Hey all,

I'm having an issue with my car. Surprise :p .

When I go to accelerate, my car is OK until about 3.5k. Then it dies out for a bit, and throws a spaz before it starts to pull again. The CEL is on and flashes after the engine dies. Also, my Bluetooth ODB2 reader and Torque are happy to tell me that cylinder 5 is misfiring.

Could this be an engine oil issue? Maybe a spark plug issue? I'm assuming it could also be a coil pack issue. Could it be an air intake issue? I have a 90mm Galant intake and I kinda stuffed the install a bit and left some gaps around the intake join.

Any sort of simple steps to check what the issue is would be awesome and much appreciated.

Also, on a side note, is the manifold gasket liable to break if I go screwing around in that area? I wanted to take the intake off and do some cleaning, etc and was afraid that I might break stuff.

Cheers guys,

Zedd

If you get to 3500 and then it sounds wierd it is usually plugs or part of the ignition system AFAIK. My mates commodore was doing this. Bogged down from 3500-4500 then took off again.

if a cylinder is misfiring, check your leads and plugs, swap plugs/leads with another cylinder and see if the same cylinder is miss firing, if not then problem with lead/plug.
3rd gens dont run coil packs, but run a coil behind dizzy.

I suppose I should make mention that this is a 380, not a 3rd gen. This has happened before. The mechanic said he couldn't see a problem, but I don't think he pushed it far enough. The car is still driveable below 3.5k and is fine if driven normally. Just overtaking, etc.

I was pretty sure it was a 380 you were talking about the give away was when you mentioned OBDII. Have you tried swapping the No5 coilpack?
That would be the first thing I'd try (I'm not a mechanic by any stretch)

3500 rpm sounds like a limp mode due to knock sensor.

something loose?

Limp mode is 1800/2000rpm tops.

Limp mode is 1800/2000rpm tops.

Agreed, mine has gone into limp mode 3 or 4 times now (due to battery or HID ballast electrical interference problems throwing a 'crank angle sensor malfunction' code), and each time it maxed out at 2,000 RPM.