redsoxfan2010

okay i drive a 3.8L with 68K on it. i started to notice that id have to push harder on the accelerator to get it goin i find myself feeling like i have to try to push it along the "maintenance soon" light is blinking so i ran the codes (cylinder 1 misfire). so i replaced the sparkplugs the old ones looked fine, the wires look fine i pulled them off cleaned them put them back on, no luck. the only other 2 things i can think of is either the coils or the fuel injectors, but the mustang has a coil pack so iif it was the coils the whole system would fail not just one cylinder right?? can anyone help? i would really appreciate it.

Thanks
-Andrew-

karman

One more thing to remember:
Wires can "look good" and still not transmit the power correctly.
You need to check the wire electrically, not just look at it.

redsoxfan2010

haha thanks i didnt do tht wen i looked at it i checked to make sure tht the wire wasn't worn through to check for a short if there was one, what would i use to check it electrically??

karman

I would use an ohmmeter.
All the wires should give readings in a similar range.
But I would probably just put on a new set of wires at 68K mi. anyway.
When doing so I would start with the misfiring cylinder first and see if it solves the problem.
That way you have new wires and an answer whether it is the problem for sure.

07S197

I agree. Besides the car is 9 years old, time and heat have a major effect on plug wires.

Does it have 68K or 168K mi. on it?

You can get them for about $30 at Autozone.

redsoxfan2010

its got 68,000 miles on it i bought it at 64,000 miles. im just hoping that its not the fuel injectors, ill pick up a set of wires tomorrow and give them a shot

redsoxfan2010

okay well i replaced the wires and the engine is still misfiring im starting to think its the fuel injectors now because the spark plugs and the wires made no difference, if anyone has any other suggestions or even how i should go about doing this id appreciate it

07S197

What is making you think it is a fuel injector?

Is that the same code you were getting before you replaced the spark plugs? Did you check the gap on all of the plugs to make sure it was correct?

karman

Good question.
Is it the same code as before?

redsoxfan2010

yes its the same code, cylinder 1 misfire, and when i replaced the plugs my girlfriends dad checked the gap and he said they where fine but i replaced them anyways just to make sure because they would need replacing soon anyways same as the wires

karman

Congrats on the new wires. You should do that anyway at that mileage.
I don't know how difficult those injectors are to remove.
I have never worked on that engine.
The next cheap step is usually to remove the #1 injector and switch with another.
If the code still comes up for #1 cylinder, then it is probably not the injector.
If it comes up as the cylinder you put the old #1 into, it is probably that injector.

redsoxfan2010

now i need to figure out how to get to that injector

07S197

Go to Autozone and pick up a service manual for the car, it should cost you about $25 but will be worth having a book to explain how to do the job the right way.

redsoxfan2010

ill stop by tomorrow to pick one up i didnt think of that thanks

07S197

You are positive it is not a plug? Maybe a bad/broken one, did you try swapping the plug with another? And you already tried swapping the wire for cyl 1 with another cyl?

Who is checking the trouble code for you? Does the check engine light flash when you are driving the car?

redsoxfan2010

i did swap the plugs before i replaced them and i switched wires too, i got the codes from auto zone, and yeah it flashes a lot sometimes it does sometimes it doesn't

redsoxfan2010

Okay its fixed it was the coil pack I gave up took it to bouchard's automotive garage in middleton, he was great I would recommend him to anyone i asked him to just diagnose the problem I told him what I had done and asked him if he could figure it out and tell me what it would cost to fix it...a few hours later he told me with labor + parts were going to run about $203, i told him ok, i show up a few hours later, and he had the part all done the car worked again, and the codes were cleared, he only charged me for the part which at auto zone in reading would've charged me $79.99, he charged me $84.38, the one catch he had was he found out that I'm co-president of my high school's Auto Club(his son goes to the same school as me), and i would have to send him business, which is not a problem due to the fact that it is my job to find good mechanics/cars/parts for new drivers at the school. bottom line i got a great price from a great mechanic and my cars perfect once again

karman

Glad to hear you have fixed the problem.

07S197

Sounds good!

Overtheft

i did some work on an explorer with the same problem not to long ago and can almost guarantee that it's the coil pack... best way to check is to pull the plug while the car is on and see what color the spark is coming from the plug... if its blue then it is more than likely to not be it... but i can almost guarantee its the coil pack... change it and see... part isn't that expensive and you'll be surprised...