Check engine light on

GEMINIAN7278

MEMBER
2000 DODGE AVENGER
6 CYL
AUTOMATIC
165,000 MILES

I have a 2000 dodge avenger es coupe and the check engine light is on and it has a slight misfire that I feel when I'm sitting at a red light. I have taken it to several different places to see what the problem is but each time I go get it checked out I am told something different. How can I really find how what the problem is so I can actually get it fixed without getting ripped off

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,912 POSTS

You have a problem with fuel, spark, or compression. Since the light is on, there will be at least one diagnostic fault code stored in the Engine Computer. Have that code read first. Many auto parts stores will do that for you for free. You will very likely have a code that specifies which cylinder is misfiring. A simple place to start is swapping two spark plugs to see if the misfire goes to a different cylinder. Of course you could just replace the plugs and wires. If you have the newer coil-on-plug setup instead of spark plug wires, try switching two coils to see if the problem goes to a different cylinder. You can do the same thing with injectors although that's a lot more involved, plus, Chrysler has extremely little trouble with their injectors. A compression test might show a mechanical problem relatively quickly. A better test is a cylinder leakage test. That takes a lot longer but will identify WHY the compression is low.