car is running like crap

BlackVert

15 Year Member

Oct 3, 2003

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Bethesda, MD

Jun 22, 2006

#1

• Jun 22, 2006

• #1

car was running bad, feels like a misfire or intermittent spark problem

i had a plug wire that was melted because it was touching the header so i got new summit wires and thermal protectors

still runs like doo-doo

i'll pull the plugs tomorrow. could it be that all the oil the kb sucks thru the pcv has fouled them?

under normal circumstances, how often is one supposed to replace:
- plug wires? mine are abt 1.5 yrs old
- plugs? mine are abt 6 mos old
- rotor? mine is abt 1.5 yrs old
- dizzy cap? mine is abt 1.5 yrs old
- fuel filter? mine is abt 1.5 yrs old

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

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Jun 22, 2006

#2

• Jun 22, 2006

• #2

I normally go with milage intervals on the cap/rotor/plugs (time is kinda irrelevant).

The fuel filter could stand to be changed probably - I dont trust the fuel we are getting.

We dont know how it's running like poo, but pulling codes and running a cylinder balance test might be appropriate (the latter if you have a miss you want to narrow down).

Good luck Chris.

 

P

Pennywise2

Banned

May 16, 2006

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Jun 22, 2006

#3

• Jun 22, 2006

• #3

You could have a bad IAC valve that needs replacing.
+1 You should do a cap/rotor/plug change.I highly subjest
Motorcraft and MSD.Your fuel filter should be changed religously.

 

94-302-vert

Active Member

Aug 16, 2004

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NE CT

Jun 22, 2006

#4

• Jun 22, 2006

• #4

and change those plugs....

On my NA car I go between 12k and 20k on plugs, and usually twice that on cap/rotor/wires...

 

3

3greenfords

New Member

Jun 16, 2003

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Niceville Florida

Jun 22, 2006

#5

• Jun 22, 2006

• #5

I'm having the same problem, and have been for a year. Runs bad, won't idle, misses and backfires when trying to drive down the road and it gets worse when under a load. Essentially undrivable. I have replaced virtually every sensor on the car. Looked under the hood the other night and it looked like a thunderstorm with arcing from the spark plug wires (which were new) Put new ones on yesterday but that did not solve the drivability problems (although it solved the arcing problems). Ran BG fuel injector cleaner through it over the weekend but that had no effect. That really confused the BG rep because he was thoroughly convinced I had clogged injectors. The only thing I have not changed is the computer.

 

BlackVert

15 Year Member

Oct 3, 2003

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Bethesda, MD

Jun 22, 2006

#6

• Jun 22, 2006

• #6

re mileage: 1.5 years translates into about 10,000 miles or so, maybe a few more

re running like poo: running like before the new wires, feels like it is running on 7 or fewer cylinders. every so often, it feels like all 8 are firing. lots of hesitation

re running codes: no codes or cel

re cylinder balance test: is that something i can do myself?

fwiw, the fuel filter was replaced about 2 months ago (less than 1000 miles) when the walbro was installed

 

94-302-vert

Active Member

Aug 16, 2004

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NE CT

Jun 22, 2006

#7

• Jun 22, 2006

• #7

pull the wires one at at time to try and find the cylinder that is dead.

But if you are pulling oil you probably fouled the plugs... So change them out. I would guess it is probably that cylinder that had the burnt wire to be the culprit...

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

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Nov 29, 1999

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Jun 22, 2006

#8

• Jun 22, 2006

• #8

BlackVert said:

re running codes: no codes or cel

re cylinder balance test: is that something i can do myself?

Click to expand...

It's worth pulling codes anyhow (a non-critical issue will toss a cookie in the KAM but might not set the CEL). You have to yank them to run a CBT test anyhow.

It's a great and quick test. The computer will kill the injectors one by one and note the RPM drop. If an injector is shut-off and the RPMs dont drop as much as they should, you just found a sub-par cylinder. The computer will rerun the test up to two more times with differing criteria to determine how bad the cylinder is lacking (in the case of a partially clogged injector, etc).

But the test is great to find out real quick which cylinder is causing the issue, especially if it's not an all-out miss (let the computer test it with its processor rather than our ears). Once it tells you what cylinder is the problem child, pull it's plug and inspect (a broken plug is often the first thing to look for).
Your repair manual and code reader book outline how to run the CBT (it's about 2 or 3 steps past KOER code retrieval in the 30 dollar code reader books.



Good luck Chris.

