3rd Cylinder Misfire

[liquidkudzu]

Hello group.
I put in new sparkplugs and new wires into my 2002 Lanos, but after I drive for about half an hour, I get the blinking check engine light.
I had it code tested, and it is coming up as a 3rd cylinder misfire.
Which is the 3rd one? They are in a row of four in a straight line. Please see the attached three photos.

Edit: after weeks of it blinking then going away for a few days, now it is staying on. Do any of you have suggestions on what the problem may be?

Thank you,
lk

[NubiraTurbo]

Standing in front of your car, looking at the engine, from left to right it's. 1-2-3-4. So the third cylinder is the second one (from the right hand side), from the coil pack, on your photo. You'll see that, on top of the coil pack where the plug wires are plugged in, it is marked as (1-4) and (2-3). However, it's weird that it gives 3RD CYLINDER misfire, because 1 and 4 fires simultaneously, and also 2 and 3, the ECU gives only two signal to the coil pack for all four cylinders, so there's no way for the ECU to know that number 3 is misfiring. But i'm not sure what that thing next to the coil pack is though, my Lanos doesn't have it.(dizzy?) Are you sure that's the right code? Is the car actually misfiring, cause you should feel and hear it?

[liquidkudzu]

Yes, I'm sure that is the right code. I had two different places check it, and their machines said "Cylinder 3 Misfire" or something similar.
Honestly though, it runs fine, and I don't feel any misfiring.
I've done minor work to all of my cars, but this is a little past my comfort zone. I guess I will have to take it to a real mechanic.

[PrecisionBoost]

If it runs fine, why worry about it?

Personally I think your just wasting your money if you take it to a mechanic for such a minor issue.

If on the other hand it does not feel right, or if it hiccups, runs rough, uses lots of fuel.... then it's worth fixing.


Did the problem occur after you put new plugs? or was it also there before the new plugs?

Just so you know, there is a nominal failure rate for new plugs.

That is to say 1 out of every 1000 may not fire correctly, I have seen it many times with others and I have also been the victim of defective new plug