Check engine light on for cylinder 3 misfire and Traction Control Light?

2010 CHEVROLET COBALT
80,120 MILES • 2WD • AUTOMATIC
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KEMP818
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
My check engine light is on for a cylinder 3 misfire, and I’ve already tried changing the spark plugs and the coils. The misfire is basically unnoticeable when you first start driving the car, but when the car stops (at a light or stop sign) for too long, the Traction Control light comes on and the misfire is impossible to miss as it basically jerks the entire car going out of first gear. This also sometimes causes the check engine light to blink instead of just staying on. I’m not sure what it could be?
Aug 2, 2023 at 12:13 PM
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STRAILER
  • AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR CONTRIBUTOR
  • 54,176 POSTS
The Traction Control Light may come on because of the misfire. I would do a compression test and if okay I would swap out the fuel injector. Also, I would run the codes to see what comes up, you can get a CAN scanner (Controller Area Network) which will work on most cars from Amazon.

here is a video to show you how:

https://youtu.be/u-4syLc-ifQ

and

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/can-scan-controller-area-network-easy

Here is one for about $99.00 if you need it:

https://amzn.to/3ZixY4v

Here is how to do the compression test:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

Here is a generic guide to help you step by step with instructions for the injector replacement, the diagrams below will show you how on your car:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-a-fuel-injector

Check out the images (below). Let us know what happens and please upload pictures or videos of the problem so we can see what's going on.

Aug 3, 2023 at 11:02 AM
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