 

3

3greenfords

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Niceville Florida

Jun 22, 2006

#9

• Jun 22, 2006

• #9

EEC-IV/OBD-1 computer won't tell you which cylinder is bad, just that you have a bad cylinder.

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

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Jun 22, 2006

#10

• Jun 22, 2006

• #10

3greenfords said:

EEC-IV/OBD-1 computer won't tell you which cylinder is bad, just that you have a bad cylinder.

Click to expand...

You might want to check your reference material on that.

 

BlackVert

15 Year Member

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Jun 22, 2006

#11

• Jun 22, 2006

• #11

hmmmm .... is this bad? it is the plug that was on the wire that melted.






i think i found the problem

 

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BlackVert

15 Year Member

Oct 3, 2003

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Jun 22, 2006

#12

• Jun 22, 2006

• #12

what would cause the plug to crack like that?

 

P

Pennywise2

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May 16, 2006

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Jun 23, 2006

#13

• Jun 23, 2006

• #13

Motorcraft or Autolite spark plugs are the way to go on are cars.
Good question why would they crack like that I never seen that
happen before?

 

mootang

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Dec 5, 2004

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texas

Jun 23, 2006

#14

• Jun 23, 2006

• #14

heat maybe?

 

KBCobra95

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Aug 28, 2005

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North Carolina

Jun 23, 2006

#15

• Jun 23, 2006

• #15

Maybe it was cracked installing/ removing? I've done it before.

 

Adverse2Change

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Aug 21, 2003

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Raleigh, NC

Jun 23, 2006

#16

• Jun 23, 2006

• #16

Over tightening a plug will cause it to crack lickity split. The first time I ever changed plugs, I broke one in half...was lucky enough to be able to get the broken part out of the engine without much trouble.

 

BlackVert

15 Year Member

Oct 3, 2003

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Jun 23, 2006

#17

• Jun 23, 2006

• #17

how does a car run if a hg is blown?

well that wasn't it

maybe i cracked it when putting it in before or maybe while i was taking it out ...

this morning when i went to drive it after putting in another new plug, it said i was low on coolant. now i'm worried i have a blown hg.

how does a car run if a hg is blown?

i know there should be some evidence in the oil if a hg is blown ... what would it look like again?

 

95strokerPSU

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Jul 29, 2004

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Sacramento from Philly

Jun 23, 2006

#18

• Jun 23, 2006

• #18

Just drain your oil. That'll be a quick way to find out. And it's earlier and my brain hurts but doesn't oil float on top of water? so that way you don't have to drain the whole pan, cause if there is coolant in your oil it'll be the first thing to come out.

 

donkey_punch

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northern****ingjersey

Jun 23, 2006

#19

• Jun 23, 2006

• #19

BlackVert said:

well that wasn't it

maybe i cracked it when putting it in before or maybe while i was taking it out ...

this morning when i went to drive it after putting in another new plug, it said i was low on coolant. now i'm worried i have a blown hg.

how does a car run if a hg is blown?

i know there should be some evidence in the oil if a hg is blown ... what would it look like again?

Click to expand...

it should look like a milk shake, cause of the coolant and oil mixing.

i had my wife's dodge duster blow a hg and i thought the water pump went on it cause it was over heating like a son of a b. i didn't have the milk shake, but the coolant in the radiator was boiling, and it was smoking due to coolant going into the combustion chamber.
i guess it can vary, depends where the hg blows. on my wife's car it just split between a coolant passage and the number 2 piston.

so what is wrong that make you suspect that you have a blown HG?

edit: and i would loose coolant due to evaporation, i would notice especially when there would be a good change in wheather. and i would have to top it off some.

 

BlackVert

15 Year Member

Oct 3, 2003

5,589

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Bethesda, MD

Jun 23, 2006

#20

• Jun 23, 2006

• #20

just that the coolant is low all of a sudden. it hasn't gone down at all in the last 5 months since i put the blower on.

it hasn't overheated or anything

i was driving it pretty hard it a couple of nights ago after i put the new plug wire on because i thought that the plug was fouled and i was trying to clean it by revving it high. the top was down and i was going 70 on the highway. i heard pinging over the road and wind noise so it must have been pretty loud. i'm worrying that i blew a hg then

i haven't changed the other plugs or wires yet, i'll finish that and then see how it runs.

i'll also top off the coolant and warm it up and let it sit for a while. if the coolant level goes down and i don't see any leaks, that might tell me something too