What’s Causing Periodic Engine Misfires?

As you start your car, your engine stumbles for a quick moment and then regains its place. Your check engine has turned on and it really won't go off. As soon as your rpm settles down, the engine light comes off. It doesn't happen as often, but once it does happen to you once, you'll most probably experience it once again; sometimes even giving you a different scenario - engine is difficult to start, engine stalls when idle, and engine shakes so badly including your steering wheel. And when all these happen to you, you already know there's a problem; and based on the series of events, you're already experiencing intermittent or periodic engine misfires.

As your team of leading and reputable Melbourne wreckers and auto recyclers who have been providing fast and easy car removal services for two long decades, we ought to give you a simple and concise guide on periodic misfires. Even if you think that removing or wrecking a car is all that matter to us, in reality, that isn't really the case. What we want is to help you, car owners, to be able to maintain your cars well, so that in the same way, we'll all be able to lessen the old and scrap cars that harm our environment. So without further ado, here's what our expert salvage cars Melbourne wreckers have come up with to help you just in case you experience an engine misfire:

Understanding periodic misfires...

A misfiring engine is a common problem among car owners and drivers in general. When this occurs, your car's handling and performance may suffer greatly. Not to mention, it'll also affect your car's fuel economy, emissions, and even idle quality. And somewhat on the good side of it, once there's a misfiring cylinder let's say in your four-cylinder engine, it'll definitely be hard to miss. You'll see many different signs along the way, just as what we have mentioned earlier.

Now if your engine is running perfectly, you can assume that all of its cylinders are 'firing' as they should. But once the air-fuel ratio inside the combustion chamber (in any of the cylinders) gets interrupted, your engine will misfire. Remember that one or more cylinders can misfire depending on the situation.

Because it depends mainly on the accessory load and the circumstances you're in, there are actually many different types of engine misfires. There's lean misfire, steady misfire, mechanical, powertrain, and what we want to learn about now - periodic misfires also known as intermittent misfires.

Car enthusiasts and professional auto mechanics would agree that these intermittent engine misfires are those that are very difficult to diagnose. Depending on your engine load and various operating conditions, these misfires come and go. And most of the time, they occur with no direct and apparent reason. Hence, most car users who are faced with this problem often end up guessing as to what is the real cause.

Here are the common causes of periodic engine misfires...

1. Faulty Ignition System - this is the most common cause of engine misfires in Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury cars and trucks. This is when the primary or secondary components of your ignition system goes bad. Eventually, it prevents the spark from being delivered properly to the cylinder. Hence, the misfire.

2. Faulty Spark Plugs and/or Ignition Coils - this is most common in most Toyota, Chevy and GM automobiles, depending on the model's ignition system. Particularly cars with older engines these two manufacturers have fuel injectors that would either short out or plug up causing any or some of the cylinders to misfire.
3. Faulty Tune-up Components - this is most likely the culprit when you experience a misfire in your Dodge Jeep or Chrysler vehicle. Both older and newer vehicles can experience this especially those with issues such as broken valve springs and burned valves.
4. Faulty Spark Plugs or Secondary Ignition Component - these are the common causes of intermittent misfires on Honda cars, big and small. However, if your Honda car's valves are not adjusted accordingly and they're tighter than they should be, it can also be a cause for a misfire.
5. Timing Belt - if your car still uses this, remember that your engine can also stop running once your timing belt jumps time or breaks because of poor maintenance.

In a nutshell, periodic engine misfires can be caused by a lot of things. But mainly, if you really want to diagnose the problem yourself, all you need to check are your spark plugs, spark plug wires, timing belt, distributor cap and rotor, and ignition components. If all else fails, and you really can't figure it out, always be humble enough to admit that it's time to let your professional mechanic handle things for you.

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