My new 347

[Dono]

Day 1, code.
Lean bank 1.

Hmmm, missfire. must be. A bad (unplugged) injector pops a missfire on our 5.0's, but thats not the code that came up. Ok, I flipped a couple of plug wires on bank 1. Strange, as I have them clipped together so I cant get them mixxed up.

I checked them all, and they were in the right position and all had a resistance of 1. to .3 k, except 1.

Here's the rest of the story. When I pulled my truck apart, I tore the wire end off a wire at the plug end (NGK). No problem I thought, I have time. I ordered prestolites off rockauto clearance site.

They looked great, but as you can see the resistance is way to high. I 'think' in our waste spark ignition all the energy goes down the wire with the least resistance. That would be a lower resistance NGK firing at exactly the same time as the prestolite.

Short term fuel trims appear the be the same on both banks at about 1, so I'm pretty sure I fixed it.

Moral? Be careful mixing and matching plug wires. Oh, and, a deal isn't necessarily a deal. I seem to have to keep learning that one over and over.

Anyone want some prestolites? Hahaha. They are not even good as spares.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

they are as good as those aurora wires, but only haft the price. i will never buy those again ever.

 

[VR4]

I have never gotten a bad prestolite wire. It does happen though. I've received DOA motorcraft parts.

Read the entire thread. Looks like you're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Hope I don't have so many problems when I do mine

 

[vroomzoomboom]

don, i just remembered i might have spark plug wire ends if you didnt toss that other wire if you want to fix it. that is if its not going to be to short now

 

[Dono]

Im ok on the wire Tim, Thanks though.

VR4, Im sure the prestolite wires are ok, but just installing one is a bad thing. I think the resistance on pairs of the waste spark system need to be a closer match. One of the two wires having a much greater resistance probably caused the spark on the one side to be weak (Again, guessing).

Looks like you're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Hope I don't have so many problems when I do mine

pffft. Tell me about it. No one deserves what I went thru. It was tough to put the motor together and get it running again. I think it was fear of still having issues. So far, no leaks at all. I'll change the oil again this weekend and cut the filter open.

I drove to work today with no codes. Short Term fuel trims looked ok, as I logged on the way to work.

 

[Dono]

Its interesting That now I'm experiencing detonation when I run into boost (4-6lbs).
There has obviously been enough changes to the motor that more tuning is required.

James must pull his hair out with this stuff. Its quite the moving target for him. Tuning wasn't complete, but close. Now things just changed on him

It was a near miss on the highway doing my wot pull today. I ran up to about 85mph, just slowed down, and......there they were. Its tough to find a safe place to hit the gas like that and not have to worry about the added cost of tuning with ticket to take home.

I'm going to add a straight thru muffler (hopefully there's room after the turbo), as my truck is just too loud.

 

[4pointslow]

Spark stuff

Here is some ignition system stuff.
You need voltage to start the current flow.
The heat from the current is what ignites the air/fuel mixture.

Peak KV is the voltage required to get the spark started(measured in kilovolts). Spark duration is how long the spark is jumping the gap(measured in milliseconds).

High resistance in the secondary ignition system means that it is going to take more voltage to get the spark started. If you use up more of the energy in the coil to start the spark, then you wont have much left to keep the spark going(duration is shortened). Since the coil supplies the energy for two spark plugs the duration in both cylinders would be shortened possibly causing misfiring in both of them.

 

[Dono]

Wow, Thanks 4pointslow. I was sort of right. Sort of. Pretty tough to fix something without understanding how it works. I can see how my original thinking wouldn't have made much sense.

My lean bank 1 came back today (No surprise to 4pointslow).

Time to have a look at the plugs. I ended up tearing the wire end off of the plug wire on #3 (yes, another plug wire toast- I'm starting to think it has something to do with the added heat of the headers).
After pulling all plugs, Cylinder 3 plug looked like it hadn't been burning anything. Ah, there it is I thought. The smoking gun.
Up top I wen't with a flashlight. I could clearly see under the intake elbow that the injector wasn't even plugged in (Some of the injector connectors have dried and broken clips, and rather than risk soldering new ends on and disturbing the wiring harness, I left well enough alone). I managed to get my hand in there and plug it in. Easy fix.

Now, back to this broken plug wire. I had an old Ford wire the right length that the old owner left in the back storage exactly for moments like this. The wire measured 1.3k, so I wen't ahead with it.

Motor is smooth as silk now. I guess I was so used to my original motor giving me a massage at idle I didn't think much of the slight shake. Off I wen't for a drive around log and a wot pull log. I emailed them off to James, so hopefully he has a few minutes to have a look, and then a bunch more minutes to massage my current tune.

Oh, and interestingly enough my voltage never dropped below 13v on my wot pull.

I'm so happy this was a minor issue. Tim tells me the taylor wires are really good. I'll have to look around, I know there is an ultimate plug wire thread around here somewhere.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

I'm going to add a straight thru muffler (hopefully there's room after the turbo), as my truck is just too loud.

if its to loud, your too old . that and look at it like this, when your coming home, your neighbors will know well enough to run and hide for cover!

Oh, and interestingly enough my voltage never dropped below 13v on my wot pull.

aaaaaaaand theres a gut punch lol!
i want to say these were the wires i was talking about. when i saw them, they even came with spark plug boot protectors

http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/tay-82623

 

[4pointslow]

datalog

I would love to see a datalog of WOT from a stop, and through all the gears.
When it is safe to do that of course (for the engine and on the road).

