# Misfire 101

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/misfire-101/88651>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [January 12, 2015, 5:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/misfire-101/88651 "2015-01-12T05:40:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![spider-man](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/spider-man/32/2451_2.png) [@spider-man](https://community.cartalk.com/u/spider-man)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 5:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/misfire-101/88651/1 "2015-01-12T05:40:46Z")

</div>

can a bad head gasket cause a misfire.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SteveC76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SteveC76](https://community.cartalk.com/u/SteveC76)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 6:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/misfire-101/88651/2 "2015-01-12T06:05:48Z")

</div>

Short answer, yes. It what is the year make and model of the car or are you just seeking general knowledge or trying to diagnose a vehicle. Head gasket failures can range from and engine that will only misfire on cold starts and clear in seconds to a car that billows smoke.

Steve

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/misfire-101/88651/3 "2015-01-12T06:09:03Z")

</div>

@dripper‌

That is an interesting question

How about letting us know why you are asking the question

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:25am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/misfire-101/88651/4 "2015-01-12T07:25:58Z")

</div>

Ohhhhhhh, yeahhhhhhhh… (in a Bill Withers voice).  
Why do you ask?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/misfire-101/88651/5 "2015-01-12T17:40:39Z")

</div>

In the mean time… This question reminds me of a retired military aircraft mechanic who said it was SOP to spit on exhaust manifolds to check for missfire on the multi cylinder radial engines. With 9,18 and even 27 cylinders to deal with even recognizing that there was a missfire was difficult but isolating the cylinder was the first step in dealing with the problem. Imagine that.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![insightful](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/insightful/32/2732_2.png) [@insightful](https://community.cartalk.com/u/insightful)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/misfire-101/88651/6 "2015-01-13T00:20:45Z")

</div>

Not to mentions 28 cylinders. Read a story of an airliner that landed and only upon inspection was it found that one cylinder had blown completely off an engine.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/misfire-101/88651/7 "2015-01-13T04:05:15Z")

</div>

Spitting 27 times in a row would be a challenge, indeed.