it might be to have caused this?

Thanks for any help, Juan.

They sound exactly what's wrong with my car. KCWA was right on saying you're running rich. I would check this: Spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, distributor cap rotor, air filter, PCV valve, check for vacuum leaks, timing, oxygen sensor, and coolant temp sensor. It's more than likely that one of those is it. I'm slowly working my way down that list as my paychecks keep coming in. I'm in highschool so I don't have a steady job to fund my car needs ha.