[Shotimes] Intermittent Misfire on '94 w/ATX (long)

[Paul Nimz]

If the tach is reading lower than what the engine is actually running then
this is definitely an ignition problem.  I had the plug on the coil that
would not seat fully due to the silicone gasket not fitting correctly.  No
power, missing on two cylinders and the tach reading low.

Paul Nimz
'97 TR
'93 EG mtx


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J.B. Hebert" <jhebert@wrxtra.com>
To: "Carl Prochilo" <gr8sho@prochilo.myserver.org>
Cc: <shotimes@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 8:51 AM
Subject: Re: [Shotimes] Intermittent Misfire on '94 w/ATX (long)


> Ah, totally forgot to mention that.  Yes, I did both tests when the
problem
> first started, but I have not done them since the most recent increase in
> severity.  When I ran the tests, everything came back normal.  I'll try
> them again tonight if I can get the car running long enough to warm up.
>
> Thanks,
>
> J.B. Hebert
>
> At 09:29 AM 3/16/2004 -0500, you wrote:
> >Just curiious.  In any of that long list of work did you do a KOEO
> >or KOER test?
> >--
> >Cheers,
> >Carl Prochilo
> >1992 Ultra Red Crimson
> >
> >J.B. Hebert said:
> > > Hello:
> > >
> > > I've been working on a problem with my '94 SHO 3.2 ATX.  It's
> > > driving me
> > > nuts, so I'm hoping that someone here can point me in the right
> > > direction.  It started a few months ago with a surging/misfire at
> > > light
> > > throttle input.  I thought I might have gotten some bad gas, so I
> > > ran a few
> > > containers of Techron through and the problem seemed to go away.
> > > Then a
> > > week or two later it came back again.  It felt like one or two
> > > cylinders
> > > were not firing properly.  Following standard troubleshooting for
> > > these
> > > cars, I first checked the spark plug wells.  Sure enough, 2 or 3
> > > were
> > > nearly full of oil, so I replaced all the valve cover seals and
> > > cleaned out
> > > the spark plug wells thoroughly.  After reassembling the car, the
> > > problem
> > > once again seemed to be resolved.  However, after a few hours of
> > > driving it
> > > returned.  At this point I had my mechanic run a few tests, and he
> > > found
> > > that one of the cylinders was running lean.  I decided to have the
> > > injectors rebuilt in case I had one intermittently sticking.  At the
> > > same
> > > time I replaced the coil, in case I had one that was failing, as
> > > well as
> > > the air and fuel filters.  I put the new injectors in, and once
> > > again
> > > everything was fine for a while.  Then the problem returned.  At
> > > this
> > > point, I thought it might be a spark issue.  Even though the
> > > previous owner
> > > had recently had the spark plugs and wires replaced, they did not
> > > use
> > > quality wires, so I replaced the spark plugs with the appropriate
> > > Motorcraft platinums and put a set of Taylor spiral core wires in.
> > > After
> > > doing this, the car ran great for about 15 minutes.  I took it out
> > > on the
> > > highway and got it warmed up, then did a couple hard acceleration
> > > runs.  It
> > > was running out smoothly and with good power.  However, after the
> > > second or
> > > third run, I noticed that the car wouldn't rev over about 3800 RPM.
> > > It was
> > > like it was hitting a rev limiter or something when it tried to open
> > > the
> > > secondary runners.  Suddenly, I completely lost power and the tach
> > > dropped
> > > to around 300RPM, even though the engine was still turning much
> > > faster than
> > > that.  I managed to get to the next off ramp and at this point the
> > > car was
> > > running on MAYBE two cylinders.  It would move, but the exhaust note
> > > was
> > > very bad and the transmission was having trouble shifting.  The tach
> > > was
> > > way off; it would read around 400 RPM even after a shift.  Around
> > > this time
> > > the cabin started to fill with nasty, burnt plastic smoke.  I pulled
> > > off to
> > > the side of the road and shut down.  I popped the hood and could not
> > > find
> > > the source of the smoke.  It soon disapated so I started the car,
> > > and it
> > > ran much better.  However, while limping home it got worse again and
> > > the
> > > smoke returned.  I made it home and shut the motor off, coasting
> > > down the
> > > driveway.  Once again I was unable to find the source of the smoke.
> > > One
> > > last thing to note:  at no time during any of this has the check
> > > engine
> > > light come on.
> > >
> > > This car is driving me nuts, and making me long for my '89 MTX.
> > > Does
> > > anyone have any ideas what might be causing this?
> > >
> > > Thanks in advance.
> > >
> > > J.B. Hebert
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > Shotimes@autox.team.net
> > > http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo/shotimes
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