i tuned up the car over spring break and decided to change out pretty much the whole ignition system. new spark plugs, coil packs, coil pack housing, spark boots, and switched back to the old engine cover. People on jbody suggested the NGK TR6 plugs for cars with the M45, so those are the ones i got, but the cars not running right. it starts up fine and will drive, but if i give it heavy gas in any gear it bogs... the car backfires and putters, ive got no power.
Any ideas guys im really lost on what the problem could be.
Have you tried re-installing the old sparkplugs.?...
This will pinpoint the possibility that you've been sold defective plugs...
If you over tightened the plugs and cracked them, then you'll get no/low power and "bucking" systems.
Tinkles
2003 Cavalier 1SV
Bagged and Blown
i threw the old plugs out before i discovered the problem, i have the old coil packs and housing, i was going to put the old parts back on to see if it was a plug problem for sure, but it snowed so i haven't gotten the chance.
How do i check to see if the plugs are cracked?
Bigtemps wrote:i threw the old plugs out before i discovered the problem, i have the old coil packs and housing, i was going to put the old parts back on to see if it was a plug problem for sure, but it snowed so i haven't gotten the chance.
How do i check to see if the plugs are cracked?
Hi,
Take them out and look at them, it will be obvious that the porcelain is broken.
Did you gt the firing order correct on the wires? Cross two, the car will run but very poorly.
All of the vacuum lines are on properly and no electrical sensors you unpluged are still unplugged?
Old engine cover??? not sure what you mean??
Dave
david keevil wrote:Bigtemps wrote:
How do i check to see if the plugs are cracked?
Take them out and look at them, it will be obvious that the porcelain is broken.
Not really. The best way is to run your fingernail across the porcelain and if you feel it catch on something, thats a crack. Hairline cracks in the porcelain are a pain to see, but will still cause a misfire.
Tinkles
2003 Cavalier 1SV
Bagged and Blown
Tinkles wrote:david keevil wrote:Bigtemps wrote:
How do i check to see if the plugs are cracked?
Take them out and look at them, it will be obvious that the porcelain is broken.
Not really. The best way is to run your fingernail across the porcelain and if you feel it catch on something, thats a crack. Hairline cracks in the porcelain are a pain to see, but will still cause a misfire.
I suppose it's worth the effort,but I have never had a cracked plug that I couldn't see the crack. Most often the crack is big enough and sometimes a chunk will even fall out. But I'd take the hairline advice just to be safe. Then again, in 40 years of working on cars, both professionally and as a hobby I've only ever seen about 1/2 dozen physically broken plugs. I had one where the porcelain was totally loose from the steel threaded base. I'd also say that 99 out of 100 times I always installed a new plug and rarely reinstalled the one I took out so it really wasn't an issue if it was cracked or not. I always look at how each cylinder is firing before I tossed them.
The greater problem with spark plugs is people taking them out of a hot Aluminum head and the Female threads come out with the plug. One should never remove a plug from a hot aluminum cylinder head.
Good Luck
Dave
My buddy installed new plugs on his 2nd gen J(LN2) and the car had no power/bucking. We pulled the plugs and 3 out of 4 had hairline cracks. We tossed the old plugs in a the car ran fine. It turns out that when he was doing the tune up he overtightened the new set of plugs and cracked them.
If you want to pull the "im older and have been doing this since before you were born" card go ahead. I know im young and do not have the wealth of experience that some people have, but i to know what i have experienced and seen. That does include cracked spark plugs where the cracks are not easily seen.
Tinkles
2003 Cavalier 1SV
Bagged and Blown
Tinkles wrote:My buddy installed new plugs on his 2nd gen J(LN2) and the car had no power/bucking. We pulled the plugs and 3 out of 4 had hairline cracks. We tossed the old plugs in a the car ran fine. It turns out that when he was doing the tune up he overtightened the new set of plugs and cracked them.
If you want to pull the "im older and have been doing this since before you were born" card go ahead. I know im young and do not have the wealth of experience that some people have, but i to know what i have experienced and seen. That does include cracked spark plugs where the cracks are not easily seen.
Hey you young wipper snapper!!
You missed it,
I agreed with you that they should be checked using your method,
I only pointed out that I've never seen it happen so finely,
Then I said that I've replaced old ones with new plugs most of the time. For the effort and time it takes to pull them out, I just screw in a new one. Then again, I think in the mind set that time is money. At a cheap labor rate of 70 - 100 dollars an hour or more, I'm not going to do anything twice. It's way cheaper to put in a new plug.
Then again, I'm older, new plugs won't break my bank either.
One isn't really old until one stops learning.
I'll use your method when and if I recycle a plug.
With the cost of some of the newer plugs and the 100,000 life span, that day may be rushing upon me!
Dave
I had a set of Bosch plugs in my car and found that the tip of the plug that the plug wire connects to would work
itself loose and that would cause a misfire on my car. I would completely unscrew the tip, add LocTite being
very careful not to cover the entire thread area as it still needs to conduct, then tighten the tip down and after
the LocTite dried, no more problem.
Scott
If it is a cracked plug that should be easy enough to replace... i haven't been able to check the plugs because its been snowing and raining here like every day. Do you guys think it will be ok to drive on for a few days till i can get some nice weather?
Quote:
Most often the crack is big enough and sometimes a chunk will even fall out. But I'd take the hairline advice just to be safe. Then again, in 40 years of working on cars, both professionally and as a hobby I've only ever seen about 1/2 dozen physically broken plugs. I had one where the porcelain was totally loose from the steel threaded base.
Question on this point - I just removed a plug from my daughter's 2.2 '98 where the porcelain was loose in the metal shell. It looks like the lower 3/4" of the porcelain is missing. I imagine it's inside the cylinder.
What damage do you think it will have done, and is it too late to do anything about it?
Is it too late ?
I'd suggest replacing all sparkplugs, starting the engine.
If it doesn't have a damaged valve causing a miss, and runs
o.k., you're lucky.
If you do have a miss, there'll be valve and valve seat damage,
repairs are obvious.
Did you check or set the gap on the plugs before installing?
sUiCiDe wrote:Did you check or set the gap on the plugs before installing?
Yeah, im not retarded i set the gap
So i finally got some nice weather today so i took all the plugs out to check for cracks and i couldn't find any...
I wouldn't run it that much. If you dump too much fuel you might burn your cat up. And that's