BoostedE21

Strange thing -

This morning I was driving along just fine. I pulled into our hotel, and the engine started shaking rhythmically - felt like a misfire. Turned it off, waited about 30 minutes, and tried again. This time, the shaking was worse - especially at low RPM. The CEL started blinking, so I shut it down.

I'm 95% sure it's just a misfire, and I'll have to borrow a code reader to verify - probably a failed coil back or an ignition wire that's come lose. But then again, when I was driving it (still shaky but no CEL at this point), I heard a LOUD clicking noise whenever it was under load. Sounded like an old worn out pushrod engine almost. Not sure what would cause that. Any ideas?

rjheger

sounds like a misfire to me.. maybe fuel injector goin bod too..

BoostedE21

P0304...Misfire in cylinder 4.

Edit: Just realized, the ES has one coil per cylinder. Cool, that makes things pretty easy.

dcapo

was it a mild shake or really bad shake like u could feel it

dcapo

u can also check ur coils by unplugging them from the wire while the car is on, trust me u will know which is good/bad and also pull apart n test against ground point to see spark

BoostedE21

It was a rhythmic shake that increased with RPM. I tested the coil by pulling the coil/plug and letting it arc over on the body to observe a spark. Unplugging them while the car is on was fine too, but if it was a spark plug or fuel issue, unplugging the coil isn't enough within itself to isolate the issue. I solved this problem in another thread.