Yesterday, while driving home on the freeway, my car began to lose power and the check engine light was flashing until I dropped the speed below 65mph. I limped home and determined that one of the cylinders was not firing. I determined this by removing the power to each coil one by one while the vehicle was running. Starting with the first cylinder, when I disconnected the coil, it ran worse. I reconnected, then did the same thing with the second and third. Each time the engine ran worse. However, when I removed power to the fourth cylinder, there was no change in the engine idle. I determined this was the cylinder with the problem. First I replaced the spark plug (did all 5 while I was there), and there was still no firing. I then replaced the coil and it is working fine. Hope this information can help someone in the future.
Now the issue; while the timing belt top cover was off, I noticed these tiny cracks in the belt. I hope I am not introducing myself to the forum with a stupid question... But based on the picture, does it look like the belt needs replacing?
Background on car: I bought the car with 174k miles on it, and I have put on another 10k. I have service records from the previous owner from 125k miles and higher. Prior to that, there are dealership stamps for each service to 75k miles. In the gap is where the belt should have been done, but I have no way of verifying this.
Thanks in advance.
Joe
