i was driving to school and it was running fine the all of a sudden it started missing almost like the traction control was on like it was holding the motor back at red lights i would almost stall and when you would drive it would barley move even if you put it to the floor. the engine light came on and so did the trac off light so i ran a scan on it and it said cylinders 2 and 3 were missing. does anyone know what would cause this. i ordered new plugs they will be in tomorrow i just hope it isnt the coil.
the car is a 2004 chevy cavalier with a 2.2 eco tec motor with only 48,000 mi on it.
Could be the valves not sitting properly but since its more than one cylinder I would say the head gasket as well. Also check your vaccum near the intake manifold.
GMR has got nothing on this
Check the ignition control module. It is the part with the aluminum fined heat sink piece that sit in the coil pack. It is held in the coil pack with 3 I think torque screws.. Or try using someones coil pack and ignition module off of a friends ecotec and see if that is the problem.
This is the Performance Forum. If you need assistance with maintenance and/or repairs you should post in the Maintenance Forum.
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I would say coils before head gasket.
FU Tuning
Too Whiney wrote:I would say coils before head gasket.
Yeah the Ignition Control Module are pretty common on these. I rarely see head gaskets go.
Turbo 2003 White Cavalier LS
Be careful driving with cylinders that are missing. A couple months ago I replaced the spark plugs on my 2.2 OHV, and the 1,3 wires weren't on all the way and came off I drove a milehome to school missing horribly. When I got home the Cat was glowing redhot, as was the downpipe and manifold. THe heatshield was smoking from it. The gas from the missing cylinders was going straight into the exhaust. Just take it easy and don't thrash on it unless you want a dead cat and potential fire.
are you getting a spark on these two cylinders? if you are not getting any fire it could just be a bad coil pack
I figured it out after running lots of test and ending up nowhere i took the coil and ignition module off a cobalt and found that is was the coil after proses of elimination
You probaly got the computer wet, GM put the ecu in the @!#$yest place ever, down by the wheel ffs. My sunfire had the problem, because the splash guard was broken cuasing the ecu to get soaked. After i replaced it she worked fine as kind. Check your splash guards, and see if your ecu plugs are corroded.
Tyler Williams wrote:You probaly got the computer wet, GM put the ecu in the @!#$yest place ever, down by the wheel ffs. My sunfire had the problem, because the splash guard was broken cuasing the ecu to get soaked. After i replaced it she worked fine as kind. Check your splash guards, and see if your ecu plugs are corroded.
I hear that! Every time it rains heavily overnight while my '99 sits, the next day it flat-out refuses to start.
Go beyond the "bolt-on".
Tyler Williams wrote:You probaly got the computer wet, GM put the ecu in the @!#$yest place ever, down by the wheel ffs. My sunfire had the problem, because the splash guard was broken cuasing the ecu to get soaked. After i replaced it she worked fine as kind. Check your splash guards, and see if your ecu plugs are corroded.
did you not read he found the problem. Coils not ECU. Damn!
FU Tuning
Coincidence: My truck's now missing, and my friend... who's had experience with DIS troubles with his GN... says it's the coils going south. No surprise, since they have about 180k-mi on them. I could hurt the GM engine designer that decided to place those coils in that god-awful position! Did I mention I have an LN2? In a '94? Yeah... no easier on the truck app to reach them.
Go beyond the "bolt-on".