Spark plugs closed their gap?

[Posi]

I am by no mean starting shit, at least not on purpose, I realize I am new to the site, not new to cars by any means though. I owned and operated a dyno shop for a couple years and saw many bad tanks of gas, especially since ethanol. I also stated in an earlier post it could have been from heat. With the most conservative tune in the world we are still talking about a car with a supercharger. I do not think people realize how quickly a car can detonate.

It's all good we're both just trying to help.


:beer:My point is these cars with his setup just don't detonate very easily at all. Taken into account of the OP and what he knows about these cars in that I knew he didn't go out and just rag it then detonate. With over 130 full dyno pulls, 250 track passes or so on my own car I have a general idea of how far they can be pushed lol.

Either way let's hope the OP's car is fine.

 

[streetone01]

And my odometer keeps going "-------" every couple minutes and the datalog freezes. Another thing I am unsure of.

beg borrow and steal for an ecu, that is exactly what the gt i was talking about did!

 

[streetone01]

could be a short somewhere to in the ecu wiring harness.

 

[Blueline]

Nate if your odometer is Displaying the --------- then you may have an issue w your ecu. There was another member not long as who had the same dashes while having his tuner plugged in, turned out his ecu was acting up. GL bud!

 

[NateTermi]

If anyone want to see my last datalog I'll be more than happy to send.

 

[NateTermi]

beg borrow and steal for an ecu, that is exactly what the gt i was talking about did!

could be a short somewhere to in the ecu wiring harness.

It would actually be a relief if that was my problem...

Streetone01, what do you think the chances are of my ecu being faulty? Are there any other systems?

And thanks guys for the help. Brian you are the man BTW :beer:

 

[01bluesnake]

If you are running live link hooked up and running, the cluster may go in and out of diag mode and read ------. pretty normal and not something to be concerned with. If its doing it and there is nothing hooked up to the DLC then you may have a PCM issue. I use live link always, so use to this.

 

[NateTermi]

If you are running live link hooked up and running, the cluster may go in and out of diag mode and read ------. pretty normal and not something to be concerned with. If its doing it and there is nothing hooked up to the DLC then you may have a PCM issue. I use live link always, so use to this.

Ok thanks. I haven't seen it do it out of livelink.

 

[01cobravortech]

When you put the new plugs in, do you drop them down the wells? It may be a possibility..... I use a 6"-8" piece of 3/8" hose over the spark plug and lower it down into the well and screw it in with the hose. It prevents me dropping the plug in and cross threading them. Just a thought.

That's how I do it. :beer:

 

[NateTermi]

That's how I do it. :beer:

Magnetic socket with a long extension works great.

 

[NateTermi]

I am getting a dtc d262 when I use the "self test" the car has on it. Anyone know what this is? I googled it and someone thought it was one part of the computer fails to communicate with another part of the computer. I called a buddy of mine and he did this same test on his car and he got the same code and one other one. I returned the car to stock with my handheld and tried it again and got the same code.

 

[BlankTP]

I am getting a dtc d262 when I use the "self test" the car has on it. Anyone know what this is? I googled it and someone thought it was one part of the computer fails to communicate with another part of the computer. I called a buddy of mine and he did this same test on his car and he got the same code and one other one. I returned the car to stock with my handheld and tried it again and got the same code.

I wouldn't chase after that d262, that is more of a communication network (SCP) related code i believe. it's probably a code stored in the instrument cluster only from when communication was lost with the pcm at some point, like when datalogging with live link or when flashing the pcm.

I would suspect a crankshaft sensor or camshaft sensor, even though there are no codes for them yet. if crank signal is off this would cause the misfire codes as well, not too bad to swap out either if you can borrow a known good one from someone. if you get a new one, make sure and get a ford part.

----side note, make sure your ic pump is working as well, if not could be a contributor to detonation

 

[NateTermi]

I wouldn't chase after that d262, that is more of a communication network (SCP) related code i believe. it's probably a code stored in the instrument cluster only from when communication was lost with the pcm at some point, like when datalogging with live link or when flashing the pcm.

