MISFIRE 1 AND 4

That vehicle should has 2 coils. 1 fires 1, 4 the other 2, 3. I would replace the coil on the related cylinders or if it has one coil pack replace it.

Make sure the spark plugs and wires are new OEM.

First question....the engine light was cleared after you changed the plugs right?

Second question...Does your engine have the one piece coil that all four wires plug into? If 'yes' then I would remove the coil and check on the bottom of it for any burn or crack marks.

Cosmo...Mazda TEch

i have a 1998 ford escort 1.6 16 valve. when i start the car its fine but after about 10 minutes it starts to misfire. its worse when going up an hill and i have to drop it down a gear. i have put no spark plugs in and put injector cleaner in. at fist the sparks worked but after a week it started again. can you help?

Is your check engine light flashing as your car is mis-firing???

[quote:13e6af28d2="TaurusWheel"]Is your check engine light flashing as your car is mis-firing???[/quote:13e6af28d2]. no there is no check engine light showing. it seems to miss fire at 2000 and 4000 revs.

I have a 1997 Ford Escort LX sedan with a 2.0L, SOHC engine with split-port induction. I have 137,763 miles on the engine. In the past, I've had certified mechanics replace the water pump and timing belt (on time), and they aren't due to be changed again for another 60k miles or so; I've also had certified mechanics completely overhaul the brake system recently. I've been diligent about changing the oil every 3-5k miles, keeping the filters clean, etc. I've replaced the battery, and had all new tires put on the car. I drive the car, on average, 500 miles per week at highway speeds. The majority of the above mileage has been on highways.

The issue is as follows: at speeds up to about 50-55mph, the engine is fine; I can accelerate and coast without issue. Over 55mph, however, I can keep accelerating - or, indeed, keep traveling at any given speed as long as I keep the accelerator pressed - without incident; however, if I attempt to coast (taking my foot off the accelerator) the engine makes a horrid "rattling, chattering, metallic vibrating" sound until the speed drops back below 50 or I slightly push the accelerator. As long as I keep the flow of fuel and air moving into the engine, even if it's only a little bit, it's happy enough at any speed; if I attempt to make the engine pull fuel and air on its own, it has a problem.

I asked a friend, who knows engines, what it might be; he thought that it might be the crankarm (or rod) bearings, and said that I should change them out. I did, and while the engine sounds smoother than it has in years, changing the bearings did not take care of the issue above. I examined the oil that I drained out of the engine; there were no specks of metal in it. Nor was there any residue in the oil filter in the engine.

Might anyone know of something else that should be checked? I can't really afford a new car right now, and am willing to get the tools I need to have to do the job unless we're talking about wholesale engine rebuilding.

Thanks in advance for any and all pertinent assistance.

Cheers,

Rock_Guide

Edited to include: the car is an automatic 5-speed, and if I have any part of the fan/ventilation system on the rattling/chattering is much more noticeable, even at lower speeds. If the AC is on, it's a constant.

Earlier Escorts were know for problems with the catalytic convertor heat shield breaking and causing a noise like this. You will need to get under the car and check the heat shield and exhaust system mounts.

[quote:6bb54d9484="CraigFL"]Earlier Escorts were know for problems with the catalytic convertor heat shield breaking and causing a noise like this. You will need to get under the car and check the heat shield and exhaust system mounts.[/quote:6bb54d9484]

Thanks for the heads-up. I did just that, and found no loose anything.

However, in the process of finding nothing loose, I did notice that the serpentine belt is what's causing the chattering - because it's vibrating. I changed out the belt, but that didn't stop the noise - the belt was still vibrating. I checked the pulleys, and didn't notice anything grinding or catching, so it's not likely a broken bearing. Any other thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Rock_Guide

You will need to check the tensioner bearing as well as all the other drive components serviced by this belt -- alternator, A/C compressor. P/S pump etc...

My problem started five months ago and was very intermittent until now. The engine would run rough at start up either cold of hot and then run fine after about two or three miles. Now it runs rough all the time. I have installed a new ignition coil, new spark plug wires and new spark plugs. The engine starts ok but it runs rough and when I pull the spark plug wires one at a time,while it is running, the spark is very weak on cylinders 2 and 4. The spark on the other two cylinders looks good. I have checked the connector on the powertrain control module, which is a EEC-V, and there doesn't seem to be any bad connections there. Thanks for your assistance.

check the harmonic balancer that has a toner ring for the crank sensor. if the balancer wobbles, as a lot of them do, it could cause a condition like this.

Roy

Thanks for the fast reply. With the timing belt cover off and the serpentine (drive) belt in place I don't see any wobble in the balancer.

check the ring on the balancer as well. if it is chipped or loose, it will do it.

