HELP - Missing and sputtering

[iexcelr8]

HELP - Missing and sputtering:UPDATE and Question

***ORIGINAL POST*********
I have a '96 Cobra 'vert with 63,000 miles on it. It has no mods. Over the past one to two thousand miles it has developed what I can only describe as a miss or sputter. It is very intermittant (but once it starts, it stays that way) and doesn't matter if the engine is cold or hot. What happens is that I'll be driving along and step on the gas to accelerate and the engine just sputters. I still accelerate, but it just sputters up the RPM range. It does it at all throttle positions. I thought it could be my injectors, but I just had those cleaned at Precision Tune and it still happens. The car also passes an emission inspection and does not trip the check engine light. As I said, there are no mods; everything is as it came from the dealer.

***NEW POST***********

I changed plugs and wires, as many people recommended. It idles fine now, but I've yet to road test it to see if the problem recurs. My question is this: when I pulled the #6 plug, it was the only one that had oil on the threads and sidewall of the plug. There was no oil, or sign of oil, on the electrode. What could be causing this oil issue? Head gasket, valve seal, something easier ... please?!?

 

[Tambini]

my brother has the same problem, 75,000 miles, 97 cobra. if hes in a higher gear and he punches it its almost like it hesitates. stop go stop go. no idea what it is tho.

 

[iexcelr8]

Yes, that's exactly what mine does. stop go stop go stop go. I hope somebody has an idea.

 

[bbp42d]

Originally posted by iexcelr8
I have a '96 Cobra 'vert with 63,000 miles on it. It has no mods. Over the past one to two thousand miles it has developed what I can only describe as a miss or sputter. It is very intermittant (but once it starts, it stays that way) and doesn't matter if the engine is cold or hot. What happens is that I'll be driving along and step on the gas to accelerate and the engine just sputters. I still accelerate, but it just sputters up the RPM range. It does it at all throttle positions. I thought it could be my injectors, but I just had those cleaned at Precision Tune and it still happens. The car also passes an emission inspection and does not trip the check engine light. As I said, there are no mods; everything is as it came from the dealer.

Any ideas on what to check? I'm trying to sell the car and really want to fix this so I don't hose the new owner.

Thanks,
Chris

mass air could be the problem, try cleaning but be careful you could damage it.:coolman:

 

[Booyah]

When was the last time you changed your wires and coil packs?

 

[monkeyspunk79]

Sounds like a bad coil pack. It will cut out intermittently like this if they are on their way south.

 

[iexcelr8]

I've never changed the plugs, wires or coil packs. How do you test the coil packs, or should I just buy 2 new ones and replace them both?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[STAMPEDE3]

Plugs and wires, plugs first.

 

[iexcelr8]

ttt - SEE ORIGINAL POST FOR UPDATE AND NEW QUESTION

Thanks to all.

 

[Booyah]

Originally posted by iexcelr8
ttt - SEE ORIGINAL POST FOR UPDATE AND NEW QUESTION

Thanks to all.

Was there actually oil in the plug valley/well?

 

[iexcelr8]

Originally posted by Booyah
Was there actually oil in the plug valley/well?

Yes, a little. It wasn't enough to coat the spark plug wire, just the plug. I'm continuing to do some research and discovered that this may be a spark plug seal issue and that the driver's side valve cover is a b*tch to remove.

 

[Interspy24]

I'm glad you posted this, I'm having the same problem and just ordered ford racing wires and am deabting about which plugs to use. Any ideas? Keep us updated and I'll also post my results.

Vik

 

[iexcelr8]

Originally posted by Interspy24
I'm glad you posted this, I'm having the same problem and just ordered ford racing wires and am deabting about which plugs to use. Any ideas? Keep us updated and I'll also post my results.

Vik

As for the wires, I went with the OEM replacements from the dealer. I'm trying to sell the car and am advertising it with "no mods," so I wanted to keep with stock wires.

As for the plugs, I did a lot of searching here and at the Corral forums, and a fairly consistent recommendation for a stock N/A motor was the Autolite 764. They were $1.29 a piece and are copper. Several people were critical of the platinum plugs (for reasons unknown to me) which is why I went with copper.

Following install, idle seems fine, but that was never a problem anyway. I just need to get it out on the road to see if the miss recurs. With the oil in the #6 passage, I'm afraid that it may not have been the plugs/wires at all, but this oil issue.

 

[Interspy24]

Yeah, I'll also be either using the autolite 764 plugs or the recommended ones from ford. My idle is slightly choppy at the moment, and sometimes it takes the car a bit longer to start up. It seems like the higher the gear I'm in, the more stumbling/sputtering/surging I get. I'm anxious to see if your plugs and wires fixed the problem. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[97slowbra]

i will try the plugs first !

 

[orange2004cobra]

Get a msd box,new coil paks, new wires, and some ngk tr6's..
Never have a prob again.
lin

 

[Tambini]

orange2004cobra~~ my brother changed his wires, plugs, and o2 sensors and it's still hesitating. i saw a while back that it might be the IMRC's. some people say that they could get clogged with carbon and this results in the hesitating. what do you think?

 

[CY98Cobra]

Test the tps. this will cause idle problems and hesitation.

 

[SNK BITN]

For you guys having this problem, is your car throwing a check engine light code? I would get the codes read anyways. My car wasnt throwing a CEL but I had it done anyways and there was a problem with the O2 sensors. It was causing sorratic idle and rough acceleration.

 

[97SVTStang]

Get a msd box,new coil paks, new wires, and some ngk tr6's..

I dont agree with that. Ever since I installed my MSD Dis 4 box I have had nothing but problems. But I dont have a hesitation/sputtering problem. The problem I have is no top end power. Car had a higher ET after I installed the box, my short times are good but it slacks off in the higher rpms. I think I have a fuel problem though. Raise the fuel psi and it gets better, I need bigger injectors though I think. Raising the fuel psi can only do so much for those stock injectors. I dont know I think its fuel, all the retard settings on the box are set at 0 degrees and I have tried numerous spark plug gaps and nothing.