If you can get new connectors that are exactly the same as the old ones you can remove the metal terminals from the old and install them in the new. That way you would not have to solder. You could also try a zip tie on there if they continue to fall off.

Quiz of the day:
With one injector unplugged, why didn't the PCM have a misfire code for that cylinder?

 

[Dono]

With one injector unplugged, why didn't the PCM have a misfire code for that cylinder?

That's a very good question.
1. I have had burned plug wires from the headers and never saw a misfire code.
2. I have had an intermittent injector (injector shorting-a new connector soldered on (at some previous time in my Ex's life), and there was a really pointy spot sticking in to the other wire on the injector (That's why I have been reluctant to solder in the rest of the connectors). This would cause a misfire code.
Based on #2 , I really expected a fueling issue to cause a misfire code. I was wrong again. I guess a short on the injector wires will cause a misfire code, but not an 'open'.

I have no answer why the pcm doesn't seem to report misfire codes as we would think it should. My v6 ohv pcm was very good at reporting misfire codes on a particular cylinder right away. I can only guess that the explorer 5.0 pcm is slightly different somehow. Not super helpful, but at least it pointed me in the right direction.

I'll send my datalog over to you. I did one last night and sent it over to Henson Performance.

 

[VR4]

I would love to see a datalog of WOT from a stop, and through all the gears.
When it is safe to do that of course (for the engine and on the road).

If you can get new connectors that are exactly the same as the old ones you can remove the metal terminals from the old and install them in the new. That way you would not have to solder. You could also try a zip tie on there if they continue to fall off.

Quiz of the day:
With one injector unplugged, why didn't the PCM have a misfire code for that cylinder?

His tune might have misfire monitor turned off. My cammed s10 does. Same cam in a stock truck sets a p0300.

 

[CDW6212R]

The best plug wires keep turning out to be Magnecor, but they are still very high, I found $142.37 as the best price.
http://thmotorsports.com/magnecor/magnecor_kv85_competition_85mm_plug_wires/85270/i-401465.aspx

The Motorcraft and Taylor still seem to be the next best, feasible and very good wires. Anything can be yanked apart, the cheaper wires just let go much more often.

The Magnecor wires have the best insulation on them, but laying right next to any header pipe is going to be rough on every wire.

 

[Dono]

Im thinking of trying these:
http://www.amazon.ca/ACCEL-9002C-Ex...F8&qid=1440018362&sr=8-1&keywords=accel+9002C

I already have the proper ends for the coil packs, all I'm missing is the crimper.
Mr. Vroomzoomboom, do you have access to one?

I think with the Canadian dollar being so low, this will be the best bang for my buck with the added bonus of free shipping.

edit: looks like they come with a crimper that you use with a vice.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Im thinking of trying these:
http://www.amazon.ca/ACCEL-9002C-Ex...F8&qid=1440018362&sr=8-1&keywords=accel+9002C

I already have the proper ends for the coil packs, all I'm missing is the crimper.
Mr. Vroomzoomboom, do you have access to one?

I think with the Canadian dollar being so low, this will be the best bang for my buck with the added bonus of free shipping.

edit: looks like they come with a crimper that you use with a vice.

i will check. if joe hasnt gone on vacation, i should be able to get it

 

[Dono]

No rush at all. I havn't even ordered the wires yet.
Besides, as I quit having to screw with them, Im sure they will last much longer.

 

[4pointslow]

Misfires

His tune might have misfire monitor turned off. My cammed s10 does. Same cam in a stock truck sets a p0300.

That is a great answer! There are so many adjustments and software switches in tuning now it can be turned off. Lopey cams would be one reason to modify the misfire monitor's capability's.

I was going for a much more factory standard reason though. It is in the way you drive the vehicle. Part of the "drive cycle."

Here is the way to get the misfire monitor going on a Ford(if it is not turned off in your tune).
From a stop, accelerate to approximately 104 Km/h (65 MPH). Decelerate at closed throttle until approximately 64 Km/h (40 MPH) (no brakes). Repeat this 3 times.

The PCM after it has had its memory erased from battery disconnect, has to go through misfire profile correction. In other words it has to learn the spacing of the teeth on the reluctor wheel (crankshaft trigger wheel). It happens on deceleration but vehicles are not usually driven this way in todays traffic.
Imagine trying to decelerate to 40 mph with someone right behind you. At the least you will be beeped at. lol.

If you can find a way to do it after reattaching the battery, the misfire monitor will be ready to help you with a code for what cylinder is misfiring.

 

[Dono]

Wow, that piece of info should be a sticky.
Your right, who ever doesn't brake at some point slowing down from 65mph to 40mph.

 

[4pointslow]

Explorer drivers

Now we are going to have a bunch of Explorer drivers going up to 65mph and letting off the gas until they hit 40mph.

People are going to think, what is wrong with those Explorer drivers.
I hope they don't classify us with the people that drive Prius's. lol.

 

[4pointslow]

Datalog

Here is a screenshot of the WOT datalog you sent me.
The TPS looks great, and battery voltage is holding above 13 volts.
I also looked at your A/F which seems to stay between 11.1 to 11.5 which is great if you are targeting 11.3 or close to it.