Difficultly starting and rough once running '05 aveo

[AynosR]

I've had difficulty starting my aveo for a while now - it stopped running all together about 2 months ago. A friend of mine replaced the spark plugs and it started with no difficulty.

When he changed them out the spark plug second from the drivers side had the bottom three threads of the car melted onto the spark plug and there was some buildup in the bottom of that cylinder (either baked oil build-up or deformed metal). Also, that spark plug and the two from either side of it had a fair amount of baked-on oil on their stems (rt word?).

Now, I'm starting to have issues getting it to start again - not as bad as before, yet.

It turns over perfectly fine, but seems to have issues getting going until it eventually catches - usually with some help from the gas peddle at an oportune time (aka when the engine is almost going on it's own/the rpms are up). It usually starts perfectly fine if it's warmed up but not in the morning or when I leave work. (Can't blame winter temps as it doesn't go below 60F where I live)

My friends think it might be the fuel pump but aren't sure how much it will cost me in labor to find out and replace it - so, first question.

Also, once it starts running I usually find that I should let the engine run for a bit until the engine is running smoother otherwise it tends to surge really bad when I put it in reverse to get out of the stall, calm down a little once it's in drive, and eventually evens out when I get going.

Yes, the engine light is on and sometimes the Hold light comes on. Last time I checked the engine light it was P0300 - Random Misfire.

Any ideas what's wrong with my car?

[avguy]

I'm guessing that when you say "cylinder", you're actually referring to the spark plug wells. If that correct, it sounds like you're describing the very common valve cover gasket oil leak into the plug wells (and probably also onto the block). This is not a serious thing, but needs to be corrected quickly because raw gas it being sent into the cat, due to the misfire. The immediate fix would be new ignition wires, which get rotted out by being dunked in the oil bath. But it's important to change the valve cover gasket at the same time as the wires, or as soon after as possible (to avoid getting the same problem with the new wires).