My 01 Tribute sounds very similar to others on here regarding rough idling/running.

It had a new IAC installed in '06. It started running rough and idling poorly again about 6 months ago-I popped the IAC off, and it was pretty gummed up, so I put a new one on (2 yr warranty, auto zone).

Now, it's idling rough again, and the check engine light was on. I plugged my OBD II reader in and it said P 0302 (I think) and I looked it up and said that the #2 cylinder was misfiring.

1. I can't beleive that the IAC is bad already!

2. I haven't given the car a new set of plugs/distrib coil thingees because I didn't want to get to the back bank of them (engine mount loosening???) (and 6 of those bad boys are pretty expensive!)

3. would a single misfiring cylinder cause the same bad starting/rough idling problems as the sticky IAC?

4. what, specifically, should I ask the shop to do if I ask them to give it a tune up? I already know it doesn't need a new IAC!! (I don't want them to go top to bottom and tell me the car runs bad because the paint is chipped on the hood )

 

Maybe it is time for new plugs. That solved my Cylinder misfire on my Taurus years ago. You have an '01 and that means you are near the end of service for that kind of part.

 

Yeah, I think I'll put new plugs/coils on it. I also read about testing the throttle body seal using carb cleaner. I'll try that and see if it's leaking.

oh, btw, the check engine light went out over the last day or so!

time for a tuneup.

 

I had P0300 code on my 97 Camaro Z28 AFTER replacing ignition wires and found it was caused by damaged ignition wires due to incorrect routing of the wires themselves. There are two areas where the wires can be damaged very easily. One is where the wires go behind the alternator bracket on the passenger side of the engine. I had completely removed my alternator bracket to replace the spark plugs (they are NOT easy on the LT1). When I routed the new ignition wires I was in a hurry and didnt make sure they were out of the way when I reinstalled the alternator braket. They got badly pinched and the engine only ran a few hours before I started getting misfire error codes and REALLY bad performance. The second area where damage is likely is near the exhaust manifolds due to their close proximity to the wires. I suggest getting some heavy duty ty-wraps that can handle high temperature and carefully bundling and routing all the ignition wires away from trouble areas when you are replacing wires. The factory ignition wire guides and support brackets are difficult to remove and reattach to with the engine in the car. I completely removed my wire guides and brackets and ty-wrapped the ignition wireshem to the engine block and wiring harness making SURE they were routed as far away from heat and moving parts as possible. My P0300 code is gone and the car runs great now.