Plug/wire fiasco. Need help ASAP

[SupraSeth94]

Well, yesterday I decided to change the plugs and wires on my 98 mountaineer AWD 5.0... what a mistake. To make a long story short, it took me 3 auto parts stores and 4 sets of wires to find some that fit over those stupid stock heat shields/sleeves. Finally, in my quest to find a set of wires that fit, I hastily ripped the last set off to return them but did so without making a diagram (stupid move, I know). I then spent the good deal of today trying all the different wiring schemes that I found on the internet, none seem to work. The one that runs best was the diagram I found on these forums, which coincide with the labels on the coil towers. My problem is that the car still runs like crap. To make it worse, after trying the Autozone wiring scheme, the car sorta let out a wierd noise, smelled like something was burnt and now, even with the better wiring scheme the car smokes from the passenger side manifold, right near what looks to be an EGR. Please give me any suggestions on what to do. BTW, the plug gaps have been checked and the MAF plug is in. I did have it unplugged to make room during the install but now its back in place. Could unplugging the MAF have done something? I tried disconnecting the battery for a minute in hopes that the ECU would reset and unplugging the MAF was the problem.
Who would have thought a job that should have taken 2 minutes would have turned into this. :fire: The car feels like the wiring is off but I have checked it over and over. HELP!

 

[section525]

Is this how you have it?

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131395

If you started it up and it made a loud metallic bang sound.. that means you have some wires crossed. Make sure all the wires are secure on the plugs and the coil packs too! Good luck!

 

[SupraSeth94]

Yup, thats exactly what I used. I just don't get it though since it matches up with the coil posts on the car too. If it makes a difference, I thought it was different before I touched it.

 

[CDW6212R]

Do you have any of the original wires left? You can swap one wire at a time, and possibly find a bad wire.

How rough did it run, and for how long? Spark plugs can become fouled very quickly. You may need to swap plugs also, if a fouled plug is indicated. Good luck,

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

I agree with what's been said already - removed the plugs and check for fouling or damage. If they're good, replace each wire one by one. I've crossed them before, it's an easy mistake to make.

-Aaron

 

[CDW6212R]

I wish the coil towers were marked, I can handle a firing order. The two towers arew supposed to be the same. Why isn't the firing pattern the same for each also?

 

[exploded99]

That is the wiring diagram I show - should be correct.

Try disconnecting the battery for about 20 minutes. That is enough time to force a computer rest. One or two minutes probably isn't enough.

Did you accidently knock off one of the small hoses that go to the dpfe sensor? They are at the back of the passenger side manifold. There is a metal pipe that runs from your exhaust manifold to your egr valve. Towards the back of the pipe, near the EGR, are two small hoses. Thay fit on two nipples on the pipe, and run to the back of your intake manifold.

The two hoses are different sizes. Match the hose size to the nipple size if they both got knocked off. The engine light will go on if these hoses are off and you drive the vehicle. Which means a 20 minute battery disconnect to clear the light and the codes.....

Fix the hoses, do the reset, and post back if you still got problems.

 

[SupraSeth94]

Thanks for the responses guys, heres where I am.
The smoke... I'm an idiot and forgot that I had just changed my oil and that area is right over the oil fill area.
I also decided to just take the car around the block and see how it felt. It drives fine and idles ok, but the idle is slightly rougher than before the install (no longer seems like firing order is off though). To top it off, the idle surges, going from nearly 1500 RPM back down to the point where it wants to die (what it was doing before and likely the reason I thought the order was off). Any suggestions as to what I could have done?

 

[section525]

You didn't mess with the air intake at all, right? Did you unplug one of the sensors to run the wires?

 

[SupraSeth94]

Nope, didin't mess with the intake and the only sensor I remember unplugging was the MAF which I plugged back in.

 

[SupraSeth94]

Thanks for your last post. It made me go recheck and it seems I knocked off a vacume line right near where the driver side wires run. Its the line right under the manifold that almost looks like a sparkplug wire boot. Thanks guys.

 

[section525]

So all is back to normal??

 

[SupraSeth94]

Yup, it's always the stupid little stuff that drives you crazy. I just spent a year chasing a bad ground on my other car too... at least this was a quicker fix.
I'm sure glad I found these forums though, thanks for the help guys.