Driving back home from church of all places, I was cut off so bad I had to brake to keep from being run into/run off the road. I laid on the horn and grabbed 3rd gear and went to pass them right back. I noticed the car didn't have the neck-snapping acceleration I was used to, but I did manage to return the favor and cut them off as bad as they did me. Stupid, but one good turn deserves another sometimes. It turns out, instead of falling back 20 feet they had cut me off so they could turn into their neighborhood. Followed at 2 carlengths @ 57MPH by another car that also turned into that neighborhood.



Anywho, the car started running pretty badly and gave a flashing CEL in a minute. Nothing obviously bad under the hood but it seemed like it was missing on one cylinder. I told the car "I know baby, but I gotta get you home." and drove to the Advance Auto to get the code pulled. No surprise: P0303 (misfire on #3). Fun coincidence: #3 had an old spark plug wire because the new one last time I changed wires was too short. It was arcing through the boot at the spark plug connector. Big time.



I had a look through my maintenance log book and realized that although they had been regapped THREE times, I hadn't replaced my plugs in ~100,000 miles! Yeah, so I got a new set of plugs too. ALWAYS check your new plugs - these were gapped 0.003 to 0.005" too close.



I knew I should have got in on the spark plug wire group buy - I just didn't know WHY

 

There will always be nasty people on the road. It's the law of nature. I've accepted it, but still occasionally will make sure to put these f*-s in their place. I'm glad that at least you repaid the courtesy.



Glad you found out the simple fix too.