'98 SHO repeated misfire

Hi All,
I have a '98 SHO w/ 79k miles. 2 months ago i got a misfire in Cyl. #5. The mechanic my dealer made me bring it to, (i was still under warranty, and this way he'd pay for it) figured to replace all the sparkplugs. The car ran fine for two months, although once in a while the engine would shake asif it got clogged and coughed out some gunk. There were no odd noises associated with this process. Now the other day my engine light went on, and when read it displayed the exact same error, Misfire in Cyl. #5. I've made an appointment to have it looked at by a local Ford dealer, but I was just wondering whether this is a known problem in the '98 SHO, and if it's alright to drive the car ~80m per weekday until Tuesday when it gets looked at.
Thanks,

-Dizz

yeah, you can drive it with no problem. generally its an ignition wire and less often a coil that causes a misfire code. its almost never caused by a spark plug. its also not uncommon for this code to set, be cleared, and not return for several days or even weeks. its rarely a big prob, wires will probably fix it.

great, that makes me feel a lot better. Thank you
-Dizz

Now, would it be easy for me to replace the coil and the wires myself? I'm not really skilled with cars, but I am an enigineer, so the electrical thinking, and the handywork is on my side. If i buy the repair guide, and the parts would i have problems? Or is it quite a procedure?
Thanks
Dizz

i wouldn't be at all afraid to tackle the repairs yourself. start with the ignition wires. this is general maintenance, not really a "repair" even though it'll probably fix your problem. the hard part may be resetting the trouble code. in many cases with OBD2 systems, another computer/scanner is required to clear the code.

Alright, I'll grab myself a copy of the repair guide tomorrow, and tackle it on the weekend. My local AutoZone lets me borrow their computer to read the code, so I'm sure they wouldn't mind letting me borrow it to clear it.
Thanks
Dizz

Alright, I'll grab myself a copy of the repair guide tomorrow, and tackle it on the weekend. My local AutoZone lets me borrow their computer to read the code, so I'm sure they wouldn't mind letting me borrow it to clear it.
Thanks
Dizz

Well, the '98 SHO has no spark plug wires, you have the COP => Coil On Plug setup. Luckily for you, the #5 coil pack is an easy one to replace. Cylinders 1-4 are the rear ones that are not so much fun (although I have them down to 1 hour from start to finish now). Any of the front 4 would take you all of about 20 minutes to replace. The best place I've found to buy coils is O'Reilly Auto Parts. They coils around just under $86 each and are actual Motorcraft parts in a Borg Warner box. From they dealer, the same part will cost you upwards of $200 each.

I've had two coils go bad on my '98 SHO, and both exhibited the same symptoms as yours. At first, I'd only notice a stumble sitting at a stop light a couple times a week. All of a sudden, it would go from seldom to nearly constantly. I'd put the scan tool on it, no codes, but as it stumbled I'd watch the O2 sensors go from reading normal to rich just after a stumble, so I knew I wasn't burning the fuel. I'd then go in to the emissions parameters and find that one cylinder was recording 1700 or so misfires, the other 7 recorded none. Both times, I'd replace the coil pack on the corresponding cylinder and the problem went away. The first time coil pack #2 went out, the second time pack #1. These were the two rear cylinders on the drivebelt end of the engine.

If you're in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area, I'd be more than happy to help you out. The O'Reilly's here stocks the part. :)

-Rod

Rod, thanks for the info, unfortunately i live in Mass.
Well, had a great day today. First I couldn't find the part at any store, and the store that 'ordered' it for me yesterday didn't order it, so they didn't have it. Then, when i was driving to my parents house where I was going to fix the car, which I couldn't because i didn't have the coild, I started noticing that it wasn't accellerating eventhough it was revving up. The car started slowing down and i could barely make it into a Mobil parking lot, where I got out and noticed my engine smoking. The temperature gauge wasn't over half, so that's also something I added to my list of things to look at. After a couple minutes, I saw fluid leaking from the bottom, and the checker-rod to the back-left of the engine was just about empty. I assume it's the transmission, although it wasn't labeled. Called AAA to have it towed, but since it's Sunday and I'm in a small town, there was only one tow-truck available. The car finally got towed around 9pm (broke down at noon, luckily my dad could pick me up) and brought to a nearby dealership. The towtruck driver even managed to lock the keys in the car after he dropped it off (havn't gotten a chance to look up the factory code for the keyless entry, didn't come with the car, got it used). So now i gotta call the dealership at 7am tomorrow to explain why there's a black taurus leaking fluid all over their lot. Then they'll charge me an arm and a leg for looking at it. I think i should sell this piece of junk before it causes me even more trouble. The funny part is, it drove GREAT when i got it from a car-broker 3 months ago, maybe i'll see you all around the honda accord forum soon..:)

That is a bummer, and I'm sorry to hear that. I absolutely love my '98 SHO. Just this past week I drove it 500 miles to a resort with myself, my wife, our 2 year old daughter, my mother-in-law, a weeks worth of luggage for all of us, two bicycles, and A/C the entire way. It was a neat feeling to be able to step on the gas on the highway and pass ricers and "sports" cars without a sweat.

I will admit that I get nervous everytime I get on the gas since I haven't had my cams welded yet.

As for the keypad code, there should be a sticker on the keyless entry module with the 5-digit code. The box is located under the dash above the accelerator. You might have to hold your head just right, close one eye, and squint with the other to make out the code, but it is possible.

Good luck with your SHO!

-Rod

I spoke with the car dealer i bought the car from and he said he would pay for the repairs to the engine (the misfiring cylinder). So that's good news, as far as the transmition goes, i'll have to get that fixed and hope it's not too much of a hassle. I hope to be able to drive this car at least another 30-40k miles. By then it'll be at 120k and probably time for something new, seeing it's history. Could you explain the cam problem? I heard about it, but I'm not quite sure what it encompasses.
thanks
Dizz

Could you explain the cam problem? I heard about it, but I'm not quite sure what it encompasses.
thanks
Dizz

I suppose I could, but you'd probably be better served by looking over the information on www.v8sho.com. You might want to start at http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/StillskepticalaboutCamWelding.htm

-Rod