Stumbling yet again

To check the wires you can use an ohm meter... expect to see in the neighbourhood of 3000 ohms on up to about 9000 ohms depending on the wire and the length.... at the very least, having any kind of continuity is good. Next, inspect the insulation for cracks, bulges and signs of "lightning strikes". Many change wires at regular intervals just to escape the inconvenience of bad wires (they WILL go bad sooner or later).

As for washing the motor... with a distributor, we can get water into the bottom of the bowl... not bad until the motor gets warm enough to evaporate the water which condenses on the inside of the cap..... for some, the time gap between the wash job and the bad running makes the wash job a non-entity. For modular motors, we can force water under the plug boots into the spark plug well..... so I just had to ask.

In your case, disturbing the wires could be enough to re-establish a viable spark path... instead of just pushing the wires back into the coil, you need to inspect the wires for 'bad stuff' and inspect the coil towers very closely (use a trouble light or such) for carbon tracking. Attention to detail is extremely important in everthing we do to our cars....... right is right, good enough ain't.

You sound like some of the work orders I get..... air flow detector???? Check the computer for what.....

doc... sit back, have a cuppa joe and learn stuff.

Weak spark is weak spark..... weak spark is good for nothing...... if you want something to work right, everything needs to be close to optimum - anything else is like cutting the green part off the balonga....

Dealer Price is around $120 for the wires and $90 for the coil, if you are not sure how or what the firing order is take it to your Ford Dealer.

Yea, with an Ohm meter.

Time to replace them. Wires breakdown internally over time.

Install new ones an see where you are at then.

-ERIC

Not if it's arching from a bad wire it won't.

-ERIC

I know what the firing order is... I'll follow Jim's instructions & check the wires today. I'll post results. Thanks =)

-Mike

I've got my multimeter ready & I'm about to go outside & check 'em. I'll letcha know.

Oh... yeah I heard about water getting into spark plug wells... I washed it a few times in the past & always used walmart plastic bags to cover major electrical components like ignition coil packs, alternator, etc.. and always used compressed air near the spark plug boots to blow out any water around 'em...

I'll also inspect that very closely while I'm out there. Thanks a lot, Jim... I really appreciate you taking time to help me like this (along w/ everybody else giving me their time).

-Mike

I go out there & pull wire #1... I switch the multimeter on K Ohms.. measured 6.96 K ohms... which I believe means by the thousands.. so 6.96 thousand.. or 6,960 ohms.. and wire #1 is less than 1ft long... Chiltons manual says for each FOOT of wire, resistance should be a maximum of 7000 Ohms.. so I guess wires are going to turn out to be the problem. This is fairly high resistance I'd say... I'm gonna go check the rest (what a PITA ;>). Just an update.

-Mike

Well... after some more testing.. I've concluded that the wires ARE the problem. I didn't test them ALL... b/c I didn't hafta. This multimeter is probably of the best investments I've ever made... anyway, here are the results:

Wire #1: 6,960 Ohms (1 ft long) -- Borderline Wire #2: Untested Wire #3: Untested Wire #4: Untested Wire #5: 11,700 Ohms (barely over 1ft long.. maybe 14-15 inches) -- High Wire #6: 12,000 Ohms (Roughly 16 inches) -- Borderline/High Wire #7: 9,600 Ohms (Roughly 12-13 inches) -- High (Explained below) Wire #8: 10,400 Ohms (Roughly 14-15 inches) -- Good

Wire #7 is what made me stop testing... I pulled the sucker VERY CAREFULLY... as I did with the rest.. only by the boot, never by the wire. tested it... K Ohms were skyrocketing & then it said "OL" for mega ohms... OL being overload over course. I blink... think nothing of it b/c I figure one of the probes isn't touching.. I try again... OL M Ohms... I try again.. OL M Ohms.. WTF!! So I fiddle with the wire.. twist & turn it a bit to get the wire into both ends better.. test again, 9,600 Ohms..... high. After that, I said screw it & didn't test anymore... all were either borderline or high or just way outta the park.. except #8, but even that was kinda high I thought. I'll be replacing the wires as soon as funds become available (payday coming soon). Thanks everybody for your help.. it is much appreciated.

-Mike

Called O'Reilly Auto Parts... Ford Motorcraft wires (premade w/ boots attached, ready to go) $58.99 w/ 1-year warranty... I'll pick some up soon. Car runs well enough to drive for now.. just can't step on it too much.

-Mike

Mike,

If you absolutely have to get Ford wires at least get the Ford Racing wires and not the OEM replacements. I had to replace my wires at about 70000 or so miles and ended up with MSD wires which cleared my ignition problem right up! While you're at it, pick up a set of Autolite 764 copper plugs and gap 'em at .054. If all this doesn't cure your problem it may be a coil pack as mentioned earlier. I've got a couple of spares I can send over to you to help diagnose if that's the case.

