[Colt Hero]

Car started stumbling again (now at 158k) with the flashing SERVICE ENGINE SOON light, so I assumed it was the next plug failure (#2-#6) and I would finally get around to replacing the remaining plugs and wires. Pulled the code(s) to find that it was the #1 plug that failed AGAIN (P0301)!

Haven't touched anything yet, as the car is still driving reasonably well and I can't do anything until tomorrow at the earliest anyway. It stumbles after take-off at about the 2-mile mark for only a short while, then the SES light starts flashing, then it stabilizes (the light stays on because I've got lean codes I've been living with for two years or so ... 1131, 430, 133 - they're listed above, I believe).

So what do I do? The plug (Motorcraft OEM) and the wire (Autozone) on #1 were both installed new in October '07 (11k miles ago). Pull the plug and see what it looks like? Or put a (new) #2 wire on the #1 plug (it's still in the box) to eliminate the wire as an issue? Or can I somehow quickly prove it's the coil box (which is probably the easiest thing to work on since it's right out in the open)?

One other fairly new development. The car seems to be losing coolant. And there have been days where I've pulled into the driveway and gotten out of the car to go into the house and caught a whiff outside the car. Could this be related? Maybe the engine is running a little hotter than normal? I added two quarts of 50/50 coolant this morning into the degas bottle before leaving for work (which overfilled it to the HOT line, but if it's losing coolant, who cares - right?). I just did an intake manifold job on my Impala. Could I be headed for the same thing with the Taurus (or worse - a head gasket job??). I don't see any white smoke out the tailpipe and the temp gauge is ALWAYS midscale - it's ALWAYS in this spot. Makes me wonder if it's really measuring coolant temperature properly....