Hi all,

I have searched the archives and think I will proceed in this order to try to fix this - just looking for some reassurance if this is the right way to go about it...

1. Caps and Rotors
2. Spark plugs
3. Wiring harnesses
4. Give up and take it to the mechanic

Patient is a 92 400E with 52,000 miles. I left it parked for two weeks while on vacation. Weather has been fairly hot and dry here in the SF Bay Area.
This morning I started it and the Check Engine light came on and the engine was missing/stumbling (like it was running on 7 cylinders). A touch of gas and it fixed itself and the CEL went out and was running back on 8. At the end of the driveway it started missing again. Then I drove to work and it intermittently seemed to be missing. After work it was fine for a little bit then deteriorated to where it idles OK, but when traveling at steady throttle it seems to be OK but could be missing (hard to tell), as soon as you touch the gas a bit it misses, then recovers and gets up and goes. So it is not severe, but definitely not right and kind of annoying. The gasoline level was low, I filled it after work, no change as of yet - I figured maybe what was left in the tank might not be so good, but was normal CA-available Chevron 91 octane. Check engine light has not come on again since the first time this morning.

One last question. When ordering the rotor(s) the parts sites say you need an adaptor that is out of stock if the engine is under serial number 000041. Not knowing where to find the engine serial number, I think I will assume my engine is not one of the first 40 off the line... Also ******** Arizona seems to have pretty good price, quite a bit less than Phil whom I usually would go to for maintenance parts. The dealers around here are all expensive.

Car otherwise has been great in the year I've owned, it came without records but seemed to be cared for very well according to my mechanic. However, the parts listed above are most likely original. What I can see of the harness seems to be OK but is there a litmus test for this, i.e. if I poke a certain place and it falls apoart it's bad or if not, then it's good?

Thanks,
Jim
92 400E