Can a misfire harm your car?
In any vehicle, straying from the manufacturer’s normal specifications usually reduces the life of the drivetrain, suspension life, and reliability. Misfires in particular reduce fuel efficiency, leaving you unable to get to your destination without spending more money at the pump.
Unfortunately, misfires can also damage your catalytic converter and cause a loss of power. The catalytic converter is damaged because unburned fuel burns in the “catalytic converter” instead of the cylinder wall where it should be. The price of a new catalytic converter in the US is rising as catalytic converter theft increases, so it’s important to take care of this component as best you can.
When you experience excessive misfires when accelerating, your engine thinks something is wrong (and it is) and throttles back engine power. This is a fail-safe mechanism triggered by your car’s ECU to prevent further damage from a misfire.
If you need to troubleshoot the cause of a misfire and reset your car’s ECU, read this article. Is it illegal for a car to misfire?
A misfire in itself is not illegal, since in most cases you are not doing anything wrong and are just trying to get to work. However, if your car misfires loudly or excessively because you want it to and is causing a “nuisance”, the police may look at it a little more closely.
Furthermore, if your car runs too rich on fuel, causing the catalytic converter to burn out and no longer pass emissions testing, then the car is illegal.
How to Cause a Car to Misfire
If you’ve read this far into the article, you’re probably a car enthusiast who wants your car to misfire, because, let’s be honest, it’s cool to spit flames and make a loud noise while you’re driving. For older cars, a misfire can occur if you warm up the engine for a few minutes first and then turn it off.
Start the engine by holding down the accelerator and brake and put in plenty of gas. You should hear a slight “crackling” sound as the car tries to create the right air-fuel mixture.
Another option is to get the car up to 90 mph and then use the engine to slow you down. To do this, shift into a lower gear than you’re in. Then let the engine and transmission slow you down. If you listen closely, you may hear a bubbling or crackling noise coming from the exhaust system.
The last and most interesting way to make your car misfire is to buy a properly performing exhaust system and adjust your engine’s timing system to make the fuel-air mixture leaner or richer. This will allow you to control the amount of misfires your car experiences while you are driving.