No spark on only ONE cylinder!

[Nedmonds]

Well if this isnt an emergency issue then i dont know what is.

I posted earlier in the general section "no spark/oil leak" i got the oil leak fixed, it was a oil pressure switch or something like that.

The shop claims they fixed the spark issue, i paid then 450 bucks, my wife picks me up from work, and its the exact same as it was before. The cylinder on the front passenger corner is not getting any spark at all. On a cold start it will spark until the engine warms up then it stops sparking. Ive replaced the spark plug tube gaskets, wires, plugs, coil pack, and still nothing.

This is an emergency because this is my only vehicle i have for my family, and since its not sparking its dumping that fuel into the oil and im afraid i might spin a bearing soon, im laying off the driving, but i have to get to and from work somehow. Any idea what is causing this?

 

[frosho]

i have a similar problem. i was only getting a spark about 1/3 to 1/2 the time for only 1 cylinder for most of the winter. i never did fix it because i couldnt figure out what was causing it to do this, and since the weather has gotten warmer it hasnt been doing it as much. one thing i didnt try was swapping out the DIS because i never had any money to get another. i was told that a faulty DIS is definitely a possible cause though, so you may want to look into it. let me know if you try it and it fixes your problem. good luck

 

[1slickRED89]

the next thing to do would be remove the spark plug wires, clean and lightly grease the boots and make sure they are perfectly installed.

also take out the spark plug and clean it if it's fouled. soaking it in soapy water is fine as long as it's dry by the time you put it back in. also check the torque on the spark plugs to ensure 15lb/ft, or so long as none are 'loose' in the head.

 

[Nedmonds]

Nah, theres no spark at all, as in the coil isnt producing any spark, wires good, sparks are BRAND new and CLEAN. The lower left plug on the coil is not producing any electricity at all, i know this because i went as far as to stick my finger in it and hang on to the car battery...and nothing. This was while the engine was running. This sucks because im really nervous im going to spin a bearing. Im calling autozone right now to price ignition modules.

BTW whats the thing on the passenger side of the intake manifold? Ignition module? Thats what it lookes like.

 

[twr]

Correct. I have seen 2 go bad and they had the same symptoms as you described.

 

[Nedmonds]

Well i picked it up from the shop and it seems to be ok even though they didnt do anything. I'm pretty sure it will start doing it again, so im going to leave 115 bucks freed up (the price of the module) if it starts up again. On a side note my check engine light is back on! Wierd but id rather have that on and my car run right than have it off and it not run right.

 

[projectSHO89]

It is not logical for a DIS module to cause a single cylinder to misfire.

Find the paired plug wire with the dead cylinder and swap them at the coil, ie 1-5, 3-4, or 2-6 (IIRC). Since both cyclinders in the pair always fire at the same time, it's an easy test to perform. If the misfire swaps to the other cylinder in the pair, it's the coil. If it stays, then it's a plug wire, plug, injector, or a mechanical fault with that cylinder.

Steve

 

[twr]

Pull the diagnostic codes. If you don't know how, do a search for codes. Willing to bet that will answer a lot of questions.

 

[Nedmonds]

It is not logical for a DIS module to cause a single cylinder to misfire.

Find the paired plug wire with the dead cylinder and swap them at the coil, ie 1-5, 3-4, or 2-6 (IIRC). Since both cyclinders in the pair always fire at the same time, it's an easy test to perform. If the misfire swaps to the other cylinder in the pair, it's the coil. If it stays, then it's a plug wire, plug, injector, or a mechanical fault with that cylinder.

Steve

Probably the best and most logical advice i have gotten, i ruled out the coil because i purchased a new one, but i guess theres a chance it could be bad also. One question for ya though, if im standing in front of the car and im looking down at my coil pack it looks like this:
OO
OO
XO

X being the cylinder with no spark, how do i know which is "1" "2" etc...?

 

[NoSlo]

Did you replace the spark plugs and wires before replacing the coil? If you replaced the coil first and had a shorted out spark plug or shorted out wire on that cylinder, it's possible that you killed a single cylinder's coil winding in the new coil in the same way the old one was bad. That is the only way that only one cylinder (and the same cylinder) would be missing spark on the new coil also.

You should not test spark by seeing if current passes from one hand to the other (through your heart!). Unplug the spark plug wire from the plug, hold the spark plug boot with something well insulated like a dry rubber glove up to the intake or another ground and you should see and hear the spark when you start and run the engine. Test with another plug wire to make sure you know what you are looking for. Are you really missing spark on just one cylinder?? How about testing the other wire from the coil pack that is paired on the same circuit, does that one spark?

I would run the KOER test, and after it is done giving you any fault codes, tap the gas to run the cylinder balance test. That should give you the code number(s) corresponding to the misfiring or weak cylinder(s). If you get two cylinders weak and they are on the same coil bank, that might mean either the coil or something upstream of the coil pack is bad (DIS, wiring harness) and both cylinders in a coil pair are missing. If you get one cylinder weak after running the test several times, swap the plug wires at the coil as mentioned above, and if the weak cylinder changes to the other cylinder, it can only be a bad coil. Be sure to check your plug wire with a multimeter before swapping to make sure you don't **** another coil (a good wire should be around 50K resistance end-to-end, and should have infinite resistance to ground when one end is connect to the spark plug.)

If the test shows the same single cylinder is weak after swapping wires at the coil, you might need to look at something other than the ignition system.

 

[Nedmonds]

NoSlo, that diagram gave me the confidence i neededto do this. Thankyou!
I pulled the codes, which i should have done in the very beginning, the stored codes are:122,158,172,212,*216*
And the first code it gave me was 327, which is the reason my CEL is on atm, anyone know what it is?

I dont know what most of those are, but the 216 stuck out like a sore thumb. I went ahead and swapped out the DIS Module for a newone, presto, good running 3.2 yamaha! Thanks for the help guys, you guys are lifesavers!(and money savers )

 

[SubCool]

Thankks for the diagram

 

[frosho]

It is not logical for a DIS module to cause a single cylinder to misfire.

Find the paired plug wire with the dead cylinder and swap them at the coil, ie 1-5, 3-4, or 2-6 (IIRC). Since both cyclinders in the pair always fire at the same time, it's an easy test to perform. If the misfire swaps to the other cylinder in the pair, it's the coil. If it stays, then it's a plug wire, plug, injector, or a mechanical fault with that cylinder.

Steve

the DIS is what caused cylinder 5, and only cylinder 5, to misfire for me. i swapped plugs, wires, and coils and nothing fixed the problem until i swapped out the DIS.

 

[Tim Mcclure]

What is DIS mine is the number one no spak from coi at all only nuber 1 all the rest spark. 1996 Dodge caran

 

[luigisho]

Gray rectangular ignition module mounted on the side of the intake wiring clips on both ends.

 

[pjtoledo]

What is DIS mine is the number one no spak from coi at all only nuber 1 all the rest spark. 1996 Dodge caran

Tim, you have stumbled into a forum about '89 thru '95 Ford Taurus' equipped with the Yamaha 3.0 L V6.
You'll probably get better advise on a forum about Dodge Caravans.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Google searches...

 

[rubydist]

bringing another thread back from the dead. 2006...