i've been noticing that it feels like it misses with heavy throttle when its cold. i replaced the spark plugs 3,000 miles ago, but not the wires because the place i got the plugs from was charging almost 70 bucks for new wires. i know you can check them with an ohm meter, what is the resistance supposed to be? also what should the resistance be on the coils?

 

With the exception of some hi performance wires the resistance is determined by the lenth of the wire and the manufacturing process. Coil: 2.4L Primary= 0.45 to 0.65 ohms. Secondary resistance measures between terminals 1 and 4, and between terminals 2 and 3 should be 10,900 to 14,700 ohms.

 

www.rockauto.com has spark plug wire sets for less than $15. I made the mistake of buying the ones from Advance Auto Parts a few times for $50, and thats only for two wires. If your car really starts to act up, you will have to replace the coil packs.

 

Is your car throwing any codes? I just had a similar problem with my stratus. It was misfiring in cylinder 2 (P0302). It was the opposite though, it would idle fine during a cold start until it got warmed up, and then would start bogging and idleing rough. I replaced the spark plug wire in the troubled cylinder. Try pulling each plug out one at a time with the car running, and make sure you are getting a good spark to the plugs. (BECAREFUL) As you pull one out at a time, you should notice a change in your idle. If you do not, check plugs/wires/cylinder compression.

 

no codes. it only does it with heavy throttle when warming up. and you can only really notice it in 3rd and up, in 1st and 2nd you dont even notice it. its mostly around 3k rpms.

 

Sounds like a vacuum leak to me. Check all your lines, make sure they are not rotted and are TIGHT