Car misfires and the CEL blinks?

Tiny
JUSTIN31337
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
  • 2001 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 106,000 MILES
The car can be driven but it has no power and misses.
A diagnostic tool said "cylinder 2 miss fire". A friend who is a mechanic messed with it and says the 2 and 3 cylinders are firing at the same time.
I changed the coil, plug wires, plugs, air filter, oil, oil filter, fuel filter, air intake sensor, and checked the fuel line to see if it was clogged and checked the injectors but didn't replace them. I'm getting desperate and running out of money, any suggestions?
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Friday, October 16th, 2020 AT 11:09 AM (Merged)
Tiny
JDL
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,098 POSTS
Hello, what's the litre size of you engine? Cylinders 2 & 3 are supposed to fire at the same time. Whether it is a 2.2 or 2.4, the firing order is the same, 1342.

Did you visually check for spark at the plugs? Did you use a gage and check fuel pressure? A misfire can be caused by just about anything. Do your testing before you replace anything.
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Friday, October 16th, 2020 AT 11:09 AM (Merged)
Tiny
JUSTIN31337
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Its a 2.2L and its getting spark at the plug. I assume we checked the fuel pressure, but I think the problem is something else. We decided to hook up a timing light to it just to see if that could tell us something and it looked like there isn't a constant spark, like it will flash constant and pause for half a second at odd times like its skipping a spark every once in a while, but we didn't know if it was supposed to do that or not. One thing I forgot to mention is the "Trac" light comes on when it starts missing and when it goes off its fine. Its on more than its off. When you drive it, it will be missing then it will start running fine for about 5 minutes, then runs bad and then good over and over. The check engine light sometimes comes on, but usually only if we are driving it for 10 minutes or more. I guess I will probably have to take it to a garage and let them do some tests on it
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Friday, October 16th, 2020 AT 11:09 AM (Merged)
Tiny
SCOTTSTONYA
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 2000 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 167,000 MILES
My car is missing intermittently. When it does this, the check engine light comes on steady until the car shifts into drive when it starts to blink. We have replaced plugs, wire, and coils. When it did this in the past, it coded for a misfire on cylinder 4. What could it be?
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Friday, October 16th, 2020 AT 11:09 AM (Merged)
Tiny
RASMATAZ
  • MECHANIC
  • 75,992 POSTS
Scan the computer for OBD2 code/s and comeback with it-we start here w/o it there's no starting point

P0304

Check the sparkplug/compression and injector for cyl no.4
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Friday, October 16th, 2020 AT 11:09 AM (Merged)
Tiny
LNPHENIXCITY
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 2000 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 10,300 MILES
The engin was presure washed and now the car is skipping. Also the Check engin light and the Track Off light is on.
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Friday, October 16th, 2020 AT 11:09 AM (Merged)
Tiny
JDL
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,098 POSTS
You may need to unplug everything that has an electrical connector and dry it off. Another thing you can do is place the vehicle in total darkness, start it, raise the hood, look for fire--spark anything that makes a lite. You may have to have the codes checked?

Welcome to the site.
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Friday, October 16th, 2020 AT 11:09 AM (Merged)
Tiny
ZENSLIEV
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 2000 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 90,700 MILES
I have a 2000 Chevy Cavalier 2.2L which was recently diagnosed as having a cracked cylinder head as the reason for a bad misfire. From the mechanic's own words, radiator fluid had been leaking into the cylinder, but my radiator fluid levels are fine, there's none of the typical smell of antifreeze after driving the car, and it hasn't had any engine temp problems in a while, despite driving around with the misfire for over a month or so now. They already charged me $700 for electrical work that they first 'diagnosed' as the problem. Could this be the real reason, or is my mechanic just trying to bilk me out of even more money?
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Friday, October 16th, 2020 AT 11:09 AM (Merged)
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,870 POSTS
You can tell if coolant is being burned in the combustion chamber they have a chemical test kit that you put a test fluid in and run the car while it set's in the coolant bottle opening. They rent the tool at auto zone for free all you have to do is buy the fluid for it which I think is under 10. As far as being charged 700 for fixing the problem then they say now its this other problem I say is wrong I would call them on that one. Let me know what you find.
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Friday, October 16th, 2020 AT 11:09 AM (Merged)
Tiny
OBXAUTOMEDIC
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,711 POSTS
Hello,

Ok, there can be many reasons for a cylinder miss fire. Do you have the engine code for the misfire? If so post it. If not go by your local auto parts store and ask them to pull codes for you and write them down and post.

The cause is typically a vacuum leak in the intake manifold, throttle body or vacuum plumbing, a defective Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve that is leaking exhaust into the intake manifold, or even bad gasoline. Less common causes include bad spark plug wires, worn or fouled spark plugs, a weak ignition coil, dirty fuel injectors, low fuel pressure, or weak valve springs. If a misfire is occurring in only one or two cylinders, you will usually find a misfire code for that specific cylinder rather than a random misfire code.
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Friday, October 16th, 2020 AT 11:09 AM (Merged)

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