2001 Chevy S-10 engine running rough and shaking

2001 CHEVROLET S-10
84,000 MILES • 4 CYL • 2WD • AUTOMATIC
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KDONER12
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Its been cold here in NC for past two weeks it hasnt been above 35. I start husbands truck in morning to warm it up for about 10-15 minutes. Last Tuesday on way home he turned onto our road and it started running rough and the engine shakes alot. He isnt real good about oil changes. Two days ago (mind you its still freezing) we changed oil and filter. Oil was black and thick. Drained fairly slowly. We changed spark plugs. The ends were black and I tried wiping them off but it didnt come off. We also changed air filter and spark plug wires. The radiator has orangeish liquid in it. We flushed it. We started engine and these things helped some. Still not enough to dare driving it to a service station to be tested. I hope you can help.
Thanks, Kristie
Jan 12, 2010 at 12:28 PM
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TOOOMANYTOYS
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There are numerous things that can cause an engine to run rough. It maybe as simple as bad fuel. Is the check engine light on or flashing. If flashing that means the pcm is detecting a misfire. which can cause more damage if left unresolved
Jan 12, 2010 at 12:35 PM
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KDONER12
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Yes it is flashing. Could this problem be due to neglected oil changes???
Jan 12, 2010 at 6:15 PM
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TOOOMANYTOYS
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Its not likely because of the lack of changing the oil, however that is good to keep doing. Most likely if the spark plugs and spark plug wires have been changed. It is the coil. A good way to test it would be to determine which cylinder is missing and swap. the coil packs around and see if the miss changes cylinders
Jan 12, 2010 at 9:26 PM
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KDONER12
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We ran OBD scan on truck. It came back with one code. P0300. So that backs up previous post of possibly coil. Where do we start to eliminate reasons for random engine misfire? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Jan 16, 2010 at 3:13 PM
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90ECLIPSETURBO
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you said you changed plug wires are you sure they were put back in right lacation , double check your firing order ..
Jan 16, 2010 at 3:32 PM
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TOOOMANYTOYS
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Are you certain its a random misfire. I would first determine if it is one cylinder or more causing this. Then say for example cylinder 3 is missing. Look in the passenger side wheel well and you will see two coil packs which should be labled 2,3 and 1,4. you can interchange these coils to see if the miss moves
Jan 16, 2010 at 3:51 PM