What can cause sputtering in a 2002 ford explorer?

Answer 1

My 2002 V6 XLT started to sputter after driving to the parts store. I could feel and hear the idle was off and when I would push down on the accelerator I could feel the sputter struggle of the engine. Also when I drove it home it would sputter while stopped at lights and accelerating. I ended up cleaning my MAF also looked at changing the coil, but I wanted to check my plug wires and found a leak in #3 plug wire where I had a P0303 code (#3 cylinder misfire). I changed my plug wires for $35 (Napa) and it runs great! I wanted to add a picture of where the leak is on the old #3 plug wire, it was about 7in from plug boot, it is the only abnormal color on the wire.