Two days ago, I noticed the car was running a little rough, like a cylinder was missing. The next morning I checked the spark plugs on cylinders #2, #4, and #5. (Plug #2 had fouled in the past, so I checked it first, but it was fine) After plug #2 was OK, I started the car and figured I'd pull the plug wires one at a time with the engine running and figure out which cylinder was missing that way. I pulled wire #6 first, ran even rougher, so I knew that wasn't it. Pulled #5, and the engine cut off. I felt sure after that it was either plug #1 or plug #4. #1 was fine. #4 was covered with oil. (Yes the car has been burning oil, but not very badly) I used some WD40 to take off the oil residue and wiped it clean with a paper towel. I put the plug back in and tried to start the car. No go for about 15-20 tries. Finally, it fired up and idled. Upon just barely tapping the gas pedal, it would bog down and cut off. I started it back up immediately. Shortly, I was able to gradually rev the engine to 4,000RPM. After holding that for about 10 seconds, the engine cut off and has not started back since. Just for the hell of it I replaced all 6 spark plugs with Autolite brand plugs. (I gapped them all to the .044 specification) Still no starting. I removed the distributor cap and noticed the contacts were fairly worn, but the rotor button seemed to be OK. I cleaned the inside and outside of the cap using WD40 and a papertowel. I put the cap back on, and still no start. The fact that it was running (rough, but running nevertheless) before I pulled the #5 plug wire with the engine running is what has me VERY confused. The plug wires are less than a year old. I bought a new cap and rotor button, which I will replace tomorrow and report back results. If I do this, and it still won't start, I don't know what in the ever-living hell is the problem. Some have suggested blown head gasket, which could be possible, but I doubt it. I have owned a car that had a blown HG and it ran very rough, but it would start. I checked the oil, and there is no sign of water in it as far as I can tell. If replacing cap and rotor doesn't fix it, I will then check for correct electrical specs coming from the coil and going to and from the cap; after that I'll check the fuel delivery system. I'm pretty sure the fuel pump is working because when I turn the igition switch on, the PGM-FI light comes on for about 2 seconds, and I can hear the pump running at that time before the main relay clicks it off.
I guess my question is, has anyone else ever ran into trouble like this with a 1st-generation Legend? Any input / ideas will be appreciated.
Thanx in advance! :-)
Jonathan
P.S. This is my wife's car, and if I don't hurry up and fix it, she's going to kick my @$$... :-p