Terrible Misfire

[lil' jon]

I finally got my car registered again after letting it sit through the winter for a few months. The car ran great when I put it away, but now it runs like crap. It seems to be misfiring again. I don't know why this is so common with my car (94 3.4L Camaro btw). At first I was assuming it was the coil packs because replacing those fixed the problem last time. Well I'm kinda broke right now so instead of immediately dishing out money for new coil packs I decided to double check this time. I threw the timing light on each spark plug wire to get an idea of what was going on. I expected to see both wires from only one coil pack not get a spark, but that's not the case. The miss seems to be pretty random. Some wires are getting a spark and others aren't, regardless of which coil pack it's coming from. I replaced the plugs and wires about 10,000 miles ago, but the car's been sitting for extended periods on and off so that 10,000 miles was about 3 years ago. Should I replace the coil packs or should I replace the plugs and wires? I'm almost tempted to go out and get msd coil packs and wires and some nice spark plugs just to ensure that the whole ignition system is 100%. Thanks

[Firebirdkid96]

Re: Terrible Misfire

I'd say do plugs and wires before going and getting 3 coil packs all over again... just remember that it's not necessarily always one of those three parts of the ignition system that could cause a misfire...

[lil' jon]

Re: Terrible Misfire

What else is there to the ignition system that would be likely to cause a problem?

[cam98aro]

Re: Terrible Misfire

is it the same ones that are misfiring all of the time?

before you go out and get new plugs/wires, try to switch the wires around and see if the misfire follows.

if the coil packs are easy to get to, then switch them around to see if the same thing happens to a different cylinder.

i would NOT start buying things before i found the problem.

i highly doubt the problem is a plug

[Firebirdkid96]

Re: Terrible Misfire

is it the same ones that are misfiring all of the time?

before you go out and get new plugs/wires, try to switch the wires around and see if the misfire follows.

if the coil packs are easy to get to, then switch them around to see if the same thing happens to a different cylinder.

i would NOT start buying things before i found the problem.

i highly doubt the problem is a plug

I second the doubt on plugs, if it's a random misfire then it's not plugs or wires...

and the ignition control module could cause a misfire, 3.8L engines have a crank position sensor that will cause a misfire if it malfunctions but i'm not sure about that on the 3.4's

[lil' jon]

Re: Terrible Misfire

Well now I don't know what's going on. After posting the first post I went for a drive and the car ran beautifully. Took it out again and it ran alright, but then started misfiring again everytime the engine was under load. My cat was glowing red after a little drive with the misfire and I'm assuming that's because of all the unburned gas going through it. Could the problem also be a clogged cat? I'm pretty sure it's the original 104,000 mile old stock cat. Thanks for the help.