I have repeating misfires in cylinder 2 and a misfire in first 1000 rpms and can no longer go over 45 mph. Came out of nowhere.

140

Asked by ajc87 Nov 14, 2015 at 03:13 PM about the 2003 Mercury Sable LS Premium Sedan FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I had the same problem 6 months ago. Then had plugs, wires, and
coil pack changed. The coil pack had a crack in it. It never misfired
again while i was driving, but always misfired when in idle. The
misfire in idle didnt seem to be a big problem, and it ran great
otherwise, so i planned to leave it until i could afford to fix it. About
a week ago while driving in the rain, my car repeatedly misfired. I
began losing power. I ended up getting the car home, but by the
time i got there, my car didnt wanna go above 45 mph. Its engine is
louder now. And the exhaust has more of a blub blub blub sound to
it. Theres no way it can be driven right now and its my work car.
Anyone have a clue what it could be? Btw i took the intake manifold
off so that i could inspect the plugs and coil pack. There was a very
small ammount of oil on the plugs. I would greatly appreciate any
help. Im going to lose my mind if i dont figure this out. I still owe
$2000 on this car

4 Answers

13,065

If the problem started up again during a rain, I would suspect either the coil again or even some bad wires. Have you checked all the wire connections, possibly they were not tightly in place and have worked their way even looser allowing moisture to severely affect the spark. When you took the manifold off, did you clean it well with spray cleaner and also clean the EGR valve and any accessible passages? A small amount of oil really shouldn't be causing the problems you have described as it should still spark and run but should burn the oil off possibly showing as some blue smoke out of the exhaust. Start by having the car checked for any stored memory trouble codes and then post here again with the results & I can attempt to help you more. Right now I am very short on time but wanted to get you started in the right direction. It could also be a bad knock sensor or other type sensor like crank or cam sending false readings, and not every problem will turn the check engine light on, no matter waht others may tell you.

140

Thanks for the help. Both crank and cam sensors are new. But i went out last night and exchanged my coil for a new. Im know very little about cars, but based on my own research that was also my thoughts. Im going to put the new one on and ill report back with the results. Thanks again

2 people found this helpful.
13,065

NP, but just so you know, just because the 2 sensors are new, it does not mean they are functioning as they should be. Point of info for you, experience has taught me that products are pulled at random during runs and tested, but not every new part made is tested and on more than one occasion I have been the owner of brand new non-working or non-fitting parts of many varieties, like having 2 brand new parts from the same manufacturer with identical part numbers stamped on them, purchased from the same store at the same time, but they were made in 2 different countries and were 2 completely different lengths. With sensors, one example is a some different types of sensors come with a paper spacer glued to the metal end that goes into a housing, and when the vehicle is run after the install, the paper spacer gets removed by the moving part it is supposed to sense. If the paper spacer is not there or has been accidentally removed or fallen off before installation, the sensor may not work or can send faulty readings because of improper spacing.

140

Thanks for the info, that wouldnt have even crossed my mind. BUT I think i may have figured out the problem. I put in the new coil and started it up... Ran like total shit. I told a buddy of mine about it (hes pretty knowledgeable with cars). I mentioned that one of the bolts on the manifold was broke off and stuck in the lower manifold, so i couldnt tighten that one down. I also said that the lower and upper manifold didnt appear to be totally together. Like there seemed to be a small gap and i wasnt sure if that was normal. He told me that was my problem. And that my manifold is likely warped and that might explain the idle being messed up the whole time ive had it. And the problems in the rain (it wasnt ALWAYS bad in the rain, but both big problems ive had started in the rain). He suggested i buy a new lower and upper manifold and replace it. He seems very confident thats my problem. Id like a second opinion though before i order it

3 people found this helpful.

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