very weird 1998 firebird misfire

[blackfbird98]

ok so ive read alot on here about misfiring but my question isnt being answered.... awhile ago i was driving my car when i noticed it sputtering and everytime i stopped at a light or stopped in general, as soon as i go to pick up the car has a hard time picking up at all and sputters rly hard and my engine light starts flashing at me. (my engine light was on awhile ago and i went to autozone to get it checked out and they said it was a transmission code) now my bird is sittin in the driveway and cannot be driven at all everytime i go to start it it immideatly starts to sputter when before it only did it when i was driving so can anyone help me out!!!!??

[95redslp]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

the only code you have is a transmission code?

[flyfrito_SS]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

When my car started misfiring this summer I replaced the plugs and wires. That didn't fix it so I ran some injector cleaner through it, and it stopped after that. Something about the warmer weather gumming up injectors.

[MAROA4L32]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

how long ago did you wash your car? my friend had this same problem and his coils got wet...... dont know if thats your problem but it sounds exactly like it

[jnxV6]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

ok so ive read alot on here about misfiring but my question isnt being answered.... awhile ago i was driving my car when i noticed it sputtering and everytime i stopped at a light or stopped in general, as soon as i go to pick up the car has a hard time picking up at all and sputters rly hard and my engine light starts flashing at me. (my engine light was on awhile ago and i went to autozone to get it checked out and they said it was a transmission code) now my bird is sittin in the driveway and cannot be driven at all everytime i go to start it it immideatly starts to sputter when before it only did it when i was driving so can anyone help me out!!!!??

I would check the coils, I had a problem with my car sputtering when I would take off from a light and it was a bad coil.

[Bird_Of_Prey]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

Coils or ICM. Start there. Move on to other wiring. Double check plug wires!

[jrocstar]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

i work at autozone. our scanners read some bullcrap sometimes. i had this exact same thing happen to one of my customers and it ended up being injector. hope that helps some

[ploppel]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

The control module is located under the coils, right above the exhaust manifold.... ours just fried again today... second time in a year....

Buy the coils and control module at the ZOne or Advanced Auto, their lifetime warranty is great... next time it fails just bring it back to the store.... keep the receipt and make a copy of it, their ink fades after a year and you can't read it anymore...

Coils and control module are $200 alltogether and a piece of cake to replace/install.... you probably pay more at a shop just for them to tell you what's wrong....

BTW, the spark plug wires get fried by the exhaust too.... add another $30 for piece of mind :tup:

[blackfbird98]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

so majority says its the coils? ive been tryin to figure out every possible problem with it, im taking it to a good shop cause the one near me is a rip off ill try and get a list of coed because of the engine light and ill let u guys know thanks for the input

[JohnnyC]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

Most likely to least likely. wires, plugs, coil packs, crank and cam sensors, Ignition Control Module, grounds, wiring harness, miscellaneous short circuit, mice in engine bay eating wires, witch's curse, act of God.

I have experienced every type of misfire listed at one point or another. Had car for 156,000 of the total 220,000 miles. Replaced my cluster with a new 98+ because my speedometer went funkadelic on me. 3 transmissions, one clutch, two sets of coils, three sets of wires, a set of heads, cam, rockers, bent pushrods, springs, exhaust, pistons, bearings, drive shaft, wiring harness, 3 belts, 20 tires (5 sets), suspension parts, misc. plastic parts under the hood, 4 power steering pumps, hoses etc... Only stock powertrain parts left are engine block, rods, crank, plenum, several push rods and rear end. It's a hard life for the red devil. I've blown it up once and it caught fire once. Runs consistant low 14s / high 13s untuned. E-town soon, hope I make it back. I might break parts on my car more often than I change the oil (Every 3k miles), but I'm one heck of a driver! :rock: :burn:

[les bill]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

That is really weird because that is the exact same thing that my car just started to do.

I changed the coil packs, plugs, wires about 2 years ago due to a misfire, but now I have a really strange misfire (if it is even a misfire). I was at a stop sign and as soon as i started to accelerate, the car ran really rough, like it was running on 4 or 5 cylinders. The SES light started flashing at me all the way home. It is a very constant misfire too, so that leads me to believe that it is something a lot more serious than a plug, wire, or coil pack- other misfires that i have had weren't this constant.

OTher important thing to note- the exhaust coming out of the tail pipes smells a lot more like gasoline, not exhaust.

Would it be good to change out the coil packs, wires and plugs and then go from there? I have done that before and i know how cheap and easy it is to do. I just don't want to be shelling out 2K for some engine work to be done... i'd rather try the swap to an 8 perhaps...

Thanks in advance for replys.

[JohnnyC]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

Two years? You are probably due for plugs and wires. Get accel 8.8mm wires and NGK Iridium plugs and take the coil packs to AutoZone to test them

[blackfbird98]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

That is really weird because that is the exact same thing that my car just started to do.

I changed the coil packs, plugs, wires about 2 years ago due to a misfire, but now I have a really strange misfire (if it is even a misfire). I was at a stop sign and as soon as i started to accelerate, the car ran really rough, like it was running on 4 or 5 cylinders. The SES light started flashing at me all the way home. It is a very constant misfire too, so that leads me to believe that it is something a lot more serious than a plug, wire, or coil pack- other misfires that i have had weren't this constant.

OTher important thing to note- the exhaust coming out of the tail pipes smells a lot more like gasoline, not exhaust.

Would it be good to change out the coil packs, wires and plugs and then go from there? I have done that before and i know how cheap and easy it is to do. I just don't want to be shelling out 2K for some engine work to be done... i'd rather try the swap to an 8 perhaps...

Thanks in advance for replys.

yup thts exactly what mines doin engine light flashes and everything and exhaust smells like gas to were u able to figure it out?

[blackfbird98]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

ok i found out the problems, i went to the auto zone here in brockport where my friend happens to work at and these were the codes he gave me:

-throttle positioning sensor
-mass air flow sensor
-evap (which is most likely the gas cap)
-cylinder 6 misfire
-transmission malfunction
-oxygen sensor

so for now im gonna take care of the tps maf and oxygen sensor for just the tps and maf it will cost $227.86 with the core and $321 without and im gonna run some cleaner through to take care of the oxygen sensor because its most likely clogged. thanks so much for your input guys i appreciate it!

[les bill]

Re: very weird 1998 firebird misfire

Just fixed mine today. I went to pep boys and got plugs, wires, and 3 coil packs. I swapped them all out in about two hours. I fired it up and no more misfire. If you haven't fixed your misfire yet, try what i did and it should work for you.