SPDEMON

SO I've been trying to figure out this issue on my T/A lately:

sometimes the car bucks like its missing or something, and its a intermitent-not all the time thing, mostly when I go uphill. Sometimes it won't do it at all.

So today (after driving the car a few times, like 8 or 10 times over the course of a month or so) I put the car on the lift and found a plug wire was burnt to hell on a header primary (burnt thru the outer coating and arcing on the woven inner core)

SO looks like I found the problem.

BUT.....
The real reason i put the car on the lift is because it started to sound like I had a valvetrain issue or a knock in the motor. It sounded fine until around 2500 rpms or so, then sounded very similiar to an exhaust leak, stuck lifter, or a rod knock. Not the high pitch of the exhaust leak, but a strange sound I am unfamiliar with.

Took it to my shop to change the oil and inspect, and found the wire damaged.

I hope this is the whole issue.

Could this have damaged my BRAND NEW MSD OPTI?

Could I have damaged the valvetrain or motor from this problem?

The spark plug from that hole looked pretty good.

I'm spooked, and would have identified the issue earlier, but have been too busy to get under the car, plus I don't drive it that much. I had to come home and dig up my old wire set, so I need to wait until tomarrow to put it back together.

Thanks in advance for your help.

rufrntn

i had the same issue with the wire except it was shorting on the engine. was like this for about three weeks of daily driving and i noticed the same symptoms as you did. i don't have any funny noises under my hood.

SPDEMON

So, you put a new wire on it, which fixed it and that was it?

SPDEMON

Well, for those of you who care, I replaced the wire, and as far as I can tell, the bucking disappeared.

However, the underhood noise continues, and is getting worse. I took it over to a friends shop and he seems to think it is a broken valve spring.

Doesn't surprise me at all considering i got over 60k miles out of this setup with 1.6 rockers and the CC306 cam.

Gonna pull the valve covers over the weekend and see what I find.

ss.slp.ls1

iTrader: (36)

No permanent damage should have been caused form a burnt wire. I would double check that all of your header bolts are nice and tight. Also popping off the valve covers is a good idea.

SPDEMON

Checked all the header bolts first thing and couldn't get more than a 1/4 turn out of any of them. They were nice and tight.

The noise sounds like valvetrain for sure, could be something in the rotating assembly, don't know yet.

I am not saying the issue was caused by the plug witre either, could be just normal wear and tear, considering how I drive the thing.