I would suspect a crankshaft sensor or camshaft sensor, even though there are no codes for them yet. if crank signal is off this would cause the misfire codes as well, not too bad to swap out either if you can borrow a known good one from someone. if you get a new one, make sure and get a ford part.

----side note, make sure your ic pump is working as well, if not could be a contributor to detonation

I took the car to a ford dealership Thursday to test those sensors and the guy told me he checked them and they were getting voltage so they were good. Is this a real accurate test?

 

[MalcolmV8]

You know there are tons of threads on this forum where some claim their car has a misfire at idle or slight hesitation at light part throttle when running TR6 copper plugs. That appears to be the plugs you're running. You sure you're not chasing a non issue at this point?

You said changing the gap on the plugs from .35 to .44 made a huge difference. Makes me think you're chasing a plug issue. Some people swear by the TR6IX iridium plugs and say it cures these issues.

I personally run TR6 plugs myself and never had a problem. Sometimes at idle it seems like I can hear a slight lope to the idle like it's partly miss firing but I've had zero driveability issues or actual idle issues for that matter. I purchased a set of TR6IX plugs but never tried them out.

Might be worth trying out in your case.

 

[NateTermi]

You know there are tons of threads on this forum where some claim their car has a misfire at idle or slight hesitation at light part throttle when running TR6 copper plugs. That appears to be the plugs you're running. You sure you're not chasing a non issue at this point?

You said changing the gap on the plugs from .35 to .44 made a huge difference. Makes me think you're chasing a plug issue. Some people swear by the TR6IX iridium plugs and say it cures these issues.

I personally run TR6 plugs myself and never had a problem. Sometimes at idle it seems like I can hear a slight lope to the idle like it's partly miss firing but I've had zero driveability issues or actual idle issues for that matter. I purchased a set of TR6IX plugs but never tried them out.

Might be worth trying out in your case.

I've changed out the TR6's for motorcraft iridiums and they seemed to like the bigger gap, but it wasn't a huge difference. There is most defiantly a miss. Not only can I hear it, but I can feel the car shake. Something is not right. And the TR6's I have are the v-power $2 plugs. The car is totally driveable, but it feels like its lost power. Car cuts out bad at wot with the motorcrafts gapped at .044, so I regapped the tr6's to .035 and tried it again and it still cut out, but not nearly as bad. Car ran great on those tr6's a month or so ago.

 

[Anabolic]

if it was detonation, your plugs would be white running lean... what do you mean closed gap?... carbon deposits built up around electrodes? or the gaps just down gapped?... are you sure a foriegn object isn't present?

check to see if the plugs are soaked indicating that it's not even firing.. then if that's the cylinder try replacing the COP next.....

 

[Anabolic]

try gapping to .42.... if you have a miss, scan mils most likely there's a misfire code indicating a bad COP or a broke, loose, disconnected wire... bad COPS are common on 99-04 mustangs of all genres.. Lets us know your results

don't get frustrated alot of bul crap always manages to come up with everyones vehicals.. one after another/

the voltage my opinion doesn't determan weather or not the COPS or plug is bad.. make sure they're firing first...

 

[50q's]

My car acted the same as yours. Had a misfire and ended up the cop being bad. So I would bet my money even tho voltage is correct its a weak cop. My was week ended up getting weaker then a real bad miss and no power. At first cut every now in the at wot then more present then a miss. I also worried about detonation but I promise you if the plugs are clean and no sign of black specks then its a bad cop. Replace the cop then plug change. Don't worry your car is fine just a typical cop failure that happens so often. It's electric any moisture fry the thing.

 

[Blueline]

Hey Nate try letting the car idle. As its idling and misfiring, pull one injector connection at a time. Pull the injector plug and listen for a change in the mis. When you dont notice a difference after unplugging the injector that will point you in the direction of which cylinder it is. Then once you narrow it down you can determine injector, COP, plug etc.

 

[NateTermi]

The misfire is all random. Each cylinder will show a misfire on my livelink within 5-10 minutes. Kezell17 is sending me his extra set of COP's, but I don't think that's the problem. My tr6's had a white, kinda chalky residue on the "arm" of the plugs.