My car has got the hickups....

onebad7up

Member
Jun 21, 2004
97
0
6
Nashville
Last weekend I put new Motorcraft wires, new cap and a new rotor on my car. I also retarded the timing some so that I could use cheap gas. I am a strong believer in using 93 but I read on a post that it should be 10* timing and 87 gas. Well I drove back to South Carolina and now it is "hickupping". When I am driving the RPM's will drop 500 RPM for a second. It is happening whenever I am getting into the gas. People are telling me it is my timing chain stretched, that it is bad gas, etc.... I am wondering if it has something to do with the wires I put on it. There were two different models. One said something like EEV Cal then the other said HO. I got the EEC Cal wires. If anyone knows anything it would be much appreciated. Thanks
 
You need the HO mah man (I think)

Doesn't make sense... all but 87 had Mass Air. :scratch:


It could be the new wires... my friend's 92 GT kept crackling at about 5,000 rpm after he switched to MSD wires. Took 'em off and hasn't happened since
 
What kind of cap and rotor did you get? Were they motorcraft too? A few years back I bought a cap and rotor from Shucks (kragen or checker depending on where you live) for a 5.0. The cap looked fine, but I started having a bad misfire anywhere above about 3000 rpm's after I put it on. I went to the dealership and bought a Motorcraft cap and rotor, and the problem was gone.

I don't buy cheap tune-up parts any more.

I don't know what difference there would be between those two kinds of wires. It's a possible cause though. Did you keep your old wires by any chance? You could put them back on and see if the problem goes away.

BTW, cool car. I've always liked those 7up's! :nice:


Jeff
 
Non Cali 88's were SD too.

Pull the codes - an issue like this might have stored one, though it wouldnt illuminate the CEL because it's so intermittant and goes away so fast.

Do the RPMs drop alone, or does the tach also drop down 500 RPM? That would be telling.

Good luck.
 
I bought the cheap cap and rotor because they were out of the Motorcraft. I am going to go down and buy that right now just for the peace of mind. What does the EEC Cal mean on the wires? I do not have the old wires anymore.

The tach drops as well as the RPMs. Does that point to anything?
 
onebad7up said:
I bought the cheap cap and rotor because they were out of the Motorcraft. I am going to go down and buy that right now just for the peace of mind. What does the EEC Cal mean on the wires? I do not have the old wires anymore.

The tach drops as well as the RPMs. Does that point to anything?
The tach dropping as well suggests a primary ignition issue (I'd be thinking PIP myself). It's not just a miss from the wires, but a burp in the actual signal being sent.

I would pull codes, looking for PIP, TFI and IDM codes.

Good luck.
 
onebad7up said:
Is PIP Primary Ignition Problem? What does that mean? I set my timing by hand. I am wondering if I just need to advance my timing to the correct setting.
PIP = Profile Ignition Pick-up. Its the sensor in the dizzy that relates piston displacement to the computer (if you're used to DIS, it's like the cam/crank triggers).

Your timing perhaps being off should matter not.

Good luck.
 
As mentioned before, pull the codes first. Because this is a very intermittant issue, it's going to be hard to test for by yourself. You have to hope the computer noted the burp and stored a code for it.

Because it's so intermittant, there isnt much to go on. What I've posted might even be wrong - it's an educated guess based on the info provided. One has to further check things out and make observations.

Good luck.
 
Nothing showed up in the codes. I have put two sets of rotors, caps, and wires on within the past two weeks. I have also put on a new fuel filter and the control module on the distributor. It is still bucking when it gets hot. The next options are : 1. Throttle Position Sensor 2. Pick up Coil 3. Coil. Do these seem like they are possible areas of concern?