Good Luck!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tom

1998 GT Coupe 5-spd. Bright Atlantic Blue K&N FIPK, Tri-Ax, 3.73's, FRPP Coated Shorties, SpeedCal, P&P 2K Heads, 2K Intake, Bassani X-Pipe and Cat-Back, Subframe Connectors, JMS Chip, Eagle Alloy Wheels

Well I'll be... remember how I fiddled with wire #7? Problem solved. Absolutely NO hesitation/stumbling anymore... car runs SMOOOOTHHH... lets me relax a bit now.. just thought I'd share. I think I'm going to test the rest of the wires tomorrow.

-Mike

** If you absolutely have to get Ford wires at least get the Ford Racing ** wires and not the OEM replacements. I had to replace my wires at ** about 70000 or so miles and ended up with MSD wires which cleared my ** ignition problem right up! While you're at it, pick up a set of ** Autolite 764 copper plugs and gap 'em at .054. If all this doesn't ** cure your problem it may be a coil pack as mentioned earlier. I've ** got a couple of spares I can send over to you to help diagnose if ** that's the case.

I second this. If you can swing the bucks, go with FMS 9mm wires. They're chunkier and have OEM boot hardware, ready to go. They're a tight fit in the

7mm looms, but a bit of squeezing will pop 'em right in. I changed mine out at 45,000 miles to avoid trouble. Normally, 50K is about as far as a good set of OEM wires will take you. The $7.95 wire sets from auto stores are good for about 10K, if that much.

After reading your DVOM numbers, I decided to check the #1 wire on my own set of 9mm FMS's. I took a photo of my findings, as well as the red FMS's installed:

http:/207.13.104.8/users/jdadams/page01/page01.htm It sounds to me that your secondary ignition wires have exceeded their serviceable lifespan.

-JD

________________________________________________________ | | | 1998 Laser Red GT RAMFM Member Since 1998 | | M-5400-A Suspension http:/207.13.104.8/users/jdadams || Subframe Connectors & Seat Bracing, Strut Tower Brace || 4-point K-frame Brace, Tremec T-45 & OEM 3.27:1 Gears ||________________________________________________________|

" Mike from RAMFM brought up an interesting point. He has been having drivability issues with his '98 GT. Most advised him to check his secondary ingition wiring. His findings:

"

You have a typo... "ingition wiring".. just thought I'd point that out.

That's incredibly low... I guess I'll hafta pick up some Ford Racing 9mm wires then.. pretty good stuff apparently. they look good too! although I do like the current blue look... red looks like as well... and obviously out-perform the blue ones. I'll call around today & get some price quotes. At least my car is running good w/ no stumbling/hesitation again... hopefully it'll run a bit better & LONGER w/out trouble w/ the Ford 9mm wires. Thanks.

-Mike

** You have a typo... "ingition wiring".. just thought I'd point that out.

Ooops!

** That's incredibly low... I guess I'll hafta pick up some Ford Racing 9mm ** wires then.. pretty good stuff apparently. they look good too! although I ** do like the current blue look... red looks like as well... and obviously ** out-perform the blue ones. I'll call around today & get some price quotes. ** At least my car is running good w/ no stumbling/hesitation again... ** hopefully it'll run a bit better & LONGER w/out trouble w/ the Ford 9mm ** wires. Thanks.

They also come in blue, I believe. I got mine from gefracing.com, but I doubt they were the cheapest around. I'm not sure what's normal for new wiring, but

5+ K-ohms/ft. seems pretty fried to me. I was curious what new FMS wire ran, and now we know.

-JD

________________________________________________________ | | | 1998 Laser Red GT RAMFM Member Since 1998 | | M-5400-A Suspension http:/207.13.104.8/users/jdadams || Subframe Connectors & Seat Bracing, Strut Tower Brace || 4-point K-frame Brace, Tremec T-45 & OEM 3.27:1 Gears ||________________________________________________________|

Since you have identified the firing issue Ford again recommends that you stay with Original Firing components due to the high energy parameter that Ford uses in all its ignition systems. I realise that there are some folks that speak highly of MSD and Accel ignition parts, but if you have no intention of modifying to a full blown engine that requires a Supercharger or Turbo stick with OEM parts. The ECM, throttle and sensors will love you for it!

Ok... well 9mm Ford Racing wires were an order-only item from O'Reilly & I didn't care too much whether I got 8mm OEM wires or 9mm Ford Racing wires.. so I bought the 8mm Ford Motorcraft wires for roughly $60 w/ tax & installed 'em... took about 30 min total. Was actually very easy. One at a time... took my time.. got it done right the first time.. checked every plug 3-5 times on both connections. Fired it up... took her for a test run... 1 word.. WOW. She runs like a new car!! Absolutely NO stumbling whatsoever & man does she RUN GOOD... runs SOO good... I'm very glad that I went with OEM wires though... damn people kept trying to get me to buy Autolite & what not wires.. saying they came w/ a lifetime warranty & Ford Motorcraft wires only came with a 1-year warranty.. oh well. Car is running fantastic! Thanks to everybody who helped me out on this.

-Mike

.. WOW. She runs like a new car!! Absolutely NO stumbling whatsoever &

Well done!