I have a ‘98 Expedition with approx. 213xxx on the body and 85xxx on the engine. My alignment was really off after replacing the tie rods and it took awhile for me to fix it. (Bad car owner I’m aware) took it in Monday, got it all fixed up and aligned. Fast forward to Tuesday morning. Driving down the road get up between 35-45 mph and car starts acting like it’s misfiring. Is it possible that I burned out a spark plug or a coil from shocking the engine after I had the alignment fixed? It was running a little off but I assumed it was from the bad alignment. Is it possible I overworked the engine due to the poor alignment and now that it’s running normally something broke? I’m not too sure what to do with this. No check engine light at this point and I just put some fuel injector cleaner into the tank.
Is the Check Engine light on?
Tester
No check engine light on.
Then what you might be feeling is torque converter clutch shudder.
Add this to the transmission fluid, and see if it fixes the problem.
http://www.lubegard.com/~/C-230/Instant+Shudder+Fixx
Tester
Nope. Having the alignment fixed was the right thing to do and has nothing to do with your misfiring.
If the shop that did the alignment was good to you, perhaps they could look at the new problem. Or, you could have a parts place that does free code downloading check for stored codes and, if there are any, post them here. If there are no codes, you could if you’re up to it try changing (and reading) the spark plugs. They’re probably the single most common cause of misfiring, and in addition their condition can reveal other problems with the engine’s operation. You could even post photos and we could help you read the plugs.
Note that spark plugs are only one of a myriad of possible causes of erratic engine operation. But it’s a good place to start.
I can’t think of anything an alignment shop could do that would cause misfires. I think it’s a coincidence. The misfiring is due to some other problem, and just now decided to manifest itself. The prior faulty alignment may have done some tread damage to the tires, but unlikely to affect the engine.