who killed cylinder 6?
01-20-2009, 11:24 AM
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who killed cylinder 6? ok, this is a long story. first, i got my ses engine light on and i didn't really mind it because it would come on a couples days and go off for a couple months from time to time. anyways, it stayed in for longer than usual but i was in between jobs and moving so i let it go for a couple weeks. when i finally got to pull the codes i got random engine missfire, coil 5 pri/sec open, banks 1 and 2 rich, and something about fuel vapor or something. anyways, i got a new gas cap and it got rid of the last one, i changed my fuel filter and got the injectors flushed and that cured the fuel rich code. after all of that i replaced my plugs.
this is where it gets sticky. first of all this is the first time i've ever done my plugs and second i made the mistake of going to autozone to get the equipment. so i'm at the counter with my gapping tool and wires(just in case); and i tell the lady at the counter i need some plugs and i tell her the make and model ('00 trans am). she gets me the plugs and says "these are pregapped plugs so you don't need the gapping tool (they were bosch platinum plus, not pre-gapped; as opposed to bosch 2 plus or 4, pre-gapped). being the inexperienced mechanic i am i take her word for it and put the gap tool back and take the plugs. also, i ask about spark plug anti-sieze compound and they give me something white, in a tube, and being inexperienced i take the gooey white stuff and leave. i find out the plugs aren't pre-gapped after i get them all in the car, which is a pain in the dick hole, by how much worse the missfiring got and by the fact that if i step on the gas a little i hear popping from the horrific amount of unburnt fuel (this also being due to the fact that the anti-sieze compound that was supposed to be for spark plugs actually wasn't. the compound i was given had insulating properties so my plugs weren't even getting a good spark). i decided that doing the plugs twice so close together in time was out of the question so i take the car to a mechanic and that's where i find out the anti-sieze compound was insulating. the mechanic regapped the plugs and claims to have cleaned out the threads in the engine and on the plugs. the owner of the shop tells me the mechanic still felt a "little" jumping when accelerating. i take the car home and it felt worse than before i took it in. i take the car home and check the codes and now i have random missfire and B+ open circuit. i also find out that cyl 6 is missfireing a **** tone and so is 5. in no longer than 10 mins of idle 6 had 6000+ recorded missfires and 5 had 1000+. from my understanding a drastic condition causing 6 to missfire heavily or be dead will affect 5 due to firing order. so i swap the plug wires with cyl 3 and the missfires don't move. i swap the coil with cyl 4 and the condition doesn't move. i test for continuity for the wire and it matches cyl 4 and i check resistance of injector and it reads 14 ohms(normal). i was already told to check for vacuum leaks and bad vacuum hoses, most likely around cyl 6 and i plan on pulling cyl 6s plug to make sure they didn't forget to clean that plug and engine threads. i was wondering:
1) does anyone have a pic pointing out locations of the vacuum hoses or have a good description of where they are?
2) what else should i look into if there are no leaks and no insulating compound?
thank you for your time and hopefully for your help.
this is where it gets sticky. first of all this is the first time i've ever done my plugs and second i made the mistake of going to autozone to get the equipment. so i'm at the counter with my gapping tool and wires(just in case); and i tell the lady at the counter i need some plugs and i tell her the make and model ('00 trans am). she gets me the plugs and says "these are pregapped plugs so you don't need the gapping tool (they were bosch platinum plus, not pre-gapped; as opposed to bosch 2 plus or 4, pre-gapped). being the inexperienced mechanic i am i take her word for it and put the gap tool back and take the plugs. also, i ask about spark plug anti-sieze compound and they give me something white, in a tube, and being inexperienced i take the gooey white stuff and leave. i find out the plugs aren't pre-gapped after i get them all in the car, which is a pain in the dick hole, by how much worse the missfiring got and by the fact that if i step on the gas a little i hear popping from the horrific amount of unburnt fuel (this also being due to the fact that the anti-sieze compound that was supposed to be for spark plugs actually wasn't. the compound i was given had insulating properties so my plugs weren't even getting a good spark). i decided that doing the plugs twice so close together in time was out of the question so i take the car to a mechanic and that's where i find out the anti-sieze compound was insulating. the mechanic regapped the plugs and claims to have cleaned out the threads in the engine and on the plugs. the owner of the shop tells me the mechanic still felt a "little" jumping when accelerating. i take the car home and it felt worse than before i took it in. i take the car home and check the codes and now i have random missfire and B+ open circuit. i also find out that cyl 6 is missfireing a **** tone and so is 5. in no longer than 10 mins of idle 6 had 6000+ recorded missfires and 5 had 1000+. from my understanding a drastic condition causing 6 to missfire heavily or be dead will affect 5 due to firing order. so i swap the plug wires with cyl 3 and the missfires don't move. i swap the coil with cyl 4 and the condition doesn't move. i test for continuity for the wire and it matches cyl 4 and i check resistance of injector and it reads 14 ohms(normal). i was already told to check for vacuum leaks and bad vacuum hoses, most likely around cyl 6 and i plan on pulling cyl 6s plug to make sure they didn't forget to clean that plug and engine threads. i was wondering:
1) does anyone have a pic pointing out locations of the vacuum hoses or have a good description of where they are?
2) what else should i look into if there are no leaks and no insulating compound?
thank you for your time and hopefully for your help.
01-20-2009, 01:33 PM
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Easy, it sounds like the threads are still full of insulating compound. Just pull #6 plug and clean the threads. The spark plugs must ground themselves to be able to fire...
Shane
Shane
01-21-2009, 11:46 AM
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because i don't quite trust this mechanic yet. the only reason why i took it there in the first place is because i just changed the plugs and i didn't want to do it again until the next time i have to replace my plugs with new ones.
