Rough idle, hesitating

[1helpfulhandyman]

Your mechanic doesn't recommending replacing the coil unless it failed ?????
Thats like saying dont replace that tire until it goes flat !

Get a better mechanic !

[mswlogo]

Sailaway again, you need to fix your furnace first
Kidding

Is the Engine light on? If it is you need to get the codes read out. Bad coil would usually throw an error code and engine light.

If a cylinder is not firing it can ruin your expensive catalytic converter.

This isn’t the same folks that you had fixing your furnace (excuse me boiler) is it?

Good mechanic should zero right in and not be guessing. That’s why I ALWAYS got to the dealer. They will know the car inside out and sometimes it’s a free recall, like defective head. Save money in the long run. Computer will probably know exactly what’s wrong than trial and error Mike around the corner.

Could be plugs, PCV valve, vacuum leak, bad coil, bad gas, timing chain slipped a tooth, crack in intake manifold, bad injector (if it had them).

Smell of gas is a big hint though and eliminates a bunch.

Is the smell from under the hood or the tail pipe?

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by mswlogo

Sailaway again, you need to fix your furnace first Kidding Is the Engine light on? If it is you need to get the codes read out. Bad coil would usually throw an error code and engine light. If a cylinder is not firing it can ruin your expensive catalytic converter. This isn’t the same folks that you had fixing your furnace (excuse me boiler) is it? Good mechanic should zero right in and not be guessing. That’s why I ALWAYS got to the dealer. They will know the car inside out and sometimes it’s a free recall, like defective head. Save money in the long run. Computer will probably know exactly what’s wrong than trial and error Mike around the corner. Could be plugs, PCV valve, vacuum leak, bad coil, bad gas, timing chain slipped a tooth, crack in intake manifold, bad injector (if it had them). Smell of gas is a big hint though and eliminates a bunch. Is the smell from under the hood or the tail pipe?

I'm not driving the car now. Just staying home shoveling snow. (Don't one of you guys want my Toro PowerClear 721 snowblower?)

CE light is NOT on. My mechanic has been pretty good over the past year that he's been working on my car. He is conservative with my money, which I appreciate. Yes, it could be some of the things you list, but at 87,000 miles it's getting close to needing new plugs and ignition coils, so that's a logical place to start. If that doesn't work, I'll investigate other possible causes. I smell the gas inside the car. I also noticed a drop in gas mileage recently.