cyl 3 misfire code- what does it mean?

[sixleggedinsect]

my 97 escort has purred for 30k miles, since i bought her. currently 60k on the clock. on the highway a week ago the engine stuttered for a second or two (nothing wild, 55 mph uphill in the rain) and the engine light came on.

it sounded fine after that, and when i had it read at an autozone it called a cylinder 3 misfire. when erased, the code has never come back.

the plugs are OEM platinum (factory says replace at 100k). the wires are new as of 35k and i installed them per all instructions.

is there anything i should know before i forget this forever?

thanks from a check engine light newbie,
-anthony

[GTP Dad]

A misfire is just that. Sometimes water will get in the coil or plug boot and cause a misfire along with a host of other causes. Purchase a tube of dielectric grease and put some on each plug wire and reinstall on the plugs and put some around the boots on the coil wire connectors. This should eliminate the issue. If it returns then you will need to look deeper but I suspect the problem was water from the rain storm.