Stuttering issue

Mike P

Mike P

c:enter
Staff member
I've been driving the mark a lot lately, it was mainly garaged for the last few years. Out the gate it's been great, like the day I got it back from Jeremi. I drove it to work the other day and no problem, I'm probably hard on the gas and acceleration but why not. Anyway when I started it to leave it has a rough idle and feels stuttery while driving which I'm assuming it's a coil. I only use premium had and I know the plugs were new. I have a small code reader and I'm not getting any codes.
 
tixer

tixer

Lincoln Evangelist
Hey Mike, Glad to hear you're getting some fresh miles on the Mark, and having some fun doing it.

I'd tend to agree that you've got a miss, but it just hasn't yet been bad enough to manifest itself as a CEL yet. Don't worry, it will. It does take some time though.

If you've never done the coils, they're probably due. Just swap all 8 and be done with it.

Here's a full set for $40, but they're not the Motorcraft ones. YMMV - literally. :) https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Coils-Mustang-Lincoln-Compatible/dp/B013J829TO/

Proper Ford ones seem to go for ~$40/each on rockauto.

Depending upon the mileage, plugs may not hurt either. Originals are Platinums, and generally good to ~100-125k
 
Mike P

Mike P

c:enter
Staff member
I did plugs and it sat for most of the last two years. The car only has 76k original miles so those plugs are definitely not aged out. Should I change them still? Is prefer not to but for the health of the car is suffer the ordeal 🙄. I never did new coils but when Jeremi did the work I swapped some used ones. I guess I could use new ones. Should I bother width the ones on Amazon?
 
tixer

tixer

Lincoln Evangelist
Mike P said:
Should I bother width the ones on Amazon?
Click to expand...
Honestly, I'd be tempted. You aren't necessarily tracking the thing, and given the vast difference in price, it seems like it may be worth a chance. I'd certainly hang on to the old ones though, "just in case."

Ideally, you'd want to know "for sure" that this is what needs to be done before throwing parts at a problem, but other than waiting until it gets worse, I don't know how you would test them.

I suppose one other thing to look at would be the vacuum lines connected to the top of the intake manifold. It's a little thing, but I remember them getting soft with age, and leaking. I just replaced mine with some bulk PCV tubing. I don't know if a problem here would necessarily cause the problem you have, but it's an easy thing to overlook.
 
driller

driller

El Presidente
I would look closely at the coil boots. They are notorious for aging and cracking. You may get lucky and only need to buy boots.

If you're going to buy coils, go for the real deal and get new OEM MotorCraft coils. Trust me on this. I have seen this quite a bit hanging around hot rod shops and modified cars trying to get every last HP where any ignition failure is going to limit what they can do.

Coils and plugs. Coils and Plugs. Coils and Plugs.

Repeat after me...

Coils and Plugs.

If you're sure on the plugs, that only leaves the coils. :wink:
 
Mike P

Mike P

c:enter
Staff member
tixer said:
Honestly, I'd be tempted. You aren't necessarily tracking the thing, and given the vast difference in price, it seems like it may be worth a chance. I'd certainly hang on to the old ones though, "just in case."

Ideally, you'd want to know "for sure" that this is what needs to be done before throwing parts at a problem, but other than waiting until it gets worse, I don't know how you would test them.

I suppose one other thing to look at would be the vacuum lines connected to the top of the intake manifold. It's a little thing, but I remember them getting soft with age, and leaking. I just replaced mine with some bulk PCV tubing. I don't know if a problem here would necessarily cause the problem you have, but it's an easy thing to overlook.
Click to expand...
👍🏻 I agree

driller said:
I would look closely at the coil boots. They are notorious for aging and cracking. You may get lucky and only need to buy boots.

If you're going to buy coils, go for the real deal and get new OEM MotorCraft coils. Trust me on this. I have seen this quite a bit hanging around hot rod shops and modified cars trying to get every last HP where any ignition failure is going to limit what they can do.

Coils and plugs. Coils and Plugs. Coils and Plugs.

Repeat after me...

Coils and Plugs.

If you're sure on the plugs, that only leaves the coils. :wink:
Click to expand...
Lol but jp doesn't. I'll try these first and get the real deal right after. 😬
 
C

chris2523

New member
driller said:
If you're going to buy coils, go for the real deal and get new OEM MotorCraft coils. Trust me on this. I have seen this quite a bit hanging around hot rod shops and modified cars trying to get every last HP where any ignition failure is going to limit what they can do.
Click to expand...

the local tuners have a "coil shelf" where the put all the aftermarket coils when the cars break up on the dyno.
 
biobug1

biobug1

New member
I agree Fill it up with ethanol free premium gas first. Under no circumstances let your mark sit for more than 2 weeks with ethanol gas in the tank.I did that on my F150 and had to flush the whole system and replace the fuel filter.
 
tixer

tixer

Lincoln Evangelist
That's great news, Mike.

Glad you're back up and running. Now slap that Fireball on the roof, crank up some Beastie Boys, and go catch some baddies.
 
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