Protege suddenly misfiring - HELP!!

I was running some errands today when all of a sudden I noticed some shuddering in my shifter. Look at my guage cluster and my check engine light was on. As I pulled away from the next stoplight, I noticed that there was quite a bit of misfiring going on with quite a lack of power. I stopped into Advance and they pulled the code for a cylinder 2 misfire. It was running just fine until this afternoon, and the CEL will sometimes flash (sign of more misfires?), but once I was getting up to speed (30+ mph) it seemed to be fine for the most part.

Like I said, it was running mostly fine until today. I know that I need to replace my valve cover gasket, as it's leaking a bit down the front, and I've had a couple instances where I would start my car and it would die right away if I didn't give it gas. My car isn't in perfect condition, but hasn't had major driveability problems until now. There is a clattering noise at idle that goes away once I get above 1k RPM but I'm assuming it's a rattling heat shield by the cat as it usually starts once I move the shifter into gear.

About my car:
2002 Protege (2.0L U.S. model)
Manual
146k miles
Bad struts
Clunking in steering rack
Rusting brakes
Had a code for a bank 1 O2 sensor temp out of range (I belive that's what it was; saw it and didn't need to worry about it)
Otherwise no CEL until today

Please help me! I've already put in a bunch of money (besides spending too much to acquire the car), and I don't want to get rid of the car. I love it too much and just got it a few months ago. Is it going to be safe to use for work and for driving over 2 hours to go home?

Look at these:

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123820730-Keep-having-Misfire-issue

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123829506-Is-This-Normal-Pics!-P0300

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...0300-P0301-P0171-codes-Please-help-if-you-can

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123773563-Replace-Coil-Packs

cel flashing do not drive it . first things i would do is plugs and wires usually a bad wire will make it misfire under load. if that dont solve it then coil packs are next

It was a bad coil pack. 10 minutes of amateur work and some $50 later my car is back to running like before. Thank you!

Hey, what place did you get the coil packs from? Was that $50 each? If you can also tell me the exact Brand, model and/or part number it would be better in case they have a place here, locally. I am having this issue now.

I got mine from Advance Auto Parts for $27 a piece. I believe they were brand BWD/Intermotor or something like that. I don't have the receipt or anything nearby, but I think that's what it was. On their website you can sort it by car model and year and find the exact part number that way.

Good, I have two near my home in opposite directions but they are all over the place in the Miami area. They're like the Mc Donald's of auto parts around here. I just called the dealer a few minutes ago knowing darned well I would not be buying it there. Their price: $114 plus tax each.(rlaugh)

Oh snap I would definitely not go to the dealer for anything, let alone something this easy! I learned my lesson when my mom got a bill from the dealer for her 120k service: $2250. Never again.

mannydingo said:

Good, I have two near my home in opposite directions but they are all over the place in the Miami area. They're like the Mc Donald's of auto parts around here. I just called the dealer a few minutes ago knowing darned well I would not be buying it there. Their price: $114 plus tax each.(rlaugh)

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That price is better than Australia... $474 for coil packs from mazda here.

esnave09 said:

Oh snap I would definitely not go to the dealer for anything, let alone something this easy! I learned my lesson when my mom got a bill from the dealer for her 120k service: $2250. Never again.

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That should carry the same penalty as rape. You realize parts are a huge chunk of those ridiculous dealer repair bills. Their labor costs are super high also but some parts are outright theft.

zoom zoom sp20 said:

That price is better than Australia... $474 for coil packs from mazda here.

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Is that the already converted to US Dollar price and per coil?

Is that the already converted to US Dollar price and per coil?[/QUOTE]

No and that price is for 2 coils

zoom zoom sp20 said:

Is that the already converted to US Dollar price and per coil?

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Just checked and $474 Australian Dollars are about $470 US Dollars so that part is the same. That makes it $237 Australian dollars for each coil. If your goods and services cost roughly the same as they do here, then that price is even more absurd than ours at the dealership. You would be wise to order aftermarket parts from here or other parts of the world. Even with shipping it would be well worth it. The aftermarket coils here are as low as $26 plus tax. Add whatever expense in shipping and it's STILL a huge savings.

Just checked and $474 Australian Dollars are about $470 US Dollars so that part is the same. That makes it $237 Australian dollars for each coil. If your goods and services cost roughly the same as they do here, then that price is even more absurd than ours at the dealership. You would be wise to order aftermarket parts from here or other parts of the world. Even with shipping it would be well worth it. The aftermarket coils here are as low as $26 plus tax. Add whatever expense in shipping and it's STILL a huge savings.[/QUOTE]

Yes that's right mate a lot of us in Australia buy our parts from the USA

zoom zoom sp20 said:

Yes that's right mate a lot of us in Australia buy our parts from the USA

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Now, aside from car parts, but in general, do you buy from China or other Asian country rather than from the U.S.? I'm talking when it's an Asian made part. For example, I buy car chargers for my mobile phone, miscellaneous parts for my guitars and other items straight from China. I save a lot. Sometimes the quality is not the same and sometimes it is. If the quality of the one bought here is better, it usually isn't better enough to justify the huge price increase.