In park, all is fine. I can rev the engine to 4k, smooth as silk. in drive, however, it idles fine, really rough under load. Hearing a popping sound sometimes during acceleration. When up to speed, seems fine, but gets rough as soon as you start to accelerate. A bit puzzled as to why CEL not on...
Hi guys - Weather here in Hamilton Ontario has been for the S$#@ (rain, rain, oh yeah, more rain). I haven't done anything related to plugs or wires yet. However, interestingly enough, the damp weather hasn't made things worse (?). Yesterday I replaced the fuel filter (I had one and it was due anyway) and took the van for a spin. I guess I was hoping it was water in the filter, or that it was plugged. Still fine under normal driving, as soon as you accelerate up a hill it misfires pretty bad. This time, I got a flashing CEL. I believe this means a general misfire? CEL went stopped flashing and stayed off as soon as I was off the hill.
Question: What's the easiest way to change the rear plugs in this thing (2002 Windstar)? Not looking forward to this one...
I'll try that out. I have had bad experiences with cheap wires, back in the college days. I never, never, NEVER go with cheap ones any more, it just isn't worth it.
Still looking for an easier way to do the plugs/wires without going in from underneath... any tips?? I have never had a vehicle that made the plugs this inaccessible.
Dan
Anth> Not sure about the plugs on that one, but sure sounds like a set of wires to > me.
Try a little gasline antifreeze. I had the exact same problem on a chevy venture, after parking on a slope (facing downward). Water in the gas would all collect at the intake and the van ran terrible. Reading codes just revealed "misfire", mechanics were no help. I finally figured that one out for myself. I also stopped buying gas at the lake gas station.
Wow. Just kidding... Raining tonight. Wife took the van out, same problem, massive misfire. Not the fuel filter, not the plugs, not the wires. No solid check engine light, just the flashing one that means 'misfire'. Don't want to start shotgunning parts...
did a simple test, while the van was running, I disconnected each wire at a time at the coil pack. Cylinders 1,3,4,5,6 had a good strong spark jumping, 2 didn't. A friend of mine has access to some shop manuals. Asked him to look it up for me, low and behold, there was the schematic for the ig. coil. I saw that cylinders 1,5 2,6 3,4 each shared a coil. I measured the continuity between 1,5 and saw that it was about 10 kohms. 3,4 did too. 2,6 was wide open. I wasn't sure what nominally it should be, but figured that open was bad. For interest sake, I measured the new one, each pair was just over 10kohms.
As an aside, I called NAPA Autoparts for a price. I was quoted at about $240 Real Dollars (ie Canadian). The dealer, surprisingly was $185. I have never found the dealer to be cheaper for anything. What gives?
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