engine skip?

[bobbyem]

i was drivin to NY on the highway and my engine developed a skip....i dont know what its due to, but it was pretty bad on the way up and on the way home....it was skippin around 2000-2200 rpm....before and after that it was fine. it made it home ok cuz i babied it the whole way, anyway a couple days later i had to drive to school, and of course im takin it real easy (mostly cuz im paranoid and dont know enough about cars to fix it myself), but the thing is it stopped skipping, it was perfectly fine, and not today, a couple days later, it seems to be fine...i ran it all through the rpm;s and the only time it hiccups is in the higher rpms in 3rd and 4th gear, high being like anywhere between 4000 and 5000....is one of my plugs going bad or do i just need some fuel cleaner run through the system?

[John D.]

I would guess plugs/wires, could even be your coils.

edit: Just for future reference, any type of engine hesitation is usually referred to as a "miss". ;)

[ April 30, 2003: Message edited by: John D. ]</p>

[John_D.]

Don't listen to that John D. guy.
Listen to the John_D. guy.

Seriously though, does sound like an intermittent ignition problem. Could be a plug or wire. Or a coil pack going out. Remote possibility would be a little bad gas.

[bobbyem]

whatever it was seems to have gone away, i even hammered it on the way to school to be sure and everything was fine.....im gonna get everything checked to be sure since im goin on a trip to myrtle beach in a couple weeks [img]smile.gif[/img]

[sam r.]

my 3.4 was doing the same thing. At highway cruising speed, the RPM's would suddenly drop and it felt like the car was about to stall. Like when you run out of gas. It was usually around 2200 RPM too. It wouldn't do it all the time. Just randomly. I thought maybe it was doing it when the heater was on. But I don't exactly remember. I just happened to notice that when it did happen, the heater happened to be on. So what I did was change my spark plug wires, spark plugs, fuel filter, accessories belt, and checked my alternator. After all that, it still did it. The only thing I didn't check were my coils. Don't know if this info helps but just thought I'd share.

[apiccola]

Check for vacuum leaks in the emissions purge system ... probably behind the purge solenoid.

[Rick]

Listen to the John's...It's probably a "Random misfire". I've got to take my car back in to the shop for the third time in 18 months with this same problem. The first time they changed my plugs and 1 plug wire. The second, a couple more wires and my ignition coil. This time I'll have them replace all the wires and recheck the coils. I'm not sure what year your car is but there was a recall on the plug wires for like 95 to 99 fbodies.

[bobbyem]

i never heard anything about the recall.....maybe i bought it after they recalled it since i bought it november of last year and its a 99, it seems to be very random, since its not doin it now AGAIN