Check engine light?

My car stutters/hesitates. The check engine light came on, the stared flashinh, then just stayed on.I tightened the gas cap and the light went out, but came back on. Car will drive but then it stutters and feels sluggish. I had a testing done on it. The possibilities were vacuum leak, high/low fuel pressure (whatever that means) or bad spark plugs. What do u think?

Engine problem
2002 Ford Taurus V6 Front Wheel Drive Automatic 137000 miles

2002 Ford Taurus wagon 3.0 V6_mileage: 137000. Several months ago our alternator went bad. I replaced it but a week later the check engine light came on and the car lost power while running VERY rough. I replaced the plugs, wires and coil pack. This significantly improved the problem however it still runs rough at idle. Especially with a load on (in gear or A/C on). The highway miles are still close to 27 mpg.
I checked the engine codes and they are P0302-Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected and P0316-Misfire Detected 1st 1000 Revs.
Generally there is no loss of power unless the car idles for a awhile after it is warm, ie at a stoplight. Then the check engine light begins to flash and power drops noticeably. If I ease the car along or let it sit long enough, the power returns and the light stops flashing. I suspect the #2 injector but I would like a professional opinion. Thank you.

Hello,
I am wondering when I should use a code reader to diagnose my car troubles.

Thanks.

The car is starting to be sluggish especially going up any type of hill. The engine light has now come on

When driving on the freeway at approx 65 mph with the a/c on, the check engine light starts flashing and it feels as though the car loses power but does not stall. I basically coast after turning of the a/c and after a couple of minutes the light will stop flashing and the car drives normal.
This only happens on hot days when I am running the a/c. Please help! It's hot here!

Engine Performance problem
2002 Ford Taurus 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 120k miles

my car was involved in a front end driver side accident which took out the rack and pinion, the rotor on left side, the strut and lots of fender parts! Now I got it back and the abs light is on for one! I know thats brake sensor proble I guess, but my real problem is the engine light came on and also the car seems like it hads a misfire problem! Sometimes it's ok other times it misses or something like that, and when I step on it to get on major highways, the car seems to hold back! I have to almost floor it to get it going fast enough to merge! Also once on highway when I step on gas she seems like it dies then picks up hope I made alittle sense! Thanks for ur help

I just noticed a problem with my 24 valve engine. When I step on the gas to accelerate suddenly the check engine light flashes off and on for about a minute, them goes out. The light seems to go out when I let off on the gas, but won't come back on if I do the same thing again. It's done it two days in a row, it just started doing this. It's not low on oil or anything like that. The car has been great up to this point, not a single problem. I was thinking it might be the TPS sensor, but not sure. I may bring it in next week to see if any codes come up. Any thoughts on this?

I think you hit it on the head. Checked the codes, none. Opened the hood and looked at the wires in the front, two were touching, I adjusted them so they no longer touch, I haven't had the problem since. I now realize that the two times it happened were on days that the engine was cold. The wires could have gotten wet when the cold engine warmed up some, when they passes through the dew point, and it wouldn't do it again because the engine and wires were now warm, no longer wet. Thanks

Check engine light on and will not pass emision test

Engine Performance problem
2002 Ford Taurus 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 140k miles

I had a 02(ex girls) ford Taurus Heads gasket repaired/ work was guarenteed along with radiator. This was about 100 days ago, after back n forth with Mechanic he is going to run a diagnostic again. Engine light has been on ever since, At another garage I had computer run (diagnositic)It says MISFIRE now, same MISFIRE as it had before. He(phone conversations) is trying to tell me he doesnt think it is still head gasket.

Also, we did bring it back a few days after he was finished gasket job, he said engine light would go off, and the fuel injectors had problem. ( He ran diagnositic and mentioned possible injectors, etc)

The car has never been back to full power, it hesitates slightly from a stop (lacking power) (less gas mileage).

During our dialogue ( he brings up fuel injectors, and other things ) excuses.
We are bringing it in his shop in next few days to look at, with my supervision.

He obviously want to blame in on something else, not GASKET, How and What do I watch for, and protect my self? I am sure he wants to dig up more $$, and not repair the gasket. Of course it could be something else.
Thanks
paul

Engine light came on and stayed on. Checked gas cap - o.K. What else?