diagnose this

You've replaced the cap/rotor? One real possibility is moisture in/on the cap/rotor causing a mis-fire, when the engine warms the moisture evaporates, then re-condenses when the engine cools.

(OK, I hope this engine does have a cap/rotor!)

Check the fuel pressure regulator.

--scott

It isn't, "the moisture evaporates, then re-condenses when the engine cools."

These are noted for vacumm leaks at the plentum, blown head gaskets and fuel pressure problems. All of which will cause your symptoms. You need to diagnosis it, instead of guessing.

I think I would go with Scott's tip. If the Fuel PR is leaking, it may flood one or two cylinders while the engine is dead. It may take a few seconds to clears the plugs when restarted. IF the vacuum line has fuel in it, that would be an indicator of failure.

Be sure to check around the coil secondary tower for loose or dirty connection, coil wire failure, etc. Another consideration is the ignition control module.

Lastly, do not start to just throw parts at it. If you do not find fuel in th FPR vacuum line, get the fault codes read along with the exact text from the screen. Post them bac here and someone is likely to be able to give you some decent advice (as well as some total bullshit).

Lugnut

He said it doesn't turn the light on, so there isn't going to be fault codes.

Cold Start injector?

On Mar 20, 12:18 pm, Hachiroku ハチロク snipped-for-privacy@e86.GTS

Doesn't have one.

Thanks, pal...shoot me down in flames! ;)

I know from my Toyotas that a leaky CSI can cause this same problem.

Are there any codes? MIL? These things are very sensitive to grounds... voltage drop the grounds and make sure none are above .050 volts. My gut instinct says its a bad o2 ground. HTH Ben

Cap and rotor? Are you familiar with this engine?

Codes? Is it using more oil than normal? Check plugs #2 and #5

I thought my "(OK, I hope this engine does have a cap/rotor!)" disclaimer was enough to say that it was general advice. I deeply and humbly appologize if I caused you distress, but I've seen the problem I described before and figured it was a good guess.

Oh, don't get your hopes up.... you haven't caused any distress but you have been a source of amusement.... One of the big problems we see stems from not knowing what we are speaking of...

I don't tell people how to fix their Dolby 5.1 surround sound systems because I'm not familiar with them.... I don't tell them how to cure diarrhea because I'm not a doctor and I'm not familiar with the concern...

Silly wild ass guesses are silly wild ass guesses - while they might make you feel better, they do little for anyone else that is unfamiliar with their system...

A leaky FPR will not necessarily turn on a fault light even if the system is already in closed loop so the ECM can trim the fuel within it's limits so the EGO "sees" a normal mix. In this condition, the engine will have some lean cylinders and some rich cylinders until the excess fuel is cleared. The vehicle is a '92 model that does not have all the capabilities of the OBD2 systems installed on later models. I did advise that he have a diagnostic scan for fault codes done if he does not find fuel in the vacuum line. Aftermarket scanners may or may not find this. The Ford Star scanner/terter should be able to find it easily with it's battery of test.

Lugnut

Not all faults light the MIL. You can still get useful stuff from koeo and keor routines. Time to cover the basics... Compression and vacuum, frp, egr (if equipped) , alt for a/c output, vacuum leaks, ect vs act, sludged intake/pcv, dirty maf, lazy 02's, ign stuff etc These can be a pain as the scanner doesnt always narrow things down well. I have fixed dozens of these by shoring up the grounds, especially the

Nothing that turns on the check engine light. Guess I'll have to run it down to autozone and see if there are any hidden codes their scanner turns up. Never uses oil. I'll check the plugs.

It's a good thought but it is distributorless. It could be that the wires aren't very good I suppose, they are new Bosch and I've never had trouble with Bosch before but there's always a first time.

I am trying to diagnose it by starting with some educated thoughts.

A couple people have suggested fuel pressure regulator. For some reason it's been getting somewhat BETTER gas mileage lately, which perhaps is a symptom of low fuel pressure? And the popping, missing perhaps is also a symptom of low fuel pressure? My fuel pressure tester is loaned out so I will have to get it back and take a look.