Re: Need some sage advice... what to do?
First I connect a dongle ($12) and use Torque ($5) on my phone to check for reported faults. If you were reading misfires, you were doing something similar. I would have expected an erratic idle to set a count since it is reading rpm deltas but may wait for closed loop before starting.
Have to keep in mind that the elecronics in these cars are really pre-milennia and in the infancy of OBD-II. When I see something like this I run a fuel pressure check to see if in spec. If OK and the tank is under 1/4 full I check for water in the gas (both can be done at the fuel rail). Note: since they started putting ethanol in the gas, I rarely see water any more. We used to "winterize" gas by adding "gasoline anti freeze" - ethanol - to the tank).
Next I start looking at secondary ignition (ICM, coils, wires, plugs since neither fuel pressure nor water nor secondary ignition will normally set a code in early OBD cars.
Where to go from there depends on what you find. YMMV.
Last edited by Padgett; Jul 4, 2014 at 10:59 AM.