ehhh.....shoot!!

[SuperHO]

Okay...here's my dellima (sp). I adopted my uncle-in-law's 93 ATX for some TLC since the darn thing has almost 140,*** on the clock and ain't never seen new plugs or wires....much less any other maintenence. So I took it under my wing and went to work....60k, new everything, plugs and wires from Pep Boys (Bosch Platinums). And now the thing wants to misfire on the middle two cylinders. I had no idea what was wrong with it, so I sent it off to the local high school to have the auto shop play with it. (no flaming, please). Anywho, the shop teacher narrowed it down to a bad coil pack. here's the issue.......

First off, I've swapped the coil pack off my wife's 94 to no avail. it didn't run any better, and it didn't run any worse. I've swapped dozens of parts on to my wife's 94 to see if they were bad, and I'm getting nothing. My wife called Doug Lewis down in FPS (i'm in a PTSD ward at my local VA for the next 22 days, so she's my gofer) and he says he's never had a coil pack go bad and that I should replace the plugs and wires with those unholy priced ones from Motorcraft. Unfortunatly, I'm poor white trash who had to paint his hood with spray paint...I can't even afford the good stuff for my modded 92...what in Heaven's name makes me think I'm gonna do it for someone else's car who ain't even payin me?

So there's my problem. Anyone got any suggestions?

 

[Eliw]

Those uholy priced motocraft Spark plugs and cables are what will cure the misfiring. My drummers 90 SHO had bosch plugs put in by the previous owner and it misfires.

Get the good plugs, car runs fine. Get Bosch, and it will misfire

 

[40BelowSummer]

You could go for a decent used set from someone, Ive seen a few people sell low mileage plug wires for cheap. Or shoot for the $60-ish~ Accel wires. And plugs, you can get a set of motorcraft plugs for $25.

 

[yourshdw]

If the plugs and wires are new why dont you check there first!
double check the wires for spark and or proper contact
and check the plugs for proper gap and part #

sometimes when you get stuff from auto parts store you have to check to make sure everything is correct!!

 

[twr]

Have you tried swapping the DIS Modules?? I have seen and helped diagnose 2 SHO's that suffered what you are describing.

 

[bulldogs3d]

if you feel you need the motorcraft wires fordpartsnetwork.com sells them for 129.99 my ford dealerships were selling them for 313.00 they also have the motorcraft plug set of 6 for 23.94

 

[SuperHO]

Have you tried swapping the DIS Modules?? I have seen and helped diagnose 2 SHO's that suffered what you are describing.

I've swapped three different DIS modules on the thing, including the one off my wife's 94 and my own 92, both of which I know were in perfect working order. I've also checked and rechecked the grounds for the DIS, since I've had that particular problem before.

Anyhow, I've also swapped the plugs twice...and changed them around so they were in different holes.....so for some strange reason, I don't think it's the plugs or wires. The wires I know for certain cuz my wife's 94 started with the wires off the 93 and ran fine. It's nice having a guinea pig car.....

 

[1995mtxsho]

Sounds kinda like Wires 5 and 6 are switched at the coil, they are out of sequence remember... its a pretty common mistake...

 

[Rockledge]

Sounds kinda like Wires 5 and 6 are switched at the coil, they are out of sequence remember... its a pretty common mistake...

^That's what I'm thinking, or something along those lines.

Here's the right way to hook 'em up:

 

[shoteen95]

awe man, another kalamazoo sho owner!

too bad i'm back in dearborn..i coulda used another SHO friend while i was at western!

 

[SuperHO]

Sounds kinda like Wires 5 and 6 are switched at the coil, they are out of sequence remember... its a pretty common mistake...

I thought that too....but I checked and rechecked and re-rechecked the firing order off my wife's 94 (I know it don't matter between ATX and MTX cars, but I figured the 94 was sitting right there and my 92 was in the garage). That, and #6 is firing just fine. It's the 2nd and 5th cylinder that's misfiring. That's probably why the teacher is thinking coil pack.

 

[Eliw]

Plugs! Everywhere I've gone to search for the cause of such a problem has always turned out to be an owner or mechanic using Bosch plugs in the sho. The SHO is picky. It like bosch o2 sensors but not the spark plugs. whether their single, double or quadruple platinum.

 

[SHOtimer]

I thought that too....but I checked and rechecked and re-rechecked the firing order off my wife's 94 (I know it don't matter between ATX and MTX cars, but I figured the 94 was sitting right there and my 92 was in the garage). That, and #6 is firing just fine. It's the 2nd and 5th cylinder that's misfiring. That's probably why the teacher is thinking coil pack.

You sure that you don't have #'s 2 and 5 crossed?

Doug

 

[SuperHO]

Plugs! Everywhere I've gone to search for the cause of such a problem has always turned out to be an owner or mechanic using Bosch plugs in the sho. The SHO is picky. It like bosch o2 sensors but not the spark plugs. whether their single, double or quadruple platinum.

That's odd, cuz up until this time around, that's all I've used in my 92 and my 94. I forgot what I put in the 92 this time (damn PTSD), but I've never had a problem with rough running with the Bosch plugs in. Maybe my car ain't as picky as others.........


And I'm still pretty positive that I checked the firing order against two other cars (since I haven't found a shop manual that's correct) three or four times, just to make sure. I guess i can try it once more...can't hurt nothin.

 

[Eliw]

Wont hurt to check the wiring. I have the shop manual for my 89 and it was wrong about the cables. The only reason why I emphesize getting the motorcraft plugs is because 95% of all the info I've read about people who have used bosch plugs in their SHo's have complained about misfiring until they replaced them with the motorcraft plugs. If its just me then ill shut up.;-) If it turns out to be anything but the plugs, you can curse at me.

 

[FRDSHOGRL93X3]

Wont hurt to check the wiring. I have the shop manual for my 89 and it was wrong about the cables.

Funny but the shop manual (92-95) I have had the order wrong too. I think its a Chilton? I agree check the wiring

 

[Eliw]

The best part is that I dont have the chiltons. I have the actual Ford service manual and the firing order is wrong

 

[SuperHO]

Wanna know something funny? I've got both the Factory Service Manual and the Chilton's Manual.....they both have different firing orders in em, and they're both wrong.

 

[autobahnsho]

I had changed my wires out late at night.
I was watching for the switcharoo (wtflip?) and believe it or not, mis-wired #4 w/ #6.....

Super-double-check wouldn't hurt.
Good luck!

 

[DHMag]

Plugs! Everywhere I've gone to search for the cause of such a problem has always turned out to be an owner or mechanic using Bosch plugs in the sho. The SHO is picky. It like bosch o2 sensors but not the spark plugs. whether their single, double or quadruple platinum.

my car has been running good on Bosch Super 7557 for over a year now without problems. the Motorcraft 32PPs i pulled out with 8K miles on em showed signs of detonation and overheating, not what id call a proper running spark plug.