my 98 monte carlo started to miss a couple of days ago and not sure what it might be, we just replaced the head gaskets on it about 3 months ago (car has 254,000 still runs strong) sometimes it will miss and sometime it wont i drove it all day yesterday and it was fine but today going home it started in again, its random. i would think if it was a spark plug it would be doing it consistently, but i could be wrong. i was thinking i would see what you guys think it might be. thanks for any help



FOUND PROBLEM!

 

Do you notice if the problem seems to happen more during wet/damp weather? A buddy of mine with a 3100 in his Malibu would have random misses and it turned out that he needed new plugs and wires. After he replaced them, everything was fine.

 

was going to say the same thing Zipper. My old set of wires would do the same in the damp weather. a new set fixed it.

OP, are their any SES / engine lights? you can stop at an autozone and have them scan and see the issue. sometimes there are codes stored even if there are not engine lights on! other possibilities are bad plug gap or bad gas. When was the last time you changed the fuel filter? couldn't hurt.

 

umm, man the last time i changed the fuel fillter was 10 years ago.
the engine light has been on for years, i think the reason its on is because the egr valve isn't working. could spark plugs or plug wires go bad that quick? i dont think its bad fuel because i went to the gas station that morning and it was starting to do right before i got to the gas station.

 

Just about any auto parts store will read and clear your codes for free, so get that done right away before you do anything else. The code could be related to your problem. After that, check the plugs and wires.

Also, what do you mean "could spark plugs or plug wires go bad that quick?" You never said when you last changed them, unless you're referring to when you changed the fuel filter 10 years ago. If it was 10 years ago, then YES, the plugs and wires NEED to be changed regardless.

 

well i was referring to the three month head gasket change, but it has developed into something worse i tried to take the car to auto zone this afternoon and the car just started to act like, a really bad caliper sticking bad and was cutting out when i barley got it back home, i started it up and at idle its fine, i can hear a slight knock/tick at idle and when i got in the car and revved it up it would not go past 1500 rpm it just kept falling down like it was losing power and it is puffing at the exhaust. im hoping this is not something bad and is just a simple quick fix. I'M REALLY WORRIED.
like i said the car has 246,000 miles

(if you read my post at the top i said the car had 254,000 i was wrong but still alot of miles for a 3.1) please help

 

Sounds like a blown lower or upper intake to me, mine did the say, check your oil and see if its milky brown, and check your coolant too. If its milky brown your lower intake gasket is blown or gone. If so invest into a felpro lower intake gasket and up. There should be a whole kit for it.