Rough running and backfiring...looking for pointers

OK, I hope you guys can give me some pointers on what to check now...

After staring at the SEL for better part of a year, time and finances finally allowed me to deal with it (thanks again to pccitizen), in the last few months before this repair it has begun to run quite roughly when weather is damp. Progressing to backfiring on acceleration and shuddering. Wasn't sure if this behavior had anything to do with the 701 and 704 codes from the SEL, so first step was doing that repair....it didn't fix the issue...still running rough and backfiring.

So, my next thought was the ignition wires and plugs. I got a set of wires from Ford, some new plugs and did that tonight....still no improvement...runs rough and backfires on acceleration...shudders and stumbles when sitting at a stop light.

The SEL has not come back on, so thats one plus....:)

2002 3.8L

Check the EGR port, you may need to clean them if they're dirty.
The 701 & 704 codes are related to the transmission circuit system, it have nothing to do with your problem.

It's not SEL, it's CEL. It's confusing.

Well, solved this issue. I strongly suspected the ignition coil pack and read up on the various checks that could be done on it with a meter, but also read that some coil packs checked out ok with meter, but still ended up being the culprit in a situation like mine. So I took the $80 gamble and got a replacement coil pack and presto! problem is gone! The CEL was starting to flash and was hoping that no damage to the cat occurred...but all seems to be running fine now.

Glad it worked out for you and thanks for posting back to put closure to the problem you were having. This creates good data for future problems and symptoms others may experience in the future.