Misfiring and ticking

My car's been running great recently. I had the plugs changed at about 100,500 miles (1500 miles ago - I have roughly 102k miles & its an 01, so 3.5) and it really has been running smoothly and pulls much stronger than it had been in the last year and gas mileage improved. Well, tonight, I started it to move it out of the way and the engine felt like it had a few misses, but no SES light. I left it running for a moment and went back to it and the SES light was flashing, but I couldn't actually feel the typical shaking associated with missfiring. I was getting a slight squeak somewhere on the belt (I think its the waterpump), but it's been doing that on cold starts on cold and humid days for a few months. I turned it off and back on and no light. I drove it down the road a few hundred feet, intentionally giving it a little gas and it seemed ok. But, when moving with very light throttle at around 1000-1400 rpm, there was an audible ticking noise, about 5 or so times/second. Above or below those rpms, it wasn't there. Anyone have any ideas? I did have a random multiple missfire (on both banks, so not a coil pack) last February that lasted for about 5 min and I never found out what was wrong. But this didn't feel like a random multiple misfire, but perhaps 1 cylinder missing.

Last night, when I last drove it, before I pulled into my driveway, I pushed it pretty hard from a standstill to see how it felt, as it has been feeling more powerful since I had the plugs changed. Anyways, on dry ground, it spun half way through first gear, up till about 4500 rpm. I only kept going til about 50mph. I hope this didn't do anything to it. I don't frequently drive like this, but i just wanted to see if its improved since before the plugs (for the last few months, I couldn't spin tires on dry ground).

Tomorrow, I will see what's up with it. If it's still acting up, I'll go to my dealer and see if they can scan it with the tech 2 and while their at it, see if it has any torque converter codes, as my torque converter has been slipping too much under part throttle when its between 1800-2000 rpm when its in lockup in 3rd and 4th gear.

I also filled it up last night, so I wonder if it could be bad gas - I've only driven 1 mile on this tankful, so I'll see about that too.

MY first thought was bad gas as well. I also had a random multiple misfire here a while back, cleared the code and its never came back since. That was easily 6 months ago or more.

Do you currently have a SES light on? If so you can get the car scanned at any auto parts store.

I'd check the ignition for an intermittent....

This is baffling. This morning, during my 65 mile drive, my car was better than ever. Powerful, smooth, quiet, etc and the transmission was perfect. No SES light ever.

If the SES light didn't stay on, could a code reader at autozone find a code? I know last time it misfired, the light didn't stay on either, but the dealer checked it with the tech 2 and found the code.

Even if there was a code, it would probably just be another random misfire one, which is really difficult to troubleshoot.

The blinking SES light just means its a heavy misfire that is capable of causing damage to the catalytic converter.

Id give it some more time, maybe throw in a bottle of HEET or some other water removal solution, and see how things go. The dealer is going to charge you at least 50 dollars just to plug into your car, Im not willing to pay that to get a misfire code, but you might be.

There is a good chance that the code is stored. I'm battlling a P0101 (Mass air flow sensor) that causes a misfire. My car stalled at a traffic light last week. I ordered a used one off Ebay, should be here later this week.

you really need to find out what the code is. An auto part store may be able to help you. Some will read the code for free, others will loan you the scanner. Or you may want to head over to EBay and buy a OBDII scanner if you plan on holding onto the Intrigue. Use it onnly one or two more times and it pays for itself.

I may head over to autozone later this week when I have time and scan it. Or I may just wait until I take it in for an oil change. Last time, my dealer didn't charge me for diagnostics - they did over 1 hrs work, including using a tech II and checking the plugs and coils. Because they couldn't figure it out, they didn't charge. But I'll see what I do when I get time.

I drove another 90 miles this evening and it ran great. This random misfire makes no sense.