Hello. I have a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix. When i press on the gas pedal, the car sort of chugs. I always use good gas. This started happening more when it is raining or very damp outside. Don’t know if that is just coincidence or not.
With the problem happening more when it is damp outside tells me you probably are experiencing a misfire condition due to a bad spark plug wire, plug, or coil.
This is called a hesitation.
How do I go about finding out which one of those things you mentioned is causing the problem?
if you have access to a scanner, you can see which cylinder is actually misfiring which will aid greatly in diagnosing the problem. If not, you’re going to have to play it by ear, you can spray the wires down with a spray bottle of water and watch and listen for where it is arcing at. You can also remove a plug wire from each coil, one at a time, and see if the problem increases or stays the same when it is acting up. You’d want to concentrate on a cylinder that produces no change when you remove the wire as that will be where the misfire is occurring. You may just be in need a tune up as well. A spark plug and ignition wire change can work wonders!
Ya, the car has 98,000 miles on it and I never had a tuneup done. Yes, the check engine light is on, so i should have a mechanic put his scanner computer on it first. If i have my husband check the other things you said, wont he get a shock if he pulls off a spark plug wire?
It is definitely time for a tune up, either way. A mechanic can scan it, but you might be wasting money doing that as what he’ll probably find is just a misfire code, which you already know is happening. It’s worth a look over first to see if you can find the problem yourself. And yes, you will get a shock if you try to remove a plug wire when the car is running. You need to use a special pair of insulated pliers to grab the wires with. They are obviously called spark plug wire pliers.
OK. Thank you for the information. I will show this to him and see if he wants to tackle it. You have been very helpful.
Your welcome.
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2003 Pontiac 3.4, bad miss #6 cylinder and loud tapping, found stripped rocker arm bolt, i fixed but still taps and runs kind ruff?
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