firing issues (SOLVED)

[jelkins]

so i have a couple of problems that might be tied to eachother im going to start at the beginning.....
ok so i bought an engine from the local pull a part and had it in, in less than eight hours started right up good great! i was happy considering the fact that it was a shot in the dark. now the problems there is a loud ticking on the passenger side a local mech i talked to said it was just a lifter cool no problem ok it also has a very noticable miss so what i did was sprayed some starter fluid around all the vacuume lines and upper intake there wasnt any noticable changes so im guessing that its not a vacuume leak so i started to pull spark plug wires i started at cyl 6,5,4,3,2,1
in cyl 6 and 5 there wasn't any noticable change but there was spark to the plugs for sure and one by one the rest of the plugs bout killed the engine which leaves me to believe that i have a problem between 5 & 6 so that being said could it be a fuel problem??? where do i start. i can change out parts and engines all day but when it comes to troubleshooting ya im more of a generator mech/ networking guy lol any help is great.

first idea was to take the whole upper and lower intake from the old engine w/ injectors i know that are good and just swap them out, and see if the injectors are my problem. my issues are more with the electrical side.
(my reasoning i painted the upper and lower intake black, block and heads black, motor mounts red valve covers red pully's red and the oil pan red, just need to put the painted intake and fuel rail in with the old injectors)

my plans are the get this motor running good enough to drive for now as soon as taxes roll around im going to rebuild the old engine in which my piston rings were bad on. like the works block and heads new every thing just have to wait on the money

 

[wood1]

I would pull the plugs to have a look at them. They could be fouled. If they are OK I would then check the compression on those cylinders. Start with the basics and move on from there.

 

[jelkins]

hey wood1 thanks for the reply so this is what i did at lunch i took my probe tester and poked around in the injector wires i got a light so i know im getting voltage /pulse there. then i did what i said i was going to do minus the lower intake i pulled the fuel rail off w/injectors and replaced with a rail and a set of injectors i know were good put it all back together and now cyl 6 is firing and 5 4 are not??? am i missing something it seems like it. just dont know what. tomorrow if i get time i will do the compression test and the plugs are brand new just put them in a week ago and only drove it twice.
thanks in advance

 

[wood1]

same coil, plugs and wires I am guessing?

a noid light plugs into the harness and checks that the injector is getting power to open, I would still do the compression check.

If your wires are questionable, you can spray them with a water/salt solution and (in the dark) they will give you a nice light show if they are grounding out. Maybe when you put your wires back on you mixed them up a little and that is why 4 and 5 are problems now where 5 and 6 were before?

 

[jelkins]

well i never unhooked the wires except 1 at a time and when i pulled the engine and any do it your selfer would never do a big job without a manual (chilton) the coil pack isnt but maybe 5 months old same with, plugs are brand new. i checked the spark at the bottom where the boot hooks to the plug. i guess i could pull the plug again and see if the spark is getting to the bottom of the plug but unless the plug is bad its self it dont make any sense. im going to talk with my mech friend tonight and see what he thinks about it and this weekend i plan to do the compression test im not going to have time tonight. thanks

 

[jelkins]

this is your post on a different thread can you explain this a little more and would it explain anything about my issue??


"When you changed the #5 spark plug, what did it look like? For whatever reason, it seems that problems with the intake manifold gasket on these tend to hit the #5 cylinder hardest. If the #5 spark plug is getting fouled (oil or coolant), have a look at torquing the manifold bolts.

Good advice, I had that very issue when I first bought my ex."

 

[wood1]

Ex 4.0 L OHV engines are very well known for the lower intake manifold bolts loosening off. They typically use oil and coolant, as well this will foul plug #5 usually.

When I first bought my Ex, it was using about a litre (quart) of oil every 1000 kms/600ish miles, and some coolant as well. I discovered a thread that mentioned the loose bolts, sure enough my bolts were loose, some almost no tighter than finger-tight. Barrs Stop Leak and tightening the lower intake manifold improved the coolant usage issue and I now use a normal 1 quart of oil per oil change.

I was pretty good with keeping on top of watching the coolant level but last year I messed up and it got low. This caused the engine to get a bit hot, causing the tranny to overheat, causing most of the tranny fluid to puke out the front seal... Topped up the coolant, topped up the tranny fluid and haven't had any problems with the tranny since. A couple months ago I finally replaced the lower intake gaskets and that fixed my coolant loss problem. There was an obvious break in a coolant passage gasket. I still threw in a can of Barrs, it has water pump lubricant and other good stuff in it to keep the coolant system healthy. I still have my original water pump so it may have helped...

As you have replaced your lower intake I would imagine you don't have this problem. I would check the plugs though. Once you do the compression check you will probably have a better idea what is going on. Hope it is just a fouled plug or two. Do the wires check in the dark too. I think I checked them like you did (pulling them off the plug) back in the day and burned a hole through one... going by memory and that's not necessarily a good thing with me...

 

[jelkins]

well i havent replaced the lower intake yet i just swaped the fuel rail, upper intake and injectors yesterday just to see if the injectors were the problem but after i check the compression and for ***** and giggles i will check the wires like you said im going to swap the the lower intake and replace all the gaskets incolved. i dont think that the plugs are fowled but im sure when i pull them out i will find out. i just dont understand how my problems have just switched cylinders or maybe it could just be the gaskets cause i used the old gaskets when i threw it back together so i will test that theory i just didnt want to spend the 60$ on new gaskets put them on and have to take it all apart again so i will test that theory too. thanks for your help i have had a whole lot of views but no one has any input. so thank you very much

 

[jelkins]

alright wood1 im going to start by saying im a bone head. tonight i was surfing the forums and ran across one about the firing order and need less to say i solved my issue by simply going back over the firing order. i had the wires for 5 and 6 switched once i swapped those 2 out it was almost like angels singing in my ear but then i realized it was the sound of a ticked off lifter going crazy so now on to that issue. i appreciate all of your help and if you have any tips you would like to give on fixing my lifter issues fill free to continue on with this post thanks again!

 

[wood1]

Hey man, no problem. Just glad you are good to go. Check your lower manifold bolts for kicks. Let me know if I can help you with anything else.

As far as the ticking lifter, it's usually a worn rocker. Find the worst one and replace it. These engines suffer from not enough oil at the rockers. Good news is that they just keep on running regardless. I bought a couple rockers but haven't bothered. It's been ticking since I bought it.