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  #16  
Old 07-27-2005, 11:44 AM
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I would think so. The valves release the pressure before it build up completely.
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  #17  
Old 07-27-2005, 04:03 PM
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I'd buy that also. It would also support it clearing up above 3000.
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  #18  
Old 07-29-2005, 09:39 AM
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The mechanic (a VERY good one, at that) believes I need the rings done. Anyone every have the (bad) experiance with doing a ring job on one of these? Also, any idea what the average COST will be for this?! I'll do a double-check on the timing...I definately like the idea of a belt slipping vs. doing an engine rebuild! Damn...I can't believe it IS the rings - no smoke at all, at any engine RPM, and, this car screams at 3000 RPM plus, but, I guess it could be.

Frank
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  #19  
Old 07-29-2005, 04:52 PM
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Does it look like your catalytic converters are getting unusually hot? Take a drive at night and see if they get at all red.
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  #20  
Old 09-03-2005, 08:35 PM
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Oh no. Somebody is resurrecting an old thread.

Yeah, I'm having similar problems. For about a week I was experiencing an intermittent misfire. Sometimes I'd notice a hesitation off idle, but it wasn't apparent what it is until the torque converter locks up. At first it would just stumble occasionally, but then it would stumble whenever I was cruising. It would go away if I advanced or retarded the throttle. At first I was worried that I'd have a horrible time diagnosing an intermittent electrical problem, but luckily it stopped being intermittent. Now it constantly misses at idle. Yes!

So I pulled the plug off of each fuel injector, one at a time. Number two cylinder isn't firing. Okay, pull the coil pack and throw a spark plug in it. Hmmm, it's sparking. Okay, pull the injector out and replace it. Hmmm, still missing. Okay, swap plugs with injector two and four. Still missing. Okay, maybe the coil is just telling me what I want to hear, so I wire up an inline spark tester. Yup, it's definitely sparking when it's missing.

Maybe this is bad. So I do a compression test. Wow, 195 PSI. That's more than acceptable. Fuel, spark, compression. What else is there? Somehow I think the coil pack or fuel injector is still no good, but I wonder about the ECU. It seems highly unlikely, but this behavior really doesn't make sense.

I pulled the injector out. It clicks. Air doesn't pass when it's closed. If I apply current, air goes through.

I think this car needs a carburetor and distributor.

I guess I’m not really looking for ideas, but if you have any, feel free to share. I mostly just want somebody to listen to me complain. Thanks. That is all.
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  #21  
Old 09-04-2005, 02:14 PM
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It seems to be the coil pack. The insulation on the two low-tension leads is cracked where they enter the coil. The coil was still sparking consistently, but it didn't always seem to ignite the contents of the cylinder. The arc in my inline spark tester would change color slightly when it misfired, but it never stopped arcing. I figured an improper fuel mixture and resultant misfire would change the impedance and thus, explain the slight change in spark color. I guess not. I'm not sure why a little bit of deterioration of the low-tension wire insulation would have any effect on the performance of the coil, but I also can' t figure out where the opposite pole of the high tension circuit is. It doesn't seem to be the bolt that attaches to the head, so perhaps it gets its ground from one of the low-tension leads. ??? Very strange.

Incidentally, screwing around with the fuel injector plugs produces an error code in the ECU, but it doesn't trip the trouble light.
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  #22  
Old 09-04-2005, 07:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UberRoo
It seems to be the coil pack. The insulation on the two low-tension leads is cracked where they enter the coil. The coil was still sparking consistently, but it didn't always seem to ignite the contents of the cylinder. The arc in my inline spark tester would change color slightly when it misfired, but it never stopped arcing. I figured an improper fuel mixture and resultant misfire would change the impedance and thus, explain the slight change in spark color. I guess not. I'm not sure why a little bit of deterioration of the low-tension wire insulation would have any effect on the performance of the coil, but I also can' t figure out where the opposite pole of the high tension circuit is. It doesn't seem to be the bolt that attaches to the head, so perhaps it gets its ground from one of the low-tension leads. ??? Very strange.

Incidentally, screwing around with the fuel injector plugs produces an error code in the ECU, but it doesn't trip the trouble light.
The low tension wiring should not affect the miss, as it still sparks when the miss happens. The inline spark tester doesn't prove that the spark is jumping the plug gap, only that the coil is producing the voltage. The current could be flowing to ground through the plug insulator. The only places the voltage can short out is,
1. In the coil itself, shorting across to the low tension wiring.
2. Down the side of the rubber boot over the plug.
3. Down the insulator in the plug.

The rubber boot would be the prime cause of shorts, the rubber ages to cause tracts of carbon to form down the side, these are a high resistance at first, to cause the occasional miss, becoming lower in resistance as time goes on to become the lowest path to ground.

The Hi-tension circuit is from the secondary winding, across the plug gap to ground, up the battery earth lead to the positive side, back to the secondary winding through the positive supply to the coil. This is electron flow that is the oppersit direction to the rest of the wiring circuit, to allow the electron flow from the center electrode of the plug to ground. This is the same as the older points ign system.

As for the cause of the miss ???????????? You have swaped everything other than the coil itself. Don't forget that the resistance at the 0.040" plug gap is a lot higher in the engine under compression, than it is out in the atmosphere. The spark should be able to jump at least, 0.750" at atmospheric pressure. Just be carefull the coil energy is very high, can cause heart to stop.

All that said mate, I don't think it would be the ignition breaking down, if it does it at idle. sorry.

Harvey.
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  #23  
Old 09-05-2005, 02:47 AM
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Swapping coils fixed the problem. (Parts cars are great.) I meticulously cleaned and inspected the coil. It was dirty, and I could see the potential for that to cause problems. The only fault I could find was the cracked insulation on the low-tension wires. I also tested to see if there was a hairline crack or some other invisible leak by placing the coil near a ground source while the car was running and moving it around - in the dark. The only way I could get a spark to leap from it was to place something in the end and get it within about 3/16 of an inch from a ground. Kinda makes me wish I could Magnaflux plastic. I'm sure curious where the spark was going. I was wondering if the hi-tension circuit used one of the low-tension leads because it seemed possible that the spark was jumping between the low-tension leads.

It's amazing how much power one cylinder can rob from a six shooter.
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