Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Running on 3 cylinders...

I just tried to remove my #4 wire from the spark plug the other day on my new Protege and it ripped off..

I had to drive back home on 3 bangers...

How bad is that ??? Could it damage the engine permanently ??

how far was home?

change your oil. missing can cause fuel to get in the oil.

I'll do that saturday too...

Today I just drove like 10 blocks total... but the thing is.. the cable was loose already.. so I think the car was running on 3 cylinders for a while.... I am not sure...

I have heard driving a car that is not firing on all cylinders for along time could cause irregular engine wear and clog the catalytic converter(s), but if it seems ok after you get it fixed and change the oil, I wouldn't worry about it.

In the future I suggest buying and using the special pliers they sell for the purpose of pulling the spark plug wires without breaking them.

Put it this way, I crossed my spark plug wires while changing the plugs on my '95 duratec. Results? After driving it 12 mins away to my brothers to help me sort out my debuckle, I cooked the pre-cats. The engine in turn ingested enough debris that cause me to run thru a quart of oil every five days. I unloaded that car real quick. But all good things come to an end. I wound up buying a '98 SVT. Fun to drive, yet not gonna last the 5 year loan I got out on it.

And oh....always pull on the spark plug wire boot. Pliers won't hurt it but pulling on the wire will.

I've heard of an older 6 cylinder driving on 5 cylinders and eventually 4 for tens of thousands of miles. But it was an older car. On newer cars I would imagine it puts way too much strain on the other cylinders as well as putting every thing out of whack, since everything is tied to the computer on new cars.

Hmmm, my car wouldn't run with only 3 cylinders functioning. Of course I only had compression in 3 of them too.