2001 2.4 grand am MISFIRE :(

[JaM Customs aka mprete]

take one out and put it back together and start it. then repeat it till you find the bad cylinder. one of your coil plugs are probably bad

[99fullsizechevy]

I the cat is getting hot enough to glow red there is something a little worse than it just misfiring.. Usually the cat will be your problem not letting enough airflow, which causes "back pressure" which in reality is a bad thing.. either that or headgaskets are horrible on those cars.. I see at least 6 of those cars a month at my dads shop...

[Skullz]

Might have a faulty fuel injector spewing excess fuel into the cylinder.

Cat might be partially plugged.

Possible timing belt/chain jump or excessive play in the timing belt/chain.

There really aren't too many things to check when you have a glowing red cat, either it won't let the gas pass from partial to full blockage or excessive fuel not being burned in the combustion chamber making it's way out into the exhaust pipe.

[OrionStang]

The bottom line here is there is unburned fuel getting to the cat and it is ignited by the catalyst.

You need to find the cause of the fuel being passed through.

Since you said you changed the plugs recently, I would say check the timing.

[photochrisb931]

x2 what orion stang said. could be timing could be a leak in an intake gasket or bad vacume line could be a bad o2 sensor. something is making it run rich. this is where diagnostics come in to play and throwing parts is not the cost effective solution. a can of break cleaner or carb cleaner and spray down vacume lines and around the intake gaskets while the car is running may be where i would start. do not take anything loose for that check. if the engine changes how it was running u found a problem. could also be a leaking injector or one that is sluggish. there are just to many things that can cause the engine to run rich.

[BeAlLsTaR13]

if i have an issue with something on my grand am

i go over to

www.gaownersclub.com forums and they will be able to help you out

[JaM Customs aka mprete]

its not the cat. there is nothing wrong with the cat. please stop saying the cat. you need 3 things to run an engine, air fuel, and spark. he need to look into each of those. he has air because he checked his air filter and there is no clogs. the only way to check for spark on his motor is to pull off that coil like the pic he has and put a spark tester on each coil and see if there is a spark when cranking. then he can check for fuel. he is obviously getting fuel because the car runs. but it may be an injector stuck open or closed. most likely closed. find your spark. these 4 cylinder grandams have a common problem with those coils going bad. find out which one is bad and replace it. dont even consider the cat, thats one of the dumbest things to look at first. maybe after you check every coil and sensor on the entire engine and that the pcm is functioning right.these also have a common problem with the window leaking water onto the passenger floor and dripping water right onto the pcm with is by the passenger feet under a plastic cover, which in turn rusts and corrodes the inside of the pcm making it short and not work properly. look into your spark and fuel first. bottom line.

[JaM Customs aka mprete]

also not a head gasket unless you have smoke coming from the exhaust. also most likely not a stuck open injector because he would have another code for air fuel mixture being off, (low or high o2 sensor readings). also its a random misfire. which is an intermittent problem likely from a sensor going bad or a loose/ broken connection somewhere.

[blackandgoldl69]

thanks for all they replies im am going over everything right now i will let you know if i figure it out