alright, good deal. we have this cheap shell (indian reservation) on the way home from work too so for a little while now ive been running their 92 octane.

 

if it has to do with bad valves or rings, the possibilities of the others going out are fairly high arnt they? so it would just be best to drive it till i need a new motor or is it really worth tearing it apart?

 

If it needs rings, you are looking at a rebuild. If it's bad valves/cracked head, it's almost cheaper to just replace the heads..... you can get a pair for under 600 off ebay, that don't have some of the problems the stockers do. (factory thin castings...)

 

alright, thank you both for your help. if i have anymore questions or info i guess ill just post here.

 

Good plan.

 

As far as I was concerned...I thought the only time that a CEL flashed was when the catalytic converter was failing?

 

You are right as far as the most common reason goes(but not 100% of the time).You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it.

 

Failed cat sets a code, cel stays on all the time. Flashing CEL indicates a cylinder misfire. maybe more than one. Has to be pretty consistent for the PCM to care though.

 

A flashing CEL usually indicates a multiple cylinder miss fire .

 

My CEL came on yesterday and the code was for #8 misfire..didn't blink tho..replaced the plug..two starts later no CEL..a few starts later CEL back on..all this within 25 miles worth of driving...