holtian

The "check engine light" in my 2000 Impreza RS has been coming on over the last few weeks. I took it to AutoZone and they said it was a #1 cylinder misfire. So I put in new sparkplugs and the light went away.
A couple of weeks later the light came on again, so I took it to AutoZone again and they said it was the same thing...#1 cylinder misfire. I put in new spark plug wires, and the check engine light went away.
Then the light came on again a week later. AutoZone checked and it was the same problem...#1 cylinder misfire. They suggested I reaplace the coil, and pointed to the box on the manifold where the ignition wire from the sparkplugs go. On old cars this would have been called a distributor. In any case, the coil is $172, so I didn't just buy it and see if the problem went away.
I checked at Goodyear to see about a diagnostic test to pinpoint the culprit. They wanted $99, and couldn't do it for a while, so I am considering other options.
Lately the car seems to be getting harder to start, with the engine cranking for 5 or 6 seconds before firing. It used to be much faster.
Questions:
1. Is the coil on the manifold where the plug wires meet?
2. Does it sound like the coil is the problem?
3. Could there be another cause for the #1 cylinder misfire?
4. Are there any questions I should be asking and haven't?
Thanks for any and all suggestions.
Regards,
Randy

bikerthou

Hi Randy the coil pack sparks two cylinders at the same time ie no 1 and no 2 cyl would have thought that if no1 was at fault then no 2 would be as well how many miles has the car done as could be valve clearnce is to tight

holtian

The car has 67,000 miles on it.
Randy

scoobyboy

change the neutral switch usually cures most of the missfire problems

holtian

Help me out a little. What is a "neutral switch"?