A spot of bother!
Discussion
Been having a problem with the S2 for about a week now, and I though I'd try you guys out to see you had any ideas.
Weekend before last, she was running fine for the first 20 mins then I noticed a slight misfire. This got progressivle worse until I had a hell of a job just keeping the engine running at all. Got one of the lads to look at it and he thought it might be a bit of 'crossfire' over the ignition leads as I had tied them up to neaten things up. We unclipped them all and things 'seemed' ok after a little while, but then it came back.
Sorry this tale is so long but I think I need to provide this background detail....
On getting the car back home all the plugs were wet from unburnt fuel (also plumes of unburnt fuel was comming from the exhaust when running. We dried them all out and checked the compression on each cylinder which was ok and put the plugs back in. She fired up lovely, a little bit of unburnt fuel was comming out, but we figured this was what was in the system. I took her for a spin and she was back to normal. GREAT....
...except that she isn't.... I fired her up this weekend and left her running for a while as she had been stood for a week and was running great, no misfire, no plumes, until the radiator fan kicked in, then all of a sudden, instant misfire and plumes of unburnt petrol.
So it seems that either my fan is suddenly draining too much current so I`m not getting a good enough spark to ingnite the fuel, or my alternator isn't providing enough power, or something else. The voltage was steady on about 13 volts.
So what do you guys reckon???
Thanks in advance for any help/ideas!
Roy.
Weekend before last, she was running fine for the first 20 mins then I noticed a slight misfire. This got progressivle worse until I had a hell of a job just keeping the engine running at all. Got one of the lads to look at it and he thought it might be a bit of 'crossfire' over the ignition leads as I had tied them up to neaten things up. We unclipped them all and things 'seemed' ok after a little while, but then it came back.
Sorry this tale is so long but I think I need to provide this background detail....
On getting the car back home all the plugs were wet from unburnt fuel (also plumes of unburnt fuel was comming from the exhaust when running. We dried them all out and checked the compression on each cylinder which was ok and put the plugs back in. She fired up lovely, a little bit of unburnt fuel was comming out, but we figured this was what was in the system. I took her for a spin and she was back to normal. GREAT....
...except that she isn't.... I fired her up this weekend and left her running for a while as she had been stood for a week and was running great, no misfire, no plumes, until the radiator fan kicked in, then all of a sudden, instant misfire and plumes of unburnt petrol.
So it seems that either my fan is suddenly draining too much current so I`m not getting a good enough spark to ingnite the fuel, or my alternator isn't providing enough power, or something else. The voltage was steady on about 13 volts.
So what do you guys reckon???
Thanks in advance for any help/ideas!
Roy.
The lad that looked at it did remark the the spark was weak. Does it seem then that the weak spark coupled with the extra power drain when the fan kicks in is making the spark too weak to ignite the mixture?
I will be getting some new HT leads soon as part of my extensive engine bay beautification
project. I think I`ll get a nice new chromed coil too then, hopefully this may cure the problem.
Could anything else be causing the problem?
Edited to ask - the dizzy has the guard round it and therefore has some of those resistor things (is that what they are?) between the HT leads and the dizzy cap. Are these needed? Could removing these up my spark a bit? I know I would need to remove the guard
but this is not a problem is it?
Roy.
>> Edited by Rozza!!! on Monday 15th September 17:06
I will be getting some new HT leads soon as part of my extensive engine bay beautification
project. I think I`ll get a nice new chromed coil too then, hopefully this may cure the problem. Could anything else be causing the problem?
Edited to ask - the dizzy has the guard round it and therefore has some of those resistor things (is that what they are?) between the HT leads and the dizzy cap. Are these needed? Could removing these up my spark a bit? I know I would need to remove the guard
but this is not a problem is it?
Roy.
>> Edited by Rozza!!! on Monday 15th September 17:06
Rozza!!! said:
The lad that looked at it did remark the the spark was weak. Does it seem then that the weak spark coupled with the extra power drain when the fan kicks in is making the spark too weak to ignite the mixture?
I will be getting some new HT leads soon as part of my extensive engine bay beautification
Could anything else be causing the problem?
Roy.
Think new HT leads are in order to get the engine running right as opposed to making it look pretty!!!!!!
Rozza!!! said:
But they can do both!!!
Roy.
Can I reccomend the Magnecor Performance leads from ACT. They are very good quality and at a good price. Also come in blue or red. Pretty!!
