Hey guys/gals,

this is a 98 SE, 5 spd, with 236,000 miles.

the girlfriend drives it everyday. today I drove it and noticed engine stumbling on moderate acceleration, especially in higher gear with low RPMs. while i was trying to diagnose it as I'm driving it the CEL started to flash. After several flashes it stayed on.

when i got home a few minutes later, i checked the CEL code - 0608, Cyliner 1 misfire (here is the diagnosis from pmohr's decoder: http://boredmder.com/ecucodes/index.php?year=MY1998&DTC=0608)

then i looked under the hood and noticed some dark oily leak spot from the base of the intake manifold, pretty much along the entire base where it is mounted on the block on the gasket. While I was looking, the CEL went away.

I have a feeling that the intake manifold leak and perhaps spark plugs might be a cause, as well as other things like fuel filter and coil packs. Most likely the throttle body needs a good cleaning, since this car also takes more than a normal number of cranks to start the engine - about 3-4 seconds or longer almost all of the time.

I just want some of your opinions as to where I should start and pay closer attention to. This way I don't spend too much time on something insignificant to this problem. Maybe someone had same symptoms and similar results.

Thanks for your help!

 

First, I would start by removing the coil and examine it and the spark plug and post some pics.

 

sounds like a bad coil pack and/or plug. Give it a tune up and it should fix it

 

yeah it doesnt sound like a major deal. If its leakin oil, u may have to replace rear valve cover gasket. THen from there, maybe coils and plugs.