Roy

I checked the toner ring on the balancer. I don't see any chips and it is tight.

my ford escort 1.6 16 valve keeps misfiring when it its at 2000 and 4000 revs. i have changed the spark plugs and put some injector cleaner in but its still doing the same. there is no warning light to say there is a problem. can you help? thanks

What year is the car? If it's got no distributor try the coil pack

last thing is check the air gap. make sure it is the same on all four points.

Roy

[quote:fce8a7ea8f="merlin2021"]What year is the car? If it's got no distributor try the coil pack[/quote:fce8a7ea8f] my car is 1998 and it does have a distributor. any other suggetions would be of great help. thanks alot

Are you referring to the air gap between the crankshaft position sensor and the toner ring on the balancer?

yes, where the sensor and the tips that come close.

they must all be the same

Roy

I checked the air gap between the crankshaft position sensor and the toner ring tips on the balancer, they are all the same.

I checked the air gap between the crankshaft position sensor and the tips on the toner ring on the balancer, they are all the same.

I have a 1994 Ford Escort GT w/ 1.9L engine & manual transmission. When engine has warmed for a couple of minutes it begins to miss badly. It seems when I accelerate slowly it is not as bad but gets worse as I increase pressure on the peddle. The plugs, plug wires, rotor and cap were replaced less than 5000 miles ago. I ran the motor and individually pulled each plug wire to see what reaction I would get for the cylinder. Each one effected the idle so it didn't appear to be electrical in nature. I have replaced the fuel filter recently and replaced the ignition switch. Help!!!

how did you make out??

Roy

Check and test the IACV,MAF and TPS sensors to inclucde a fuel pressure check-

ok, you will need to start from scratch. compression test, timing belt marks and a spark check. i think we need to go back to basics.

Roy

Hi this could be a failing tfi module . you can actually remove this from the distributor or mounted on the firewall.Take it to a auto store have it tested. Another possibility egr valve stuck open tap with hammer while idleing if idle changes valve stuck.
another possibility iac [idle air control ] if this part fails these symtoms will occur. check for codes before performing any other test. good luck Billymac

I will check the timing belt marks and see if I can borrow a compression tester. What is the best way to do a spark test?
Could the crankshaft position sensor be causing my problem? I keep thinking that the problem is electrical in nature since it was very intermittent for five months.

if the sensor was bad, it would not effect only 2 cylinders. thats why i was looking at the balancer instead of the sensor.

Roy

I was checking the timing belt marks last night and once I removed the crankshaft pulley (Harmonic Balancer) the crankshaft sprocket and the cam sprocket timing marks are both aligned correctly, according to my Chilton manual. The mark on the crankshaft pulley has moved. I have changed the timing belt on this car before and that mark was at the right place then. The way it is constructed the part that the serpentine belt runs on and has the timing notch on it is rubber mounted to the hub that is one cast piece that includes the toner ring and the keyed hole for the crankshaft. I don't see how the serpentine pulley slipping by an inch on the assembly could cause my problem since the toner ring is part of the solid metal hub.
I have an induction timing light and with the pickup unit on the #1 spark plug wire the timing mark on the camshaft sprocket shows the that it is firing to the left of the timing mark, before top dead center. Thanks for your continuing help.

I have been off 1 tooth on some and they wont even run. timing is crticial in making a motor run correctly.

re set it so the marks ared ead on, rotate the motor 3 times and re verify.

Roy

I double checked and the timing marks on the crankshaft sprocket and the cam sprocket are right on. Is there any other way besides the timing belt to adjust the timing on this engine?

1976 Ford Escort
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Ford Escort mk2 1976

It was running low on petrol and i started to notice it was running a bit worse so i filled it up with fuel and it ran normal
then after that it started to have a bad ass misfire

could you please help me thankyou

Check the fuel pressure to rule out the fuel filter/fuel pump and regulator.

no, the computer does it from there.

Roy

its not fuel injected it is carburetted
is there anything else you can help out with
why it would missfire

thankyou

What are the odds that the computer is causing the problem?

When the last time you gave it a major tune-up?

Check the fuel pump pressure with a fuel pressure gauge-it doesn't have to be an EFI system every vehicle has a fuel pump that creates pressure to push fuel thru the fuel line and to the Carb or EFI unit-incorrect fuel pressure will cause an engine to act up

possible but needs to be checked by a shop to confirm. expensive guess.

Roy

if the pumps internal filter or the fuel lines behind the pump might have blocked causing low pressure?

I borrowed a compression gauge and found a major problem. Cylinder 1 shows 190 psi, cylinder 2 shows 185 psi, cylinder 3 shows 190 psi and cylinder 4 shows only 20 psi. I'm guessing that means a valve seat problem on 4, which I guess was causing my problem to be intermittent. Is the computer detecting this low psi and decreasing the spark on 2 and 4, or do I have multiple problems.