So my check engine light is on for a couple weeks.. flashes when if i run it over 4 or 5k rpms for more than a second or two.. Take it to autozone and it flashed 2 codes each of which saying misfire on cylindar 1... So I figured I would start by replacing plugs/wires as niether of which looked real good. Anyways... probably going to make an appt. to take it to the shop tommorow unless there's anything else simple that I could check or look for? 02' GP 50k miles

Nothing more simple than changing the #1 plug.....

Be sure to check the connections on the coil packs. Any corrosion will cause troubles.

Another lucky SOB....just you wait, one of you is gonna get the #6 misfire like I did...I STILL have scrapes and bruises from that weekend and it was like 3-4 weeks ago

I feel your pain.... I've fought with #4 on several occasions. However the scrapes and bruises cease to exist after executing a full plug change between runs at the dragstrip....
You know how to change plugs when you can do it in 30 minutes and don't worry about rocking the 200* motor forward.....

Good grief, I'm with Chunkee, I did my plugs last week and it took me almost 3 hrs, its my first time on a 3800, but still... and YES, I still have scrapes and scratches!

Sounds like the same problem my wifes car had ended up being the coil pack.

99% of the time it's the wire.

For those of you that don't already have one, here's a handy tool that makes changing those back plugs easier: GM Engine Moving Tool

That is just a glorified prybar, which is what i used. Had the motor all the way forward and still had no room (I am 6'3") to get at it...biggest problem is the O2 sensor and air rails back there, and whooooeee! do they get warm quick.

I hear ya, Chunkee. I've got more gee-whiz ratchets, spark plug sockets and extensions for dealing with those types of headaches. Even the Snap-On guy couldn't sell me any more tools! And I always keep a length of 3/8" hose handy to spin the plugs in or out.

haha should have specified... After getting the codes checked I went home and changed the plugs/wires .. didnt help .. took a little over an hour I'm 6ft.... it wasn't fun but not impossible either. Anyways.. this didnt fix the problem... besides coil pack is there anything else that it would likely be?

**Did lose a 3/8 socket in the car somewhere (luckily after tightening the final plug)... cant for the life of me find it so I guess I'll need to pick up another one of those too...

After changing plugs and wires, did you clear the codes? If you did and the codes came back, it could be a bad coil pack, bad injector or anti-freeze leaking into the cylinder, due to head gasket or lower intake manifold gasket leak. Check your coolant level in the radiator and go from there. Hopefully it's just a bad coil pack.

If you lost the socket while changing the back plugs, it's probably resting between the engine and transaxle, or on the frame rail/lower control arm area.

Coil pack is also good.... and if you take the battery off for a few min and turn the key to on but not start.... should the check engine light still be on even if you havent started the engine yet.... regardless coil pack didnt solve problem.. talked to a mechanic and he said it most likely is either the injector or the cam..... but most likely the cam? any other opinions on this before I take it the shop and lose what little money I have?

I lost a socket in my front bumper, it fell between the bumper and a plastic peice that just creats a pocket between it... I spent about an hour getting mad and cutting my hand up trying to sqeeze it in there with no luck

How did the plug look?

Try swapping coil packs.
Having a scanner would help, but if you swap 1/4 with 2/5, and the misfire moves to #5 the coil pack is bad.

I would change the injector before thinking about a bad cam...... Matter of fact, I would check for compression, and leak down before blaming the cam..... I've never heard of a cam going bad on these 3800's.

If it was the cam all the cylinders would be acting up.

Swap your coils around and see if the code follows.

If the code stays on that cylinder then swap injectors and see if the code follows.

I was told if it were an injector that it would be missing on more than one cylindar??

Not true...... There may be exceptions, but not to my knowledge.

6 injectors, one for each cylinder that injects fuel into the intake runner solely for each cylinder. If one goes bad, it should only affect that cylinder.

Swap injectors around. Not that hard.

i'd say check coil packs cause my 3800 on my camaro had the same thing.... or possibly lower intake leeking coolant.