Hey guys,

I am the owner of a 88 300TE and my dad (his account name is Merkey) usually posts my problems...but i thought i'd post this time as all the problems happen when i drive it.

Basically the spark plugs get black stuff over the top every 1000 miles and the misfires get worse slowly, so we clean them up and it runs beautifully afterwards with only a few minor shakes.

What i find is though, after filling my car up with gas (every 200-240 miles) the misfires start immediately. I know every time i take the gas cap off, there is a lot of pressure...is this normal? Could there be a problem with the gas cap/pressure problem?

Well anyways, yesterday it was misfiring a lot at low speeds(tends to get better if i get up some speed) and after going through Taco Bell drive through it was misfiring like crazy and so i wanted to get up some speed...so i pulled out and tried to accelerate and it simply didnt. Nothing. Foot to the floor no acceleration whatsoever. Obviously i got beeped at so i pulled over and tried again...locking it in 2nd...and just about got up to 40 to get into a parking lot. During the acceleration there was a very strange clunking coming from somewhere near the exaust manifold. So i stopped and pulled the hood and the manifold was glowing red...like a molton color red. I dont know if this is normal because after i let it cool down for 15mins and drove home(it drove okay on the way back...) i pulled the hood right away and it was not one bit red.

I managed to get a picture, but it had cooled down a little bit by then and wasnt glowing as red, but you can still see it.



I dont know much about cars, so im just checking if it should be this hot, because this was where the knocking sound was coming from almost certainly. And what could be the connection between the shaking after putting gas in the car?

Thanks,