geoffav
New Member
- Joined
- January 15, 2012
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Enterprise, AL
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 07 and 13 Explorers
I'm very new here but have been a mechanic for MANY years. I did a search here about a month ago because I had some rough running and CEL with a misfire on #7. I switched (not replaced) the COPS for #6 and 7 when my wife experienced the rough running and for a week we had no issues. The roughness came back but was very short duration so after checking everything obvious I decided to do some maintenance I had planned. The vehicle had 108K at that point so I knew it needed plugs. Here's what I did:
New air filter (5th filter)
Oil and filter change performed each 3500 miles
Fuel filter (4th filter)
***Spark Plug replacement - for this I referred to my AllData acct for specs, torques, and possible TSBs. Wow, I noticed the TSB for the plugs and decided to have the dealer do the job. $289 was a good deal it seems and they broke 5 of the 8 in the process. The dealer did not charge extra for this and used the opportunity to train some techs on the process.
RESULT - at first it seemed fine but within a day I noticed the fuel odor and increased noise from under the hood. This caused another search on this forum. I found mostly threads about the evap system/canister which seemed possible considering the mileage. Then I get a misfire and rough running on #3. Sure enough this is the COP I marked from the previous issue with #6. They must have been mixed them up when the plugs were changed. The noise and smell continued after the #3 COP was replaced.
RESOLUTION - luckily I stayed skeptical about the evap system being the problem because the next day I found a thread with the same symptoms that made perfect sense. 4 of the 8 plugs were loose!!! On the driver side #7 was slightly loose but 3, 2, and 1 were loose on the passenger side. The noise was heavier on the passenger side. The #2 plug was actually just finger tight. I had been using a torque wrench to essentially RETORQUE them which is how I found the looseness. The #2 felt really strange because when the socket slide over the plug I tried to back my wrench up to check the torque. It was so loose it moved in the ratcheting direction of my click type torque wrench. I also smelled fuel when I pulled the 1, 2, and 3 COPS off.
The engine was already running smooth but now it's even smoother and the noise is gone, only the normal injector sounds remain.
While it makes sense that the maintenance last done might be the problem it was hard for me to believe that the techs failed to torque the plugs. ????
Thanks to those who post problems and solutions here. Perhaps this post will help someone in the future.
New air filter (5th filter)
Oil and filter change performed each 3500 miles
Fuel filter (4th filter)
***Spark Plug replacement - for this I referred to my AllData acct for specs, torques, and possible TSBs. Wow, I noticed the TSB for the plugs and decided to have the dealer do the job. $289 was a good deal it seems and they broke 5 of the 8 in the process. The dealer did not charge extra for this and used the opportunity to train some techs on the process.
RESULT - at first it seemed fine but within a day I noticed the fuel odor and increased noise from under the hood. This caused another search on this forum. I found mostly threads about the evap system/canister which seemed possible considering the mileage. Then I get a misfire and rough running on #3. Sure enough this is the COP I marked from the previous issue with #6. They must have been mixed them up when the plugs were changed. The noise and smell continued after the #3 COP was replaced.
RESOLUTION - luckily I stayed skeptical about the evap system being the problem because the next day I found a thread with the same symptoms that made perfect sense. 4 of the 8 plugs were loose!!! On the driver side #7 was slightly loose but 3, 2, and 1 were loose on the passenger side. The noise was heavier on the passenger side. The #2 plug was actually just finger tight. I had been using a torque wrench to essentially RETORQUE them which is how I found the looseness. The #2 felt really strange because when the socket slide over the plug I tried to back my wrench up to check the torque. It was so loose it moved in the ratcheting direction of my click type torque wrench. I also smelled fuel when I pulled the 1, 2, and 3 COPS off.
The engine was already running smooth but now it's even smoother and the noise is gone, only the normal injector sounds remain.
While it makes sense that the maintenance last done might be the problem it was hard for me to believe that the techs failed to torque the plugs. ????
Thanks to those who post problems and solutions here. Perhaps this post will help someone in the future.
