HELP!!! Rough idle then Huge backfire.
05-15-2011, 05:04 PM
#1
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oregon
Posts: 319
HELP!!! Rough idle then Huge backfire.
I really need some help. car is idleing rough then BANG!!! so I shut it off.
Backstory: I just rebuilt my motor after it blew the number 3 piston. I put it all back together and put it back in. It ran fine and I have driven it about 100 miles. But it was ticking. Pretty sure it was the Hydraulic lash adjusters since i didnt change them in the first place due to money (stupid). Also it was idleing a little rough so I cleaned up the battery terminals and it seemed to be better but still kinda rough. So i looked in the spark plug boots since they have been out for about a year and they looked rusted and corroded. So i sprayed electric cleaner in them and used some small pipe cleaing brushes to clean the metal. and mabe this is the whole problem. They also dont hold on very tight like before i cleaned them with a brush. They used to kinda click on the spark plug and were slightly hard to pull off. Now slid right off with barley any effort. Also the coil pack are the original and car has around 110xxxmiles on it.
Present: So I pulled the valve covers to do the lash adjusters. I popped the first two rockers off the driver side and pulled the H.L.A. I tried to rotate the motor by hand so I could see if mabe there was some type of oil issue up there and the motor would not make a full turn. It felt like it was hitting a valve. But I dont see how. The only way would be if the valve was down but without pressure on it the spring should hold it up/closed. So I tried to put the Rockers back in after H.L.A. but i coulndnt do it. And it was even tighter/no room everywhere else. So i decided to just pull the cams and do the H.L.A. that way. So i pulled the timing cover and pulled the chains and then the cams. I let the H.L.A. sit in oil over night. Then put them in and made sure that all were a little squishy. Put the cams back in and the timing chains back on. I know i did it right because i lined the dark links, which are 29 links away from each other either side you count, and put them on the dots on each cam and the line on the crank gears. I then put the bolt in the crank and rotated it 8-10 times. Smooth. No hitting, interferrence, nothing. So i installed all the covers and everything back on and rotated crank again to be sure. Still smooth. Next put the spark pplugs in. Then i wanted to try dielectric grease so i put it in the plug boots and put them on the plugs. I also put the dielectric grease on the plug wires where the plug into the coil packs. And on the battery terminals. Checked everything.
Started it up and within the first second, BANG!!! so i shut it off immediatley. I started freaking out thinking somehow i messed up the cams and chains and the noise was a valve hitting the piston. So i tried to turn the motor and it will rotate barely and then freezes. So i freaked out more. Once calmed down alittle i realized you cant rotate the crank with the plugs in cause there is no where for the air to go. DUH! wow. So I decided to start it again. Started with no backfire but was idleing pretty rough. gave it alittle gas and it started making a kinda clicking/clunking/tapping noise. The lash adjusters are also making small tapping noise because it hasnt ran enough yet to prime. So the noise kinda happens twice then just bad idleing then kinda appears again then i can hear it backfiring very softly. Kinda pfft pfft now and again. Then BANG!!! Loud as hell. So i shut it off. Same thing this morning when i did it.
So after the whole car life story can anyone give me some type of suggestionas what to do. It seems mabe like timming but i dont know how. I did it right cause it all rotated fine with no issues. I'm thinking coil packs may be bad as well as plug wires. Spark plugs are brand new with engine rebuild. Autolite Iridiums set at .053 for now while i am breaking motor in because i will not get on it to hard or into boost. I will then set them at 0.030-0.035. I will go check again for any missing connections. And will scan for codes with my SCT tuner.
Remeber it drove fine before and the only thing i did was H.L.A. and timming chains. But they went on right. HELP!?!?!?
Backstory: I just rebuilt my motor after it blew the number 3 piston. I put it all back together and put it back in. It ran fine and I have driven it about 100 miles. But it was ticking. Pretty sure it was the Hydraulic lash adjusters since i didnt change them in the first place due to money (stupid). Also it was idleing a little rough so I cleaned up the battery terminals and it seemed to be better but still kinda rough. So i looked in the spark plug boots since they have been out for about a year and they looked rusted and corroded. So i sprayed electric cleaner in them and used some small pipe cleaing brushes to clean the metal. and mabe this is the whole problem. They also dont hold on very tight like before i cleaned them with a brush. They used to kinda click on the spark plug and were slightly hard to pull off. Now slid right off with barley any effort. Also the coil pack are the original and car has around 110xxxmiles on it.
Present: So I pulled the valve covers to do the lash adjusters. I popped the first two rockers off the driver side and pulled the H.L.A. I tried to rotate the motor by hand so I could see if mabe there was some type of oil issue up there and the motor would not make a full turn. It felt like it was hitting a valve. But I dont see how. The only way would be if the valve was down but without pressure on it the spring should hold it up/closed. So I tried to put the Rockers back in after H.L.A. but i coulndnt do it. And it was even tighter/no room everywhere else. So i decided to just pull the cams and do the H.L.A. that way. So i pulled the timing cover and pulled the chains and then the cams. I let the H.L.A. sit in oil over night. Then put them in and made sure that all were a little squishy. Put the cams back in and the timing chains back on. I know i did it right because i lined the dark links, which are 29 links away from each other either side you count, and put them on the dots on each cam and the line on the crank gears. I then put the bolt in the crank and rotated it 8-10 times. Smooth. No hitting, interferrence, nothing. So i installed all the covers and everything back on and rotated crank again to be sure. Still smooth. Next put the spark pplugs in. Then i wanted to try dielectric grease so i put it in the plug boots and put them on the plugs. I also put the dielectric grease on the plug wires where the plug into the coil packs. And on the battery terminals. Checked everything.
Started it up and within the first second, BANG!!! so i shut it off immediatley. I started freaking out thinking somehow i messed up the cams and chains and the noise was a valve hitting the piston. So i tried to turn the motor and it will rotate barely and then freezes. So i freaked out more. Once calmed down alittle i realized you cant rotate the crank with the plugs in cause there is no where for the air to go. DUH! wow. So I decided to start it again. Started with no backfire but was idleing pretty rough. gave it alittle gas and it started making a kinda clicking/clunking/tapping noise. The lash adjusters are also making small tapping noise because it hasnt ran enough yet to prime. So the noise kinda happens twice then just bad idleing then kinda appears again then i can hear it backfiring very softly. Kinda pfft pfft now and again. Then BANG!!! Loud as hell. So i shut it off. Same thing this morning when i did it.
So after the whole car life story can anyone give me some type of suggestionas what to do. It seems mabe like timming but i dont know how. I did it right cause it all rotated fine with no issues. I'm thinking coil packs may be bad as well as plug wires. Spark plugs are brand new with engine rebuild. Autolite Iridiums set at .053 for now while i am breaking motor in because i will not get on it to hard or into boost. I will then set them at 0.030-0.035. I will go check again for any missing connections. And will scan for codes with my SCT tuner.
Remeber it drove fine before and the only thing i did was H.L.A. and timming chains. But they went on right. HELP!?!?!?
Last edited by FLMustangMan; 05-15-2011 at 05:12 PM.
05-15-2011, 05:57 PM
#2
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oregon
Posts: 319
WOW. I am so sorry to anyone who spends the time to read this. I figured out the problem. Spark plug wire to coil packs, #3 and #6 were mixed up. I cant beleive i can rebuild a motor and then mix up the plug wires. Damnit. Fixed!!! I wish i could erase this. Thanks to anyone who may spend the time to read this
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