aetheriust

So, I bought a 96 Stang about six months ago. Been shredding around in it, and knew jack about anything vehicle-related. Since then, however, I have been getting beaten by the poor maintenance of the last owner.

The clutch went on it, so I had to drop the tranny, switch out the pilot bushing, throwout bearing, clutch plate and pressure plate. Replaced the entire exhaust, as the one in was a custom dual, and both mufflers were nothing more than rust. Fuel pump went, so I changed that out.

After getting her back on the road finally, CEL jumped on. A scan told me it was a cylinder 2 misfire. From here, I switched plugs and wires around, and both were fine. From what I've read, it's likely going to be the fuel injector, coil pack, or it's time to start rebuilding my engine. I am on a very tight budget, at the moment and I am wondering which direction I should go first, or if there are ways to troubleshoot which it could be specifically. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Damian.

petrock

Did the CEL fallow the plugs/wires? If so, that would suggest a problem with the plug, wire or coil pack. If not, then that would suggest a fuel injector problem (electrical or mechanical). You can rent a noid light from your local auto parts store and see if the fuel injector is getting commanded on like all the others via the pattern that the noid light flashes on/off.

NeoTokyo

The coil packs do sometimes go bad, I have found it more common on 01-04's but I still have seen it on the earlier design.

Inspect the coil pack, if you see any cracking of the housing or block or burning on the block then thats a visual that you need another, but more often than not you can not see anything.

Try swapping the coil pack before going deeper.

Did you change your fuel filter when you changed your fuel pump?

You can try running some seafoam through the intake and gas to try to clean it a bit.

Is the missfire a constant or intermediate?

If you cant track the problem down you could try this too.

#2 is on a pretty easy side to work on (Intake is not in the way.)
#2 is the middle cyl on the pass side.

Remove the injector, clean it, swap it with #1 or #3.

aetheriust

The CEL remained on cylinder 2 with the plug/wire switched.

aetheriust

I checked the pack earlier, and it looked in good shape.

Not at the same time, but I did replace the filter a little while later while I had my car on blocks for the exhaust.

It's constant. At least, from what I know, it is constant.


Alright, thanks to both of you. I'll give everything I can a try, and I'll jump back on here once I know more.

aetheriust

I took another look at my plug on the recommendation of my friend. He told me if the end was wet and oily, which it was, the fuel injector was probably alright.

I'm curious if I should still be swapping fuel injectors to make absolutely sure? Or renting a noid light?

And if that check is good enough to prove the fuel injector is running well enough, how should I proceed from here?

@NeoTokyo I know you mentioned swapping the coil pack - do you mean simply switching the sides out, and seeing how everything fares?

petrock

Swapping injectors would be fairly conclusive. If the CEL fallows the injector, then you've got a bad injector. If not, then you would need to test with the noid light to make sure its getting commanded on properly. If it is, then you should do a compression test on all cylinders. If cyl #2 has drastically lower compression then the others, then you've got a compression problem which gets expensive...

If you switch the wires at the coil pack you'll cause more problems. The plugs need to fire in a specific order. If they don't then you will cause more misfires and possible damage to the engine. I think what NeoTokyo was suggesting getting a new coil and swapping it out with your old one. Thats a bit expensive though...

aetheriust

Yeah, I swapped injectors, and the CEL stayed on cylinder 2. Well, time to go for a compression test!

I had kind of figured he meant grabbing a new coil pack, but I had this little hope there was some way to test a coil I didn't know about.

Anyways, I appreciate the fast responses, and the detailed help. After I check the compression, I'll probably be back to bother again.

Thanks,
Damian.

aetheriust

Just finished a compression test -
1-160
2-160
3-160
4-155
5-155
6-160

So, I am assuming it is about time to grab a new coil pack.

Matt's 95 Stang

If you are getting consistant compression reading then I would change out the pack and see if it fixes your problem. I know when I replaced mine AutoZone told me to bring back the new coil pack if it didnt solve my problem and they would give me a refund.

Matthew