I have a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am SE with a 2.4 Liter engine. A few days ago it started running badly and would need to pump the accelerator to keep it running. At 50 or 60 miles per hour, it acted OK. At low speed or just idling, it putt putts and smokes a light grey smoke. It appears that there is an oil and gas mixture emitting from the tail pipe.

This car has recently had complete front end parts replaced... ie, new axles, new spindles, new rotors and brakes. Also, new tune up, i.e. plugs and plug boots. Also, new 02 sensor and new catylitic converter. Now this rough running takes place. I'm just hoping it isn't a bad engine.

Any help would be appreciated.

Sincerely,
Jim...

Compression test each cylinder.

Also, one minor but very important thing is if the wiring set was changed, were all the wires put back in the proper position? This happned to me one time and one wire was on the wrong plug causing all sorts of problems.

When you did the plugs and boots, did you also replace the coil housing and/or the coils? These are notoriously bad on the 2.4L motor. I would try those first and see what happens.

Txgreasemonkey;1291932]Compression test each cylinder.

Sounds like a plan. I will give that a try and see what I come up with...

Thanks much...

Also, one minor but very important thing is if the wiring set was changed, were all the wires put back in the proper position? This happned to me one time and one wire was on the wrong plug causing all sorts of problems.

Ok Ms. TwinkieDooter. I know the wiring is correct because it has been at least 2 months ago that I did the plugs and plug boots and it has been running just fine until recently when it started suddenly to miss out and hardly run...

I do appreciate your input... Thanks much.

Jim...

When you did the plugs and boots, did you also replace the coil housing and/or the coils? These are notoriously bad on the 2.4L motor. I would try those first and see what happens.

No I did not replace the coils or coil housing. I did inspect the housing and it appeared OK. I do know there can or may be fine hair line cracks that are not visible so I will also take a look at this again...

Thanks for the help...

Jim...

No I did not replace the coils or coil housing. I did inspect the housing and it appeared ok. I do know there can or may be fine hair line cracks that are not visible so I will also take a look at this again...

Thanks for the help...

Jim.......

I would try swapping out just the housing initially. If no change, then try the coils. If still nothing, it could be an ignition module problem, which is located underneath and off to the side of the housing. Hope this helps!

Yes I know plugs have boots - I was speaking about the wires.

It's glaringly obvious that you have NO clue what this motor even looks like. This car doesn't have wires, it has boots. Stop trying to give advice when you don't know what you're talking about.

Oh yeah, thanks for the red box which was completely unwarranted...

I would try swapping out just the housing initially. If no change, then try the coils. If still nothing, it could be an ignition module problem, which is located underneath and off to the side of the housing. Hope this helps!

I appreciate the help very much... I will give this a try maybe this weekend. It sounds like that could definitely be a problem area... Again, I just hope it dosen't turn out to be a bad engine thing...

Thanks much,
Jim...