Lincoln LS 2004 V6 Cynlinder 2 misfire

[danielsatur]

Make sure, it's a consistent misfire on cylinders 1 & 2, befor throwing time & parts at it.

1) Clear & reset code
2) Drive car until you get another DTC.
3) Did you get your HP back?
4) How many miles are on this car?

One Misfire X RPM's + Miles = a Burp

A stickey throttle plate on a new electronic throttle body, or a bad MAF sensor can cause random misfires.

Caution - be careful when cleaning, see Troubleshoot JAG 1589

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=968873

[tlijun]

I have a mechanic replaced the Bank 1 Cylinder #1,2,3 spark plugs and their ignition coins. It has to take out the uppper intake minifolder, but there is no need to replace the uppper intake minifolder gasket. it took about 1 hour 15 minutes for the whole job.

This is a great auto Forum, it gave me a lot of help.

[danielsatur]

Did you have Lincoln service do the repairs, or a backyard technician?

If taking off your Intake, I would of replaced the rubber PCV elbo, see
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=572085

[danothemano]

Hi All,

I can change #1 COP in under 60 seconds without removing the manifold, so I do not understand why the posters here are telling people they have to remove it. I believed what I read so I took off the manifold. Of course the cop went out a year later and I very easily replaced it without removal. Try it, it is a piece of cake.

#2 can also be done, though it is a little tougher. # 3, cannot do that one without removal of the manifold.

[joegr]

Originally Posted by danothemano

Hi All,

I can change #1 COP in under 60 seconds without removing the manifold, so I do not understand why the posters here are telling people they have to remove it. I believed what I read so I took off the manifold. Of course the cop went out a year later and I very easily replaced it without removal. Try it, it is a piece of cake.

#2 can also be done, though it is a little tougher. # 3, cannot do that one without removal of the manifold.

Anytime you replace a defective COP, you must also replace that spark plug. The defective COP could have damaged the plug, or the plug could have a problem (like too wide of a gap or too narrow) that caused the COP to fail and will eventually kill the new COP.

General experience with the LS teaches that when one COP fails, the rest may follow soon. Many replace all the COPs when one fails.

[danothemano]

Originally Posted by joegr

Anytime you replace a defective COP, you must also replace that spark plug. The defective COP could have damaged the plug, or the plug could have a problem (like too wide of a gap or too narrow) that caused the COP to fail and will eventually kill the new COP.

General experience with the LS teaches that when one COP fails, the rest may follow soon. Many replace all the COPs when one fails.

Hmmm. Thanks for that advice. Because I sure seem to be replacing these too often...maybe every 15k. I do believe in replacing them all when I can, but if one goes out and I don't have the time or money to get 6 of them it is nice to know I can reach 5/6. But the plug replacement is another thought. I just ordered 6 motorcraft off ebay for $100 and I guess I will also get plugs. I did them together about 30k ago and that did last for a good while.

These fail altogether too often, though.

[shorod]

When they fail are they dry or do the boots show evidence of oil or moisture? If oil, then you're going to need to change the valve cover gaskets to make this more of a long term fix. Are you actually getting misfire codes for specific cylinders or you just feel an apparent misfire when driving that leads you to suspect coils? With a couple of hose crimp off pliers (so you don't need to drain the cooling system) removing the upper intake manifold to change coils/plugs/valve cover gaskets really isn't that bad of a job.

-Rod

[danielsatur]

The only evidence of moisture, or water contaimination is rust on the spark plug or COP boot.
Make sure use dielectric grease for electrical connections, and sure your COP cover gasket is good.

[danothemano]

I replaced the gasket the first time around when I had wet coils, and that went well. But I have a new problem. Bought 6 NGK Iridium plugs and new motorcraft cops and installed today. Very rough loping idle, short on power and looks like I used gallons of gas in 15 miles. No codes. I am wondering if I could have a plug gap issue. They were set about .030 and it looks like the gap for a 3.0 2004 is .054. Any opinions on whether this gap would cause this issue?

[shorod]

Did you actually measure the gap or estimate it? The electrodes on the iridium plugs are somewhat fragile and generally it's not recommended you gap them. If you actually checked the gap maybe you damaged a plug or two?

I has a set of Iridiums in my 2004 LS V8 with no issues so the standard response of "don't use anything but an OEM style plug" is probably not the case here.

Did you have this idle concern before changing the plugs? Did you remove the upper intake manifold to change the plugs and CoPs? Did you remember to reconnect the vacuum hoses to the Baro sensor on the back of the manifold?

-Rod

[danothemano]

Today, I replaced the plugs with autolites that I properly gapped first to .054. It still bogs down...runs a little rough at idle and is light on power. I was able to drive ok. Went out to the interstate and ran down the highway ok, but it is anemic and a little rough. When I pull the cop wire off 4,5,and 6 they all drop the rpm. Went to the other side and pulled off 1 and it didn't make much difference. Cannot reach 2 and 3. So, where do I go from here. I could have an injector, I guess. I am on a budget so I need to do this as cost consciously as I can. Thanks.

[shorod]

If it seems to not run much different with CoP #1 disconnected, you should have some misfire counts stored in the PCM. If you have access to a scan tool that can pull the Component Parameter information it should tell you if you are looking at an issue with just one cylinder or a few.

When you changed out the spark plugs did those on cylinders 1-3 look different from 4-6?

Knowing the fuel pressure and manifold vacuum would also be beneficial. The electrical systems on these cars are quite sensitive, but since the car seems to still have issues at highways speeds I'm not too concerned that you have a weak battery or charging system.

-Rod

[danothemano]

I'm thinking I have reached an impasse. I have a code puller, but no codes are showing up unless I pull a cop connector. Beyond that, I am about lost. What is the best equipment that a shop would have to tell me what is going on? I could spring for the test and still fix it, if it could be narrowed down. This all started with #3 cop going out...threw the code and I must have messed something up along the way. I have checked and find everything intact, but I must be overlooking something. It acts like one cylinder is misfiring...maybe two.

[danothemano]

Would this help me with determining which cylinder I am dealing with?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ElmSc...motiveQ5fTools

[shorod]

Did you replace the PCV elbow along the way when changing the #3 plug and CoP? If not, you might have repositioned it enough to cause a crack or allow it to collapse. As mentioned earlier, there are other vacuum lines behind the manifold that could easily get forgotten or cracked, possibly even installed incorrectly.

A shop may have a scan tool, such as an OTC Genisys, that will allow them to check misfire counts on individual cylinders, even if the misfire counts are not high enough to trigger a misfire diagnostic code. But, you may want to pick up a vacuum gauge such as this one to help you determine if it's more likely a vacuum leak you're looking for or a cylinder misfire.

I don't have experience with the Elmscan or the various free software that you can use it it to determine if it will access the cylinder misfire counts. It may show up under the "PID Values" but you probably would need to decode any raw data that it would show. I've also read that many of these bargain "Elm" devices sold for reasonable prices don't use authentic ELM327 chips which prevents some software from working with them. Looks like the software that comes with the device above is pretty complete though so that probably wouldn't be a near-term issue.

-Rod