I need to know what could cause an engine to miss. Here is what is happening. My engine started missing, so i started pulling the spark plug wires off and putting them back one at a time. 1 3 and 4 would cause the car to shut off, but removing 2 made no difference, so I figured since I could hear the spark, it had to be the spark plug, so i replaced all my plugs with some NGK spark plugs. Worked, then didn't. it seems to be an intermittent problem. So today i went ahead and replaced the spark plug wires, but that was not the problem either, same thing happened, still number 2. I pulled the distributor cap off and cleaned out all little bits of corrosion, but it still didn't help. The distribuor cap is fairly new, less than 6 months. The timing is not off, and it can't be the coil because all the plugs would have a problem, what else could cause number 2 to not function properly and miss? All suggestions are welcome because i'm really lost. it's still driveable, but it drives like crap since 1 plug isn't working.

 

Try some new wires, or the simple things like a new rotor cap and button.

 

already did new wires. if it was the rotor cap wouldn't it affect all the plugs, not just #2.

 

does the car idle rough and sound like a subaru when you rev it??

 

It depends, it has to start somewhere though, and could be starting with #2 then as the others get wore they will start to miss.

 

yes, it does. sometimes it gets spark, soemtimes it doesn't. I know it's somewhere before the wires. Not really mechanical, seems more an electrical problem. and yes sometimes when i rev it, it does sound like crap.

 

Double check that firing order

 

if your engine was missing i would call the cops. if anything id run i dunno how fard a basterd would get running with my engine.

sorry...i had to! i hope everyones got a sense of humor!

 

You sure your distributor isn't taking a ****? Thought it is pretty rare for one to go out they sometimes can. But then again, this wouldn't explain why your #2 cylinder is the only one malfunctioning. Are you sure you gapped the plugs correctly when you put the new ones in? Are you sure that you don't have the wires mixed up and are in the correct firing order?

 

check for oil or moisture inside the spark plug hole. Take the plug out. If it's oily or wet on the OUTSIDE, then you either have a valve cover gasket issue (oil), or you're getting water in there some how. If there is oil on the plug electrode (part that goes inside cylinder), there are some bigger issues.

Check the plug condition and reply back.

 

check your firing order

 

Did you make sure that your injector is working?

 

If it was that i dont think the car would start, and more than 1 would not be sparking, u cant just have 1. (even number)

But check your firing order anyway.

 

thanks guys. My firing order was a little messed up some how. Not really sure, because it was set according to the haynes manual last time i put it back together, and it's always worked before but we changed the order, and found one that works really well. Also thanks b serious, there was some water in there still burning out cause i just blew my head gasket and replaced that like a week ago. Thanks for all the help guys. Got it running great, for now.

 

do a compression test before you buy anything compression could be real low causeing it to miss happened to me

 

The coil inside the distributor could be bad its <U>not</U> an uncommon problem.Or one of your injectors could be stuck cause it to be stuck open flooding it and causing to to miss. Or it could be the tiny rotor under the dist cap. Also even check the gap on the spark plugs even tho their new i hope u just didnt drop you spark plugs down the the clyinder holes and then tighten that will also mess up the spark n cause a miss.

 

ok guys, so i thought I had this, it had seemed like the firing order was off, because we changed the firing order and it worked great, but now it's back to the same. maybe even worse now.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2000siturboR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do a compression test before you buy anything compression could be real low causeing it to miss happened to me</TD></TR></TABLE>

i just recently got the head shaved and the guy did say it could use a little work, said i was suffering a very little bit of compression loss, but i asked the mechanic, and he said that the only thing that would do was make me lose a little bit of power, not enough to worry about though. is it possible that could have gotten worse over the last week and now i'm losing too much compression? Also, it seems i have a ground problem, i've always had bad grounds, unfortunately the last time i grabbed grounds off a car in the junkyard they were only slightly better than mine. I bought some 8 gauge wire last night and I'm going to put all new grounds in today. does anyone know where they all are? have like a list so i know I don't miss any. The guy at advanced gave me a list but he is a real idiot, told me my 8 gauge was 12 gauge wire and that i'd need like 20 feet of it.

 

hmm... Seems kind of odd, Check your injectors maybe one isn't firing right it would miss if it's not getting any fuel to spark. also maybe a dist.

 

does the engine miss at idle? or during driving or both?
it could be a list of things such as spark plugs worn or uneven gap, spark plug wires, vacuum leaks, incorrect timing, uneven or low compression, low fuel pressure, distributor cap, or damaged distributor components.

 

i tried to answer all those already but i know i probably typed a lot to read so here again, the cap and rotor button are less than 6 months old. just replaced the spark plugs with ngk plugs, and yes they are gapped properly, just replaced the wires with ngk wires, just checked the firing order. the 2nd and 3rd cylinder is suffering a little bit of low compression but the mechanic said not enough to cause a problem, just that i wouldn't quite reach full potential with it. oh and whoever said the coil could be bad, i already checked that, one it's still new, and two if it was the coil i don't think any of them would be working, instead it's only number 2 that is off. also I'm pretty certian the timing is right.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Civic9390 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hmm... Seems kind of odd, Check your injectors maybe one isn't firing right it would miss if it's not getting any fuel to spark. also maybe a dist. </TD></TR></TABLE>
i'll check the injectors today, thanks.

 

do a leak down test

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hmtcrxsir &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do a leak down test
</TD></TR></TABLE>

a what? like for compression?

 

yeah ... checking the injector isnt a bad idea either

 

well guys, after many ridiculous hours of searching for the solution to a ridiculous problem, i finally fixed it today. turns out i needed to replace all my grounds. so i took all the 12 gauge grounds off, and replaced them with 8 gauge, and then ran an extra ground from the cylinder cover just for kicks. car is running great, well as great as you can expect a car with 180,327 miles to run. Thanks for all your advice, i wouldn't have figured it out without trying all the other idea first.