Car running like crap

[kev415]

About a month ago, my gen 2 started running really terrible. While driving, the car would buck and skip under a load and would stall when I pulled a hard corner followed by a sudden stop (ie. parking spaces...), she wouldnt even idle smooth. So I changed the plugs. Autolite 764 (I Think) gapped to .048 as usual. She ran a little better for a while, enough to get me home from FL. Currently, the car stumbles under a load, idles rough intermittently and has an over-all loss of power, it fells like i should get out and push to get her moving, well, its not that bad, but it takes more than normal to get it moving. Any Ideas?? Im going to run some new plugs in and I'm going to check the boots/coils and see how they are looking... Oh yeah, how do I test the coils?? It has to do with resistance (ohms), right?i was thinking that there might be a coil on its way out that was intermittently arcing out, but I just dont know. Any help, ideas or soulutions here would be great!

Thanks

 

[sleeper]

are you getting a ce light?

I've had coils start to intermittently miss on me. They do wear out after awhile. I was able to track down which one it was by reading the plugs. Try to replicate the miss as much as possible than shut the car down and pull the plugs. The darkest one(s) indicate which cylinder is missing, if in fact it is a miss.

 

[HOTLNC]

If the plugs don't help, replace the plug wires, assuming you haven't already done so.)

 

[whiplash15]

Actually, you dont have any wires to replace on a Generation 2 with the coil on plug set-up. On two separate occasions I have had a coil boot go bad which then allows the coil to fire to ground around the spark plug. If you can get autozone or one of the other parts stores to read the codes, you may be able to isolate the specific coil or boot. If you are unable to do that, check the plugs, and then very carefully inspect the boot from the dark spark plug. In many cases, it will show where the boot is burned through and arcing. Boots are available for about $8 ea from the dealer.

 

[kev415]

im not showing a CE light, so would the car even be throwing codes?

She does it a lot more when shes hot, so I'm gonna go warm it up and then check the plugs and the boots, ill let you know what I come up with.

 

[maxmk8]

Check the fuel filter, it might be more dirty than you think.

 

[kev415]

good thought, but I just replaced that 6 or 7,000 ago. I'm thinking about getting the fuel pressure tested just for S&G's to see what it looks like. I have about 65k on the car, fuel sending unit mabye...I think its worth a look-see.

 

[maxmk8]

Yea could be a fuel pump as well, but at 65k miles its a little early for that. Check the MAF and make sure its clean.

 

[BOB340]

I've replaced 2 fuel filters in the last 40,000 miles, you never know what's in those gas station tanks.


98 Toreador LSC
98 Expedition

 

[kev415]

i suppose, for $6 it can't hurt, now I just need to find a day that I can play with it...

 

[unstoppable]

I just solved a similar problem on a Gen 1.Its tough to say which action was the cure though as I did a few things at once.
I put in new O2s,New plugs,and Hollowed out the cats.Bingo, runs like a new car.

 

[kev415]

To tell you the truth, about 6 months ago I was considering dropping the exhaust and punching out the cats, but it looked like a lot more work than it was worth at the time, so I didn't bother. And I'm very tempted to chip the O2 sensors away..., can I do that?? Chip Guys?

Anyways, I got rearended pretty good nad at least part of the exhasut has to come off anyways, so im trying to figure out how I can get the insurance Co. to put the $$$ towards an aftermarket system, but that is besides the point...