Cannot Locate Engine Miss....

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

2004 Taurus SEL with 3.0 Duratec. 100,000 miles.

Around 3 weeks ago my check engine light came on. I do have the Torque (Pro) app which I use with this OBDII tester:

http://www.amazon.com/AGPtek®-Blueto...cm_rdp_product


It gave me a code which said that one of my coils (on spark plug) was bad. It was the #2 by the firewall. I read where these coils go bad quicker because of the added heat. It was a pain but I did replace it, and also bought two new EGR gaskets. I reset the check engine light but it was still running rough under load. So I went and replaced all of the spark plugs. Runs better but there is still a miss somewhere.

Is it possible to check the other two coils with either a meter or my OBDII tester to see if they are good? I'm very low on funds and they are kind of pricey so I don't want to just experiment by replacing them if it won't fix the problem. At first I though I just replaced the wrong coil, but it was the #2 coil, and since there is only 3 coils back there I figured it had to be the one in the middle. I could not find a numbered engine layout. Plus another symptom is that it is now getting really bad gas milage.

No other check engine light codes have popped up. What is the best way to trace this 'miss' down? Thanks.

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

Quick Update:

I just pulled one of the new spark plugs that I put in the day before yesterday. It looks unused! I mean like it never fired at all. There is no smell of gas or anything on the plug. It's as if I took it out of the box, installed it, and removed it without starting the engine. Only thing is I HAVE been driving the care a little for the past couple of days. The other plugs looks new but used. So other than the fact that it kind of narrows down where the miss probably is coming from, what does this tell me and what should I check first? Bad plug? Coil? What would I use to check it?

[tempfixit]

Originally Posted by MyTaurus8AChevy

Quick Update:

I just pulled one of the new spark plugs that I put in the day before yesterday. It looks unused! I mean like it never fired at all. There is no smell of gas or anything on the plug. It's as if I took it out of the box, installed it, and removed it without starting the engine. Only thing is I HAVE been driving the care a little for the past couple of days. The other plugs looks new but used. So other than the fact that it kind of narrows down where the miss probably is coming from, what does this tell me and what should I check first? Bad plug? Coil? What would I use to check it?

Have you tried moving plug to different clyinder??

You could also remove spark plug and install in plug wire, ground and see it has spark, (Make sure it is grounded)

You could also take one of the old spark plugs and attach to wire and ground to see if you have spark from coil.

Have you tried listening to injector with a long screwdriver if possible to see if it sounds like the others to make sure it is working?

Check this link out:

http://www.taurusclub.com/forum/82-m...-misfires.html