2nd cyclinder not firing. help me.

[hellya5029]

i have a 99 explorer xlt with the 4.0. my check engine light came on today so my neighbor checked the code and my 2nd cycinder is not firing. what should i do? will it hurt to drive it to school tomorrow? any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[shucker1]

Not a good idea to drive it.

I just lost a rod bearing for that same reason. My son rode around on a dead cylinder for a few days before telling me. If the plug is bad and the injector continues to fire the fuel has to go somewhere.

Either out the tail pipe or past the rings where it will thin out the oil. Loss of lubrication with the thin oil could cause bearing failure.

Change the plug first and see what happens.

If you really have to use it be easy and don't run long.

 

[hellya5029]

well i just got plugs and wires, gotta check the gaping tho

 

[hellya5029]

Well I just got don't changing the plugs and wires, and it still feels like its not firing. The check engine light is no longer on however. Any suggestions?

 

[shucker1]

How did the plug look when it came out? Black or brown tip?

Did you neighbor clear the code to make the light go out?

If it was a hard computer code and you solved the problem the light should have not gone out yet on it's own.

 

[hellya5029]

It was dark out but it looked like all the others. I took the car to my school today because we have an auto mech class and we checkeed the spark and its good. The neighbor did reset the code. I got injectors today so I'm gonna put em in tomorrow and see what happens.

 

[shucker1]

In the future the ECM should self clear the light and code if the problem is corrected.

I think it takes about 25 cycles to do this. A cycle being cold run to hot running condition and back again.

Truck still feels like it has a dead miss?

 

[hellya5029]

yea it feels the same as before. but once and a while i can feel it run on all cylinders and it has a little boost of power

 

[matt0248]

check the coompression of that cylinder to make sure it is mechanically sound. Check for vacuum leaks by the intake manifold near the #2 cylinder. Have you tried a new ignition coil?

 

[corkey]

check the oil too for a gassy smell or a brownish color, if it has a gassy smell it needs to be changed,,
if it has a milky brownish color it needs a head gasket,