Problems after changing plugs and wires

[Jmac875]

Two weeks ago I changed out the plugs and wires on my 2000 Metro 1.3L. I did not tighten down the plugs enough and 3 of the plugs backed out. I retightened the plugs, changed the wires again, because I damaged the wires removing them. Now I am getting a stuttering during acceleration that seems like one of the cylinders is not firing, but this only happens when accelerating from a low RMP to a mid-range RPM. What could this possably be? Could it be the two ignition coils (I am not sure what the yare called, the two things that fire the spark plugs not connected to wires)? Please help if you can.

THanks
Jmac

[SeanMurphy]

Make sure the wires are fully seated on the plugs and the distributor. It sounds like one might be arcing enough to keep the cylinder firing under idle conditions but under heavy load, can't supply enough voltage, and you're just dumping that cylinder unburnt.

[Jmac875]

The 2000 does not have a distributer cap, it has ignition coils and two wires. I noticed today that when I filled up with Fuel it ran a litlle better. One of my buddies is going to hook it up to a scanner to see what codes come up, Since the fuel filter is in the gas tank it has never been changed, and I have a feeling that the filter is clogged.

[SeanMurphy]

Could be. I wasn't aware they went to a coil over design on the 2000, I've got a 98, and it's still mechanical distribution. In any event, my advice still holds true, make sure that the wire from the plugs to the coils are on solid. Is the filter actually IN the tank, or on the frame rail beside the tank?

[geozukigti]

Many of the 97 on up Metro 4 cylilders used the dual coil packs instead of mechanical. Depends on which part of the country they were being sold. Mainly the switch happened in 99'. And 2001 they used a MPFI fuel injection with a bottle style intake manifold and a SOHC 16v engine. Very nice engine! Almost as much potential as a DOHC GTi motor, and less problems. But yea, sounds like a bad plug wire to me. You don't feel it as much in the high RPM's because the rest of the engine is producing enough power to overcome the dead cylinder.

[Jmac875]

My buddy came over with a code scanner, and it showed that Cyl 4 was misfireing. We swapped the coil in 4 with the one in 2 and ran the car to see if 2 would misfire. It did, so I have a bad coil. I checked with 4 different part stores and they do not cary that item in their stock, they could special order them based upon the part's OE number, but they wanted $140-$156 for the part, this included NAPA. I called my local dealership and they are going to overnight one in from Pointiac MI, for $139 after shipping. Thanks for the help guys.