mechanic said antifreeze in cylinders after alternator replacement

[68Malibu383]

Hi,
My uncle has a V8 SHO with around 115K miles on it. He just had the alternator replaced and began having problems one week later. I'll post his email:

"The Ford ran for almost a week after I replaced the alternator. However, yesterday it started running very rough. I took it in this morning and they said that there was anti freeze in two of the cylinders causing the fuel injector not to send fuel to them. Do you think this is something that could have happened when the put the car back together after the alternator replacement? They only charged my $32 to look at it."

A few days later...

"Today is the first day I have driven the Ford since I brought it home from the mechanic. It is still running and idling very rough and has considerably less power. Also, the "Service Engine Soon" light came on as I was driving to work. It stayed on, sometimes flashing. They told me that a fuel injector in a Ford will not send fuel to a cylinder that has anti freeze in it. They said some cars do. They told me that it could be a blown head gasket."

He will stop at an auto parts store to have the code read and I'll post that up when he gets it.

Is the part about a Ford fuel injector not firing true if it has antifreeze is in the cylinder? How would the fuel injector know? If the plug is not firing due to antifreeze, I could see the computer cutting fuel but not the injector sensing antifreeze.

I have never replaced an alternator on one of these cars but wonder if something could have gone wrong that may lead to these symptoms.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[kevinspann]

It wouldn't know if there is antifreeze in there or not - it would run rough if that were the case, since the coolant isn't combustible like fuel. There would also be some white smoke/steam out of the exhaust.

Alternator replacement would be unrelated.

How did they even check to see if the was antifreeze in the engine? They would have had to pull the plugs out and look inside the cylinder with a scope most likely.


Have the camshafts been welded?

 

[68Malibu383]

The code is P0307 which indicates a cylinder #7 misfire.

I am not sure how the mechanic determined antifreeze was in the cylinders but said he "cleaned them out" Ran badly for a few miles, then ran great, then badly again. He is taking it back to them. Sounds very strange to me.

 

[kevinspann]

Just a single misfire? I would pull that plug and coil and take a look for myself personally. It could just be a dead/dying coil.

http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/FiringOrderCylinderLocation.htm

 

[93markVIII]

They told me that a fuel injector in a Ford will not send fuel to a cylinder that has anti freeze in it.

wtf? no. wrong. who said that? time to run away. find someone competent.

Just a single misfire? I would pull that plug and coil and take a look for myself personally. It could just be a dead/dying coil.

http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/FiringOrderCylinderLocation.htm

+1 ford COP systems do this all the time. you could even move the coil pack and i bet the misfire code follows.

 

[sperold]

Any anti-freeze at all, and the car will disappear in white smoke. Plus, you will smell a sweet, sickening smell that you can't mistake for anything else.
This does not sound right. Follow the advice of the last 2 posts, and generally stay away from the place that serviced your car.

 

[Liquid_force]

When I bought my car w/91k it had a miss that I brought to the dealership's attention.
Their mechanic suggested a leaking head gasket (which could be seen as traces of anti-freeze in the exhaust). I saw no symptoms that led me to agree with that, but I went with it anyway and saved about 40% off the asking price.
I put on 4 new coils and it ran like a top, and besides my trans issues, has been running well for about 40k now.

If there's a coil or two that have failed completely I would expect a very rough running engine. Mine only seemed to miss under certain conditions so if you weren't paying close attention it seemed to run ok.

 

[EL SHO]

mind me here, I'm not a V8 owner but I do have a 3.2. Like the rest of the guys say, check the sparkplug and coils.
When was the last time the spark plug wires were replaced?

 

[SHOMEX]

V8's dont use spark plug wires.
Since cylinder #7 is in in the front bank it will be really easy to swap the coils on cylinders 6 & 7 (passenger side and the one in the middle) and check if your code follow to cylinder 6.
As previously said, most likely it just one coils going bad. (time to get an spare one)