Expert: Skip Bollinger - 8/7/2006

Question
I have a 2001 Nissan Altima. I went to get an oil change and the check engine light was on. Whenever I stop the car shakes. The mechanic that did the oil change said he hooked it up to the computer and the computer said, something about a misfire on spark plug 4. He said that I needed to change my 4th spark plug. I changed all 4 instead of just 1, however the car continued to shake when it stopped, even tho the car shook before, it never cut off until I changed the spark plugs (today). I'm freaking out, what could be causing this? I was told to also change the wires that go to the spark plugs and not just the spark plugs. Please help me, car problems are nerve wrecking. Thanks for all your help.


Answer
Janelle,
  Take a chill pill. It's a car, not a child. Number 4 plug was bad but what caused it to go bad?? It could be a bad wire or distributor cap. It also could be that there is a mechanical problem with #4 cylinder like a burnt valve or broken piston ring. I would suggest a compression test to ensure the engine is tunable. If it is, I would ohm test the #4 plug wire to see if it has excessive resistance and I would take off the distributor cap and look at #4 contact for corrosion.  
  I understand car problems can be VERY nerve wrecking but please put things in perspective. It is a car. You and your family are well and healthy. It could be worse!! Believe ME!!! Please let me know what you find...
Skip
CarPartMan@aol.com