Missing and Lagging. Cleaning the COP's?

[BurningRubber]

Ive had this problem for a while now, but it seems like lately it has definatly gotten more pronounced.

Symptoms: On a cold start, the car lugs, chugs, misses... whatever you want to call it when you first take off in 1st gear. It will also do this going into 2nd and even 3rd at a lower RPM.

Hot days, or a warm engine (up to temp, in traffic...) it stumbles leaving a stop for a second than kicks back up.

I can also hear and feel a miss in the car sitting still. Standing behind the car and listening to the exhaust you can hear it "cough" numerous times... not a very clean idle.

So I have replaced the spark plugs under 10k ago, new fuel filter under 10k ago, cleaned the MAF the other week, cleaned the TB and plenum, IAC and all that.

The only thing I really havnt done yet were the COP's... but, they were nasty looking when I pulled them out. The boots had a little rusty/dirt buildup on them. I didnt clean them or put any dialetric grease on them.

I was wondering if there is any way to clean the COP's to help restore a little life in them untill I can afford some new ones. They are damn expensive...

Are they one peice, or do they come apart? Can I spray some electric part cleaner in the boots to wash the coils off or anything? Im planning on going to the drags next week, and I want to get a new part before then and I would get the COP's but I dont have enough damn money... unless Accel all of a sudden starts selling theirs, that would be an option.

Its starting to get on my nerves. I dont want the car to be down on power, getting worse MPG, or hurting it or anything.

Thanks for any help, I want to get this thing running right and not feel like a slug on the road...

 

[BurningRubber]

bumpity bump, looking for help...:SNSign:

 

[Mike97gt]

you can take the boot off the cops, inspect them for crack or signs of water geting into the plug wells. Thats a good place to start. rusty dirty buildup could be a sign of water getting into the plug wells, I would clean all of that off the electric parts cleaner is fine, then a little dielectric greese is good too.

 

[Superhereaux]

i doubt cleaning them will do anything but hey, it's worth a shot

take 'em out, clean 'em, grease 'em and let us know






did you gap the plugs correctly?

 

[BurningRubber]

Cool, ill try that.

Plugs were gapped at .054.

 

[MBDiagMan]

Have you checked to see if any codes have been set? Cleaning and inspecting the COPs is not a bad thing to do, but you are basically just treasure hunting.

Check for codes and post the results here.

 

[mr-mike]

they have a resistor in the spring or at the end , some years are different I took the resistor out and pulled the spring just a taste so it would contact the spark plug end , I ran for a year with no resistors & had no problems then my intake manifold started leaking it caused one of the cops to short out & it sent a code I replaced all 8 & the intake manifold , when I removed the manifold I found that the gasket had been bad for some by the look of it I am well passed the 130,000 mile mark , I got all 8 brand new off of e-bay for $200 they have AMT on the box I could not find anything about where there made , the seller said they are for a Ford Lightning , they have a few thousand miles & she is running like new , the new manifold had the gasket already attached .....the old gasket was a cheap looking P.O.S to be honest it was the type that just sits on the heads ...it was all eaten away & would have went bad anyday ...PS I went to Ford & nowhere in any of the books did they mention a resistor on those cops , mine is a 99 the resistor was on the end of the spring later years are on the end ....

 

[jstreet0204]

You can replace just the boots. They are about $5 each.

 

[markwsoil]

I've had a couple of bourbons, so maybe I missed it, but I didn't see where you replaced the spark plug wires. They can cause a similar kind of problem, and they're relatively inexpensive to replace. To me, when I've had problems with spark plug wires, it always seems to mimic fuel problems - bucking, jumping, spitting, etc. Something to consider.

 

[HoustonGT]

I've had a couple of bourbons, so maybe I missed it, but I didn't see where you replaced the spark plug wires. They can cause a similar kind of problem, and they're relatively inexpensive to replace. To me, when I've had problems with spark plug wires, it always seems to mimic fuel problems - bucking, jumping, spitting, etc. Something to consider.

99+ Stangs don't have spark plug wires

 

[BurningRubber]

Gonna see if I can find some time to do them tomarrow. Is the dialetric grease nececerry, or not? I looked for some but couldnt find any, maybe I wasnt looking at the right places... would a parts store have it?

Also, how do the boots detatch? Do they just pop in and out, or twist them..? And if I find that a boot is cracked, will it work to just put some hi-temp silicone over the split or crack to seal it back up for a little while?

 

[HoustonGT]

Gonna see if I can find some time to do them tomarrow. Is the dialetric grease nececerry, or not? I looked for some but couldnt find any, maybe I wasnt looking at the right places... would a parts store have it?

Also, how do the boots detatch? Do they just pop in and out, or twist them..? And if I find that a boot is cracked, will it work to just put some hi-temp silicone over the split or crack to seal it back up for a little while?

Go to like autozone, oreillys or advance auto parts. Its at the checkout counter in these little plastic tear open packages. Usually they give em to you for free when you buy spark plugs

 

[BurningRubber]

Go to like autozone, oreillys or advance auto parts. Its at the checkout counter in these little plastic tear open packages. Usually they give em to you for free when you buy spark plugs

Ahhh so thats what those things are. I never really payed attention, lol.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Sometimes it is called "tune up grease"...

 

[turbotbirdguy79]

Im having the same issues in my 04 gt.The dealer is saying the engine may be bad,Im still waiting on the final word though.The car only has 20,000 on it too

 

[the98stang]

You can replace just the boots. They are about $5 each.

I was going to say that. $5 X 8 = $40 plus tax, which isn't a lot of money

 

[BurningRubber]

Will replacing the boots alone help anything though? If the coils themselves are going dead and all.

What happens if the boots are torn...? Does the spark arch outside of them and not get the full amount of juice to the plugs, or what?

 

[Mike97gt]

Will replacing the boots alone help anything though? If the coils themselves are going dead and all.

What happens if the boots are torn...? Does the spark arch outside of them and not get the full amount of juice to the plugs, or what?

If your car has a dead skip ( constant misfire) then most likely the boot will not help, but if the miss is random or intermittent then usually it's the boots or plugs. sometimes you can see damage to the boot where the spark is arcing.

 

[sbelyo]

The haynes manual has a procedure to test each coil with an ohm meter. I'll look it up when I get home.

That way you only have to replace the coils that don't work. I've had to replace 2 in 93K miles and it's always on a saturday so I wind up paying $90 from the local dealer.

 

[BurningRubber]

The haynes manual has a procedure to test each coil with an ohm meter. I'll look it up when I get home.

That way you only have to replace the coils that don't work. I've had to replace 2 in 93K miles and it's always on a saturday so I wind up paying $90 from the local dealer.

That would be great. Was the $90 for one or two?