misfire

[tampa]

96 escort 1.9L automatic. 2nd time a code has come up saying #1 cylinder is misfiring. It's not all the time and not horrible. Seems to be worse when warm. Any suggestions on how to narrow it down. Fuel or electrical?

[denisond3]

How long has it been since you replaced the spark plugs, and possibly the spark plug wires? That would be my first move (also the least expensive.) The plugs should all be dry and a light beige in color. There can be oily mess on the upper part of the plug - in the spark plug tube - but the working face at the bottom oof the spark plugs should not be wet or slimy. Tell us what they look like if you can.

[tampa]

They all looked good but I had replaced the plugs anyway. Ohmed out the plug wire and it checked good. All connections good. I know the plug wire could still be breaking down. Think my next move will be to swap plug wires and see if the problem moves. Thanks

[mightymoose_22]

Could have something to do with the fuel injector too... run a cleaner through there once in awhile.
Swapping wires is an easy check... it isn't terribly difficult to swap injectors too... just be careful with o-rings. Could also be a timing issue... is the belt old? worn maybe?

[carlos80]

Originally Posted by mightymoose_22

Could have something to do with the fuel injector too... run a cleaner through there once in awhile.
Swapping wires is an easy check... it isn't terribly difficult to swap injectors too... just be careful with o-rings. Could also be a timing issue... is the belt old? worn maybe?

Don't scare the guy. he said only cyl 1 misses, so i'd be kind of hard for that to be a timing problem. Timing problems would affect all cylinders.

[mightymoose_22]

There you go making sense... didn't anyone ever warn you about that?

[tampa]

Wife runs a cleaner through it pretty regular. She learned that on her tracer (1.9L). Had over 300,000 on it when we got rid of it. That's why I like the engine. And thats where I learned about timing belts (3 or 4 on her old car and 2 on mine). Not that hard. Just takes me a little time. Never thought about swapping injectors. Guess it's time to read up on it. I've never done it on our cars. Thanks guys.

[carlos80]

Originally Posted by mightymoose_22

There you go making sense... didn't anyone ever warn you about that?

can you elaborate?

[mightymoose_22]

I was just being a dork :P