Q: Car is not hitting on all 4 cylinders with new spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotater

asked by on August 16, 2017

My car has had a problem with all 4 cylinders not hitting and is getting too rough to drive. It starts up fine but then when driving has issues with low acceleration and hard shifting from first to second gear and into fourth gear. I have replaced my spark plugs and wires along with the distributor cap and the rotor in the cap. I'm at a lost into what it can be now.

My car has 156500 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

Engine is misfiring Inspection $94.99 - $114.99 Get a Quote

It sounds like you may have a problem with one or more cylinders misfiring. Engine misfires can be caused by many different problems and are generally caused by either a spark or fuel issue or in some cases, a combination of both. Spark related problems generally will result from things like ignition coils, crankshaft position sensor, spark plugs, spark plug wires or ignition modules not working properly. When the misfire results from a fuel related issue, this is commonly related to a lean fuel condition (lack of sufficient fuel supply to the motor). Fuel related misfires can be caused by many different things such as low fuel pressure, faulty or dirty fuel injectors, a faulty O2 sensor, a dirty or failing mass air-flow sensor, a faulty or dirty idle air control valve or a vacuum or intake leak. When the fuel supplied to the combustion chamber is insufficient, this results in an ignition (spark) that is igniting a less than balanced load of fuel and air. This results in a misfire or an explosion in the cylinder that is much less powerful than the other cylinders. This creates a loss of power that resonates throughout the motor additionally causing other problems with ignition and fuel timing. Due to the number of different things that may cause an engine misfire, the quickest and easiest way to diagnose this type of problem is to hook the vehicle up to a scanning tool which will download any potential fault codes that may have registered in the vehicle’s computer as a result of the poor running condition. I would recommend having an expert from YourMechanic come to your location to diagnose and inspect your vehicle.

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