Misfirin -.-....

[E30_Narek]

My car has been misfiring for a while lately but it's gotten worse. I know the car's getting fuel, just not the spark to light it. I know this because there's some smoke coming out of the exhaust on a cold start and it smells like fuel, it's not oil or coolant :P. The car, when started-up while warm, has a really rough and erratic idle. The idle is also pretty rough at times when I'm at idle, whether it being when the car is cold or at operating temperature. I found that the spark plug wire for cylinder 1 had a tear in it so I changed that and the problem did get a little better, but it's still there. The CEL is on and the code is 1221 which means o2 sensor. Before it was 1222 which basically means something's wrong with the ignition timing. Can anyone help me figure out what my problem is? I've narrowed it down to the distributor cap/rotor or the o2 sensor, but not sure which one to try as it could get a little pricey for all three.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the car has no vacuum leaks whatsoever (got it smoke tested) and the valve cover has a minor leak... not sure if that makes a difference or not.

[jlevie]

A 1222 code doesn't necessarily mean ignition timing or spark. What it really means is the A/F ratio is off. And that could be from any of a number of things.

As immediate actions I'd recommend changing the ignition wires (one was bad and the others probably aren't in much better condition) and at least the distributor rotor. If the O2 sensor has 100k on it, change it also. Use only OE or OEM parts. Use a fresh set of NGK ZGR5A plugs.

See http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...5&postcount=12 for a complete discussion of possible problems and there solution.

[E30_Narek]

A 1222 code doesn't necessarily mean ignition timing or spark. What it really means is the A/F ratio is off. And that could be from any of a number of things.

As immediate actions I'd recommend changing the ignition wires (one was bad and the others probably aren't in much better condition) and at least the distributor rotor. If the O2 sensor has 100k on it, change it also. Use only OE or OEM parts. Use a fresh set of NGK ZGR5A plugs.

See http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...5&postcount=12 for a complete discussion of possible problems and there solution.

I have another set of all OEM ignition wires but the one I changed was broken. The rest I have on my car are in great condition. It was just that one that was torn and the tip of it (the plastic part that goes into the engine) was cracked and was hanging. Plus, my spark plugs are all new. They have a little over 3k miles on them. Not sure when the O2 sensor was changed so I'll look into that and the rotor. Thanks for the advice.