Pontiac Repair: Rythmic rough idle, no heat, pontiac grand am, coil ignition

Question
The vehicle: 1995 Pontiac Grand Am door Coupe, Quad Four. 195,xxx miles. Recently Purchased with no service records.
Drove it this morning with no problems, when I left for work the car made it approximatly 1.5 miles nothing felt out of the ordinary. I accelerated away from a light and felt a jolt(misfire?) and it immediately began running very rough with a powerful smell from exhaust.  It did not overheat and was drivable but with extremely decreased power. I made it to a parking lot and let it sit there for 8 hours.I checked for coolant in the oil and saw that it was low so I added a .75 qt. I came back after work and had to give it gas to get it to start but when it did i ran at an even bone shuddering rhythmic shake. I popped the hood and checked for coolant in the oil again and there was none. I drove it home was able to reach speed limits and also make it up the large hill I live on. you guys are my first step.

James

Answer
Hi James!

With that many Miles on it it couls be just about anything wrong with it. But I would look at the ignition system first. You could have a bad coil/ignition module or a bad coil housing. The coil housing would be my first "guess" the plastic cover that hold the ignition coils had a tendency to go bad the insulation would break down and the coils woul cross fire and cause a misfire... But the ignition system is where I would look first. good luck :)