My wife has the misfortune to have a 2001 Ford Taurus. It has a 3.0L V6. There is a check engine light on, and a misfire around 4,000 RPM when the car is in neutral. Code reads "#2 cylinder misfire." When driving, the car will rev up to about 5K or so and shifts, no problems, and runs fine, or at least as good as it ever did. When in neutral, it winds up to about 4K and surges, almost like it has hit a rev limiter.
I have put new plugs and wires on the car, no change. Other than the check engine light, the thing runs fine, but this is driving me crazy. Anybody have any ideas? I'm gonna sell the thing, but that will be in 6 months or so at the earliest.
I'm gonna buy something for her with a V8 and front wheel drive, like cars SHOULD be. :usa2

In neutral at 4k the engine WILL sputter. It is a built in rev limiter to prevent engine damage while in neutral and over-revving. MY 04 will do the same thing.

As far as the check engine light, it could be a million things but if it says cyl 2 misfire, maybe the coil pack is bad.

"#2 Cylinder misfire" could be caused by anything from a funky injector to a loose plug wire. I know that it is going to need 80 "start-up, warm-ups" without incident before it will clear. I know you can go to any parts store to scan the code but they won't "clear" the code.
Ask around at work to see if anybody has an OBD2 code scanner then reset your code. Then if it sets #2 Cylinder Misfire again, you may have to do anything from dump a can of injector cleaner in you gas tank to replace #2 piston (just kidding on the piston thing). Maybe just a spark plug.
An OBD2 scanner to reset the check engine light can cost from 39 dollars to whatever you want to spend.
A trip to the dealer for a scan reset?

In neutral at 4k the engine WILL sputter. It is a built in rev limiter to prevent engine damage while in neutral and over-revving. MY 04 will do the same thing.
.

You know, I wondered about that. If that is the case, not too big of a problem, then. Thanks for the information.

go to a valvoline instant oil change place and have them do a fuel system cleaning. lots of carbon buildup will trigger the light. at vioc everything they do is guarenteed 100% so if you aren't happy they will refund your money. you do have to give it a chance to work tho. you'd be surprised at the difference. good luck

rande

If it doesn't cost too much to get it running, you might want to consider selling it and buying a 1997 or newer Toyota Camry. Same type of car as the Taurus, but much more reliable and more of a plush ride. You could pick one up with over 100K on the ticker for cheap, and it'd still run better than a Taurus.

If it doesn't cost too much to get it running, you might want to consider selling it and buying a 1997 or newer Toyota Camry. Same type of car as the Taurus, but much more reliable and more of a plush ride. You could pick one up with over 100K on the ticker for cheap, and it'd still run better than a Taurus.

yeah, I used to drive a Camry at work, and was surprised how much I liked the car. The Taurus is paid for, and other than the check engine light runs fine. I think we'll let it go for 6 months or so and then dump it. Right now, the only payment I am making is for a motorcycle, and I kind of like it that way!

Thanks for all the help, everyone.

"I'm gonna buy something for her with a V8 and front wheel drive, like cars SHOULD be. "

front wheel drive......?

"you might want to consider selling it and buying a 1997 or newer Toyota Camry"

both of you please report immediately to the hall of mirrors and TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT YOURSELVES!!!!!

"I'm gonna buy something for her with a V8 and front wheel drive, like cars SHOULD be. "

front wheel drive......?

"you might want to consider selling it and buying a 1997 or newer Toyota Camry"

both of you please report immediately to the hall of mirrors and TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT YOURSELVES!!!!!

Crap. I gotta take a hard look at what I wrote!! REAR!! REAR wheel drive!!:rofl

My bet is the coil pack. The fault can be intermittent due to temperature changes. My wifes KIA sportage would throw a misfire code, I'd clear it and it was good for a couple of months, then it would show up again. Coil fixed it.

Crap. I gotta take a hard look at what I wrote!! REAR!! REAR wheel drive!!:rofl

Wondering if that would be caught :D
My wife loves her rear wheel drive Mustang :thumbup2
It's an '05 and been a great car so far,a V-6 but runs like a scalded dog and gets 29 mpg.
We had an '02 Chrysler Sebring with a stupid check engine idiot light that refused to quit coming on.
We were told it was caused by everything from the gas cap being loose to a bad coil but never did find out what it was in 120,000 miles.:upeyes
It always ran great till the day we sold it.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d173/y2keglide/mustang021-1.jpg

Crap. I gotta take a hard look at what I wrote!! REAR!! REAR wheel drive!!:rofl
I was wondering about that. :D

If you are getting a misfire code and have already done the wires and plugs, check the wiring at the fuel injector and make sure you are getting a good connection. If you don't see a problem there, and you know your way around an engine, you could swap two of the injectors(not the wiring) and see if the code follows the injector to the new cylinder.

If it runs fine and you're gonna dump it in six months anyway don't worry about it. :crazyeyes

Only problem with that is the CEL. If its an dirty injector, bad connector or even a failed injector, it is a fairly easy and reasonable fix that may result in better profit by fixing the CEL. Chances are if you cleared it, by the time a potential buyer took it for a ride, it would show up again. Hope that helps, I try not to get into online troubleshooting, but I feel sympathy to people who own a taurus.