Here's the post asking for help:
A couple of weeks back I posted a request for Help with an ignition >One minute it was running fine, the next it was missing and popping >with the service engine light blinking.
>I replaced one coil and that did nothing. Bought another coil and a >set of plugs. Installed the plugs and viola! it ran like a top again. >General consensus was it was the brand of plugs (Bosch Platinum) that >caused the problem. The Bosch plugs had few miles on them and looked >fine. In spite of the fact the replacing them fixed the problem I >always had this funny feeling about the whole thing.
>Friday it started missing again. I was stumped. The only thing I >could think of was to open the hood at night and check for a light >show. Did that,...nothing.
Here's the source and solution:
Most of the replys were pointing toward the spark plug wires or boots (pin holes or carbon tracked. Three mentions of dialectric grease and one suggestion that maybe a bad brain box.
The wires and boots seemed in good shape and I had never heard of dialectric grease, (wasn't used on the original boots). Turns out that moisture around a couple of the boots *was* the problem. The source of the moisture was a leak around the thermostat housing. If I accelerated fairly hard it would flood the two plugs right behind the thermostat.
Whenever it missed I would wait for it to cool down before checking it out and by that time it was dry enough not to catch attention. Replaced the O-ring and cleaned up the housing but still had to add a bit of silicone to completely reseal the housing. Pretty crappy design IMO. Thanks again to all who replied. One to file away?
Frank