200 hombre missing

[dg101]

Hello:

I was driving down the road and the car all of a sudden sounds like it is running on 3 pistons. I drove about 3 hours until I got home. The engine light is on and flashes "service engine soon". It runs .. but sonething is wrong I assume with the spark.One minuite it is running fine, the next it sounds like it threw a rod or something. It has 120,000 miles. Never overheated. Temp, charging, oil pressure fine. It has new battery and alternator. One strange thing I noticed is a pencil sized hole in the muffler. I suspect the ignition module is failing, but I wonder if the cat converter is plugged up, or a piece of the inside of the mufler has rusted such that it has blocked the exaust. Should be some code to point in the right direction. Have not tried replacing spark plug wires, but given the sudden failure I would think it is an electronic failure. Have not checked fuel pump( where ? in tank ? Engine ? ) It is not intermitant but is a hard failure and has not recovered. I was lucky to make the 3 hr trip home. Any ideas from the symptom ? The last time I had an ignition module failure the engine would not start at all. I suppose it is possibe to have a partial module hard fauilure.

[blazee]

Driving with the SES light flashing is a no-no. It does a lot of damage to the catalytic converter....if it wasn't bad before, it probably is now.

If the SES is on, that means the computer has stored a trouble code. Go to autozone or advanced auto and get them to pull the codes for free. Don't listen to their suggestion on what to buy, just write down the code then come back here and post it. The code will lead you to the problem.

Which engine do you have? When was the last time you did a tune-up.....
Plugs
Wires
Cap (V6)
Rotor (V6)
PCV valve
Air Filter
Fuel Filter

[WillalwaysownaFord]

in the isuzu's you should have replaced the timing belt at 60K miles then again at 120 K