2003 Cavalier Problems

[penguin66]

Greetings. I am having a problem with my 2003 2.2L OHC Cavalier with automatic transmission and 71,000 miles. The background: just this last week a really cold spell hit here with the high around -8F and windchills around -35F. My car did not start (1/15/09), which I attributed to bad battery due to the fact that I had a full tank of gas (I did not have any Heet, or other gas line de-icer in though). I attempted to jump it to no avail. Fast forward to today (1/19/09) where I finally had the chance to try and get the car started after the temps had reached about 20F. I managed to get the car started after cranking on it for about 1/2 hour (while trying not to kill the starter itself). I have since added Heet and injector cleaner.
Here is the problem: The car runs rough. I let it run for about 10 minutes to see if it would clear up. It idles around 1000 RPM and it sounds like it might be missing a cylinder, but the plugs were changed around 50,000 miles and the fuel pump (w/filter) changed at 35,000 miles. The best way for me to describe it is it sounds sort of like a lawnmower sounds. The traction control light stays on and the check engine light is also on (either stays on while stationary, or blinks while moving). The exhaust is a whiteish color, but the snow under the tailpipe is really black.
So what can I do? I do not own an OBD2 reader. Can I safely drive this car to a mechanic?

[tmack87]

dont drive it if the check engine light is flashing, Theres a bad misfire and it can cause harm to your catalitic converter

[J-Ri]

How long did you let it run? We set a record low -29 degrees fahrenheit, and that morning I had to crank my '04 2.2 ecotec for 10 seconds (usually fires after half a second or less) to get it to start, and it was running extreemely rough for the first 20 seconds. It could just be flooded, it it is, remove the spark plugs and crank the engine to get the majority of the gas out. Either clean and dry or replace the spark plugs.