Pretty much sounds like the leads are on the way out. But new plugs are always a good investment. I used to change mine once a year on the mini. Coil is good also. Actually what I meant to say was replace the lot. That way you'll know that it's not the ignition system. And whichever way you'll have a new ignition system.
Just an update if anyone is interested. It is now looking much more serious a problem. I havent yet replaced my ignition leads, spark plugs, coil, dizzy cap and rotor arm (but will be as I do seem to have a weak spark and this will hopefully cure that), but I have noticed, after running the engine for a little while during trying to find out what the problem was, that there was a milky substance just inside the exhaust. 
Does this point to perhaps a duff head gasket, or duff cylinder head as water and oil may be getting into the cylinders. Or could this substance be caused by something else?
Roy.
Does this point to perhaps a duff head gasket, or duff cylinder head as water and oil may be getting into the cylinders. Or could this substance be caused by something else?
Roy.
Rozza!!! said:
Just an update if anyone is interested. It is now looking much more serious a problem. I havent yet replaced my ignition leads, spark plugs, coil, dizzy cap and rotor arm (but will be as I do seem to have a weak spark and this will hopefully cure that), but I have noticed, after running the engine for a little while during trying to find out what the problem was, that there was a milky substance just inside the exhaust.
Does this point to perhaps a duff head gasket, or duff cylinder head as water and oil may be getting into the cylinders. Or could this substance be caused by something else?
Roy.
Roy, no offence, but why do you want to jump to expensive conclusions.I think you should start at the cheapest remedy i.e.the ignition components if these don't solve the problem move on to the next area.Seems people have suggested the ignition but you have'nt done anything about that as it seems you would rather have a bigger problem!!!!!!!!!!!!
>> Edited by p7ulg on Thursday 25th September 10:07
Rozza!!! said:
the dizzy has the guard round it and therefore has some of those resistor things (is that what they are?) between the HT leads and the dizzy cap. Are these needed? Could removing these up my spark a bit? I know I would need to remove the guard
but this is not a problem is it?
Ford call them "Adapter/Surpressor" (Motorcraft p/n 6081467 - £2.95 each). It should have 7 (6 for the plug leads & 1 for the coil lead).
See www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=11&h=&t=18603
p7ulg said:
Roy, no offence, but why do you want to jump to expensive conclusions.I think you should start at the cheapest remedy i.e.the ignition components if these don't solve the problem move on to the next area.Seems people have suggested the ignition but you have'nt done anything about that as it seems you would rather have a bigger problem!!!!!!!!!!!!
>> Edited by p7ulg on Thursday 25th September 10:07
None taken m8! I was going to change all the ignition stuff (have now got all the required bits), I have just been trying to find out what may be causing the problems while I got the parts (money doesn't flow like it used to). I wouldn't rather have a bigger problem like cracked heads at all, but if I did I would use the opportunity to get some 'extra' work done inside the engine.
Roy.
roy c said:
Ford call them "Adapter/Surpressor" (Motorcraft p/n 6081467 - £2.95 each). It should have 7 (6 for the plug leads & 1 for the coil lead).
See www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=11&h=&t=18603
But do they HAVE to be there??? I've removed them and the shield and it looks much nicer now and the shield no longer rubs on the bulkhead!
Roy.
Another update....
I've replaced the ignition leads, coil, rotor arm and distributor cap and she runs MUCH better BUT... the problem was still there so...
After running a few tests we found that the plumes (of steam) coming out the exhaust was coolant (we tested this by running the engine without the pressure cap on and found that the plumes stopped completely - once the pressure cap was put back on, the plumes started again after a few minutes). We've tested to see if the cooling system is pressurising to see if the head or head gasket had gone, but its ok, thankfully. So we have concluded that it must be the inlet manifold gasket (letting coolant get in through the valves).
Could there be any other explanations??
I intend to strip the top half of the engine down over the next few weeks, will keep you all posted.
Roy.
I've replaced the ignition leads, coil, rotor arm and distributor cap and she runs MUCH better BUT... the problem was still there so...
After running a few tests we found that the plumes (of steam) coming out the exhaust was coolant (we tested this by running the engine without the pressure cap on and found that the plumes stopped completely - once the pressure cap was put back on, the plumes started again after a few minutes). We've tested to see if the cooling system is pressurising to see if the head or head gasket had gone, but its ok, thankfully. So we have concluded that it must be the inlet manifold gasket (letting coolant get in through the valves).
Could there be any other explanations??
I intend to strip the top half of the engine down over the next few weeks, will keep you all posted.
Roy.
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