97 Escort Engine Misfiring

Hi.

I have a 1997 Escort LX "Sport" and the other night the engine started sputtering and dying. Gas gauge is broken so we thought it was running out, but filled it and still no good. Service Engine Soon light had been on so I had the codes pulled, and it said that there was a primary/secondary circuit failure on the ignition coil, as well as misfires in cyls 1, 3 and 4.

2's doing ok, I guess.

Anyway, new plugs and wires, no help.
New coil, no help.

Don't have a mechanic I trust, someday I hope to find one. In the meantime, I'm looking for easy things I can look at with basic tools.

Thanks all, this is a great resource. Wish I could contribute, but what I don't know about cars would fill a bunch of books :wink:

Look for a vacuum leak and check the timing.

The coil pack may be going bad causing those cylinders to miss. Hook a spark tester to each cylinder one at a time and check for spark.

Check the wires too after you check the coilpack like the other post suggested - at least do the nighttime check where you open the hood at dark time and see if you notice arcing of the spark.

Also after codes where pulled did they reset the computer ?

Make sure the ignition wire boots are pushed all the way onto the spark plugs. Check the primary electrical wires going into the coil pack harness and make sure the secondary leads off the pack are pushed all the way into the coil pack. I've seen 8 mm wires fry inside of 30 minutes on escort engines. The stock wires you buy at the parts place are not that good. Try to find some good 8.5mm to 10mm wires. When was the last time the positive battery terminal cleaned? Neutralize the corrosion with some baking soda and water with an old tooth brush. Rinse well. Get a good tight connection. A marginal connection at the battery will cause problems in other places in the electrical system. Leave the battery terminal unhooked for at least 15 minutes and it will reset your computer and check engine light.