Engine sputters, loses power and shakes when idling

JEREMY01

MEMBER
2004 MITSUBISHI LANCER
2.0L
4 CYL
2WD
240,000 MILES

My car sounds like it is sputtering a lot of the time, not always. It loses power up hills and on the highway. It sounds like a muffler issue but there is a bad sparkplug wire that goes down in the center of the valve cover. Will a exhaust or my muffler problem cause this or is it the sparkplug wire? When idling it also shakes the entire car at stoplights.

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020 AT 7:59 PM

1 Reply

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
110,176 POSTS

Hi,

A plugged catalytic converter can cause this and so can a misfire caused by a faulty spark plug wire, coil and so on.

The first thing we need to do is this. Have the computer scanned for diagnostic trouble codes. That will point us in one direction or the other. Here is a link that shows how it is done:

https://youtu.be/b2IJGfImVvw

I realize most people don't own a scanner, but most parts stores will do it free of charge. Have that done and let me know what codes are found.

Let me know if you have other questions.

Take care,
Joe

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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020 AT 9:40 PM