A misfire can be one or a combo of a few things. No Spark (shouldn't cause you to throw a rod), Pre-ignition (can cause you to throw a piston/rod) and Detonation (same story here). There are a few other things that can cause a small misfire, but I can't remember them off the top of my head. If your A/F mixture pre-ignites it will cause the piston to be pushed down against rod and crank shaft, before it reaches top dead center. This continuous pressure on the rod and crank shaft can and will bend the rod, or break the rod bolts on the crank shaft causing you to throw a rod. Detonation or knocking continuously can cause many problems. It can cause the piston rings to blow, letting the A/F Mix leak down into the crank case. Having gasonline in your oil will cause premature bearing wear. If detonation is allowed to continue it will burn the top of the piston, possibly blowing a hole right into it. Again, this can also cause you to bend a rod, or throw one.

As for the Catalytic converter problem, I was unaware that a flashing CEL could mean raw gasoline is destroying the catalyst. So that was something I learned.

Sorry for the run-on sentences. I just woke up, and I'm not a morning person.

 

I don't know about dumping raw gas ruining the catalyst, but my problem was the coverter being clogged, which in turn sends too much back pressure to those cylinders and results in a misfire.

 

Also something I wasn't aware of. Thank you for the information.

I'm in school for auto tech, so I'm learning more and more each day.

However, what i said about the misfires, I know is correct. I've seen them all happen first hand at work.

 

Cool! Here's some advice: I work as a computer programmer, so be forwarned that some problems encountered will be caused by the STUPID shiat. I'm talking loose ground connection, pigtail not plugged all the way, or like I pointed out with the clogged cat. Back in the 1960's, my dad worked on a funny little French car a that fellow he knew owned. No one could fix this car. The problem was that in cold weather it was almost impossible to start, but once warmed up, it would fire right up. My dad borrowed it for a weekend and narrowed down that the distrubutor was so completely covered in grease that the cold, hardened grease from sitting overnight prevented a good ground, thereby inhibiting the vehicle's ability to start. Once he cleaned it up -- BINGO, it started like a champ every time.