Q: Car stutters when idling
My car will 'stutter' when shifting, or when slightly 'below' the speed when in specific gears (i.e., when in third, if the car is going <30, the car stutters). Sometimes, specifically in second gear, the car will not 'accelerate' appropriately--the car is making all the right sounds for accelerating, but the car doesn't 'go' any faster. Also, in those instances, the car check engine light will flash, come on, and I must stop the car entirely. once i stop and restart, everything is semi-normal--all acceleration in each gear is stuttering after that however. I had the check engine light diagnosed with the OBD reader, and it stated that it was a 3rd cylinder misfire. My father stated that it's because i accelerate too fast to 'go', but he also admitted he has no clue. he's stated it could be the timing is off, or that the gas is flooding the engine. it's been doing it for about a month now--but intermittent. the check engine issue only happened twice, weeks apart. Any suggestions?
My car has 53000 miles.
My car has a manual transmission.
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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 your misfiring problem.
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