Car question

[glatt]

That's interesting. I learned from the manual that this Camry has a wasted spark system, which means the park plug fires twice. Once to ignite the fuel, and once during exhaust with the piston at the bottom. It didn't specifically say this was for emissions, but that's a fringe benefit. This wasted spark ignition system does away with a distributor, which supposedly makes the engine more reliable. The computer controls it all based on input from the camshaft sensor and crankshaft sensor.

But anyway, progress last night. Things came to a head. The car started misfiring and the check engine light came on! Misfire in cylinder 4. The idle dropped down to around 500 like it had been doing. So what I think happened was that I made whatever the problem was even worse by pulling the plugs and reinstalling them. That makes me think it's a spark plug wire. I had ordered new plugs and wires yesterday, and will replace them this weekend, after we get back from a funeral (my aunt's) in NEPA. If the plugs and wires don't fix it, it's probably the 1,4 coil/igniter. I think it was gravdigr who said way back in the beginning that it was a coil. We shall see.