NYstang

Dude... old thread is old

BabyGT

At least it was only a year old lol, another forum im on for different cars just had a guy bring up like a 7 year old classified ad

iowadude41

I would like to help others who end up having this same problem with their Mustangs. Christmas morning I went out to get breakfast, and my car was running great. I got home, and let my car sit all day until 5pm. I went out to go to the library to use their wifi when my car started to idle rough, and shake. I drove to the library, and it ran really bad, and the check engine light came on. I had a code tester, and it read P0308, cylinder 8 misfire detected. I went back home, and tried the first thing that came to mind. Disconnect the cables from the battery, and then reconnect them to reset the onboard computer. That didn't help. So I let it set over night, and yesterday I used a family member's car, and wet back to the library to research the problem. like most of you, I found that many had the same problem, and looked for your own fix. I like you came across some causes: bad spark plug, bad plug wire, bad coil pack, and even bad fuel injector. I called around and talked to some mechanics, and they told me to bring it in, and they'd check it out at a cost of $85 per hour. No way!! So I came across a website for the coil pack, and it stated to buy an (inline spark tester), and to use it, you remove the spark plug wire from the spark plug, and insert the tester between the cable, and plug. Then turn on the car. If you get a good flashing bright light, then current is getting to the plug. If no flashing light, just back track. So what I did was insert the tester as stated above, and got no light at all. So I took the cable, and replaced it with another cylinder cable, and ran the test on the same plug wire again, and it was good. I then tested the other plug wire on cylinder 8 as stated above, and again, no light. That told me the plug was more than likely good, and the plug wire was good since it tested good on another cylinder. So that only left the coil pack. To test that, all you do is remove the cylinder plug wire to the bad cylinder from the coil pack, and insert the tester into the opening on the coil pack. Some testers come with a grounding clip and others don't. Mine didn't have one so I inserted a screwdriver into the plug end of the tester, and then connected a jumper cable (negative) from the screwdriver to the negative terminal of the battery. I started the car, and got a really faint flashing light. I tested the other 3 coil pack plug holes the same way, and all tested good. So that told me the exact problem, a bad coil pack. I bought a new one from O'Reilly's Auto parts, and installed it. I performed the same test again on cylinder 8. Inserted the tester between the cable and plug, and got a really strong flashing light. I reconnected the plug wire to the spark plug, and took it for a long hard drive, and my car ran perfectly.

So to wrap this up, and to help others out. Go buy an (inline spark tester) for around $5, and do the testing stated above, and it will narrow your problem down to only a few things. Then do process of elimination. What I read is that the coil pack is usually the problem. Buy a Master Pro one for around $55, and don't spend your hard earned cash on a mechanic who will tell you the same thing, but charge you an arm and a leg.

I hope this helps all of you out there that has this problem. If you need my help, you can contact me at iowadude41@yahoo.com

Daehawk

Cool. Glad you got it fixed and saved the cash. Some mechanics can be crazy expensive. Also thanks for posting the fix you found here for others. May come in handy for someone.