need help / advise

2002 ford taurus / 213k mi. never tuned up - started up ran rough ck engine light came on. went to auto zone used s-tool po303 misf. #3 po316 misf. below 1k rpm. replaced plugs and wires (trashed) - reset eng. lte / back on - same codes. back round info
#3 plug looked darker than rest (not wet though) when punched between 2500-3k big pop as in backfire under load. basic motor 3.0 not dura or flex fuel - not sure what to do at this point never had 0-2 coil pack ect. changed ect. thanks.....

Does the car idle well, or can you safely power brake the car and get the misfire to be apparent? You might be able to install an inline spark tester and see if cylinder #3 is getting a spark misfire. You could also try swapping around injectors and see if the misfire code follows the injector. If the coil packs are symmetric, you could also try swapping coils to see if the misfire follows the coil.

-Rod

rod,
thanks for the reply, good news maybe. after limping back from A-Zone with the CE light on i parked the car for the night. when i started the car in the am it started just fine, no misf. smooth ect. not even the CE light was on. i drove in the neighborhood and the hwy ect. - stomped it and it ran smooth. no hesitation or backfire. very strange, the only thing i can think of is that after turning off for the night and restarting the OBC re-scanned what was happening with new wires and plugs ect. and adjusted. as stated before the plugs and wires had 213k on them and the plug gaps were in the .080-.090 range. anyway that last sentance was a total WAG on my part but i hope it stays running well, thanks again for the reply.........

padco