Twice now my car has dropped a cylinder while driving a normal speeds on the highway. The first time, the problem went away the next morning limping it to work. Literally just picked the cylinder back up and starting humming along again. I test the spark plug wires and spark plugs and they were all working. I checked the cap and rotor and they both look brand new. I assumed it was the distributor dying off (even though it looked brand new, i just got the engine btw). I figured once it died dead I would replace it.
This last time it has done this, it has not gone away yet. Yesterday while driving home I finally got a cel. #43, Fuel Supply Problem. I tested the injector to make sure it was firing in the cylinder by electrifying it and I could hear the audible click. The motor still runs, albeit roughly, so I know that the pump, main relay, lines, filter are all working properly.

After researching a bit on HT, I found a guy who had similar problems, including the cel 43 and after he replace his distributor (obviously not related to the fuel supply) the cel went away and his car ran fine. All of the distributors I have found are special order so I'd really hate to replace it if it isn't working.

How do I check to make sure cylinder 3 is getting spark? DO I just need to pull the plug and stick it in the wire and try to crank the car to see if it sparks? Seems a bit hazardous. I know the wire and the plug for cyl 3 are working. I can tell you this much, I accidentally touched the plug on the dizzy for cylinder 3 while the motor was on and it zapped the **** out of me, so I'm pretty damn sure it works as well, but I just want to make sure.

Also, the color of the plug in cyl 3 was surprisingly good. It has a yellowish tint which I think indicates fuel and no spark. When comparing it to cyl 4 that was pure white.

What do you think it could be? What should I test before I possibly waste $200+ on an unnecessary distributor?

 

I have never been shocked by touching a spark plug wire even when the engine is running. You might want to replace the wires or swap for known good ones. My mustang does the missing thing because my header is so close to the wire it gets hot and messes up the insulation. The car misses really bad when I wait on the wires on too long. It can start to arc, sounds like you caught an arc. Did it hurt?
Sometimes wires go bad from heat, being hanked on and so forth.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dognutz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have never been shocked by touching a spark plug wire even when the engine is running. You might want to replace the wires or swap for known good ones. My mustang does the missing thing because my header is so close to the wire it gets hot and messes up the insulation. The car misses really bad when I wait on the wires on too long. It can start to arc, sounds like you caught an arc. Did it hurt?
Sometimes wires go bad from heat, being hanked on and so forth. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I went to remove the plug from the dizzy and I think I touched the dizzy's plug hole. Yea, that **** didn't feel good at all. I trouble shot the wires by switching them between cylinders 3 & 4. The bad's cylinder's wire worked on the good cylinder. And the good cylinder's wire make the bad cylinder work.