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Miss Fire

A

Alquistador

New CEG'er
Joined
May 9, 2001
Messages
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Hello all:

I have a 1999 ford contour svt 170000KMs. For about the last 4-5 months my car has been missfiring then a blinking check engine light. The car stops missfiring and the check engine light goes out. The code finally stayed on and it p305. Miss fire cylinder 5. The question I have is which cylinder is number 5 and would this code be foreshadowing of a fuel pump failure?

Thank you for all your help

SVT Driver
 
No, a misfire wont have anything to do with the fuel pump. When was the last time you changed your plugs and wires?
 
I changed my wires and plug about a year ago with aftermarket wires. Thank you for the correct cylinder number. I will change it out and see what happens. Could I get the periodic problem from a dirty injector?
 
You can (with rubber gloves) disconnect each spark plug, one at a time, from the car while it is running.

If the disconnected spark plug doesn't make any/much difference in the speed/running of the engine it is suspect.

If disconnecting a spark plug while the engine is running noticably affects the engine speed, that plug/wire is probably good.

Mike
 
mrutkaus said:
You can (with rubber gloves) disconnect each spark plug, one at a time, from the car while it is running.

If the disconnected spark plug doesn't make any/much difference in the speed/running of the engine it is suspect.

If disconnecting a spark plug while the engine is running noticably affects the engine speed, that plug/wire is probably good.

Mike
Click to expand...


There is no point in doing so, we already know that cylinder is having misfire events. The PCM is VERY good at identifying the cylinder responsible for misfires when it posts a single cylinder fault code.

The only question is whether the fault is due to the plug wire, spark plug, injector, or another base engine mechanical concern.

I would be most concerned with those "aftermarket" wires and what spark plug, if any, might have been used.

Steve
 
Check the plugs to make sure there's no corrosion or oil on them and that they're gapped correctly. Add some dielectric grease at the connection between the plugs and wires. Both times I've had misfires, these have fixed it.
 
So I went to Ford and bought wires and a spark plug. Changed them out and I still have a missfire. (Blinking check engine light then sometimes it stays on with a code, same code) I changed the coil pack last year so I know it's not that. I am leaning towards a injector cleaning active green and ross type.......Any other ideas out there??

Thank guys
 
Yes check all your spark plugs and wires as I described above!

Quick and Easy! Remember, the spark plug/wire you disconnect and it doesn't make much/any difference is the bad one.

Mike
 
Another thing to try --> In the dark, pop the hood and look at the suspect wires while the engine is running. When I had bad wires I could see the sparks jumping from wire to block and wire to wire (be patient -- sometimes it took up to a minute before I saw them). I could hear the sparking before seeing it, the sparks sound like snaps. Also, don't assume the new wires are good. Many people (me included) bought new wires only to have the same problem. I had to go thru two pairs of new wires until the misfire went away! These cars seem to be sensitive to misfire problems, maybe they have a particularly hot spark (high voltage) that goes thru insulation better.

Anyways, I think it's a good idea to buy guaranteed wires (I believe Autolite Pro) that you can exchange if they start letting sparks thru them, causing misfires.
 
I don't know about your area, but I seem to remember buying them at NAPA and Autozone. Also, I believe it is only the Autolite Professional wires that have the lifetime warranty, but I could be wrong and regular Autolite wires may also have the warranty.
 
Swap the #2 and #5 wires at the coil. Reset the PCM.

See if the fault moves to # 2 or stays with #5.

That will tell you if the coil is the problem or not.

Note: Those two fire at the same time (waste fire system).

Steve
 
I changed the wires and the car is running alot better. I am still getting the missfire with no blinking check engine light. Could this be a dirty injector problem?
 
had the same problem, change the spark plugs and wires without any change into i check my coil pack. i remove it and clean the 4 corners where the bolts go thru top and bottom and problem resolved, coil pack was not making good ground. try that.
 
When you pull off the #5 plug wire, look down into the boot, check for evidence of carbon tracking, looks like a grey/white line running parallel to the boot. This was the cause of my misfire, took months to track down. Dielectric grease worked for a bit, then it would come back. New plugs and wires = :cool: .
 
always replace the plugs and wires at the same time if you are trying to track down the cause of a miss-fire. there is a good chance that one or more plugs carbon tracked and changing just the plugs will cause it to come back.
 
Alquistador said:
I changed the wires and the car is running alot better. I am still getting the missfire with no blinking check engine light. Could this be a dirty injector problem?
Click to expand...

An injector is not likely, but if you are suspicious of an injector, run some hight quality injector cleaner through the fuel tank. I like RedLine. This should be done from time to time anyway as maintenance. If you really want to put the possibility of an injector being your problem, swap the #5 injector with any other injector and see if the problem follows the injector. Try cleaning them first.
 
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