So I'm on the hywy in 4th about 5k and I start to hear this howling coming from the enigne area and was like WTF???!!!
SO I got of at the next gas station and took a look to see plenty of oil, nothing loose or hanging off but when I got a little closer I felt the intense heat coming up from the motor and was thought "thats more then usaull and Then Noticed that the USDM stock exhuast manifold was bright red on the pass side under the heat sheild Holy chit I could have lit a cigar off the "header" So I let the car cool down for a half hour and drove back home. Now heres the part I don't understand... it drives fine, sounded fine and had no evidence that the car is running strange *when I know it never should be red hot to the eyes! especially just one of the exhaust tubes coming from the motor.*

Now heres what I think went wrong: A spark plug has a fault, wether it is broke , foulded or loose Its the only thing I can come up with. WHAT DO You think?

 

why dont you check out the plugs right now? i guess form the description that would be the #4 cylinder...


[Modified by up-youRs, 7:12 AM 8/2/2002]

 

Use 5th gear.

 

I think it might be the plug to the left of the dipstick, not all the way to the distrib side. Second that car is way to hot to mess around with right now I figure it will be nice and cool in the morning (chillin in the garage)...

Trust me I'll be thinking of things all night that could be wrong like maybe the plug wire lost its ability to send a spark thru or the rotor inside the distributor is screwed or the tab insiode the distrib is coroded ....

 

any gear it was howling, especially at 5k .

 

N/M.. I re-read it..

 

pull the plugs, it wont take long, and easy way to either find the problem or to source the problem from somewhere else if the plugs are good

 

checking the plugs is the ONLY way to know whats going on inside that combustion chamber, you can see the pics in a repair manual (haynes, chilton, helms) and it can help you figure stuff out.

-Rage

 

Check and see if your running too rich air/fuel mixture also spark plug heat range.

 

Well the sun is rising and I'm going to put some shorts on and go in to the garage to pull the plugs out, If I see anything unusall I'll be sure to post some pics up!

 

Ok here are the pics of the plugs tell me what you think. From the left to right as if you were standing in front of the car ( Distributoron left and belt side on right, I kept them in order

Thanks for helping
PICTURES:

I know the pics are huge but its for a good reason.

 

From what you have described I am going to assume that you are running hot in the #4 cylinder.

A possible cause for that could be a loose spark plug bad/clogged injector. Please keep in mind that these are only educated guesses and it is very difficult to diagnose problems via the internet.

Good luck in diagnosing and solving your problem.

-kenji

 

Ceramic on all the plugs looks cooked. Is that from excess heat and is it normal? My GS-R plugs never looked like that.

 

those plugs all look relatively normal... remember that these motors normally run slightly hot.
Is the engine throwing a CEL light? If so, run the codes... Are you running any aftermarket add-ons, such as V-tech/Fuel controller? Check and remove if necessary... Listen to the motor for detonation, especially if under a load - you may be running lean in the problem cylinder. If the car is under warranty, just bring it to the dealer and have them run diags on it - could be a bad injector, or wiring problem. I don't think that the distributor or plugs are to blame, but you never know, and a cap and rotor is cheap and easy to replace. Check spark plug wires, and take the distributor cap off and inspect.... good luck.

 

check the gaping

 

Thanks Philly, I'm going to put new plugs in and see what gives. I looked at everything else that could have been a prob and nothing So maybe I Just had a bad nightmare or something Its puff puff pass, right?

 

yes, that would be that correct rotation

 

For those who care... I just bought (had no choice NO ngk were availible locally) Champion RC12MC4. they gave the car a crisp sound I have not heard in a long time ... I gapped them at .45 and used a ton of antiseize...

 

I wanna say... Injector clogged or bad.... check them out?

now... was it a knocking sound?

 

No knocking sound, just a howling sound.. kinda like a dog howling thru a cardboard tube

 

cold air intake???

How do you know if an injector is clogged?

 

ya know that might be a possiblity cause i have the AEM CAI, need to see if it was rubbin or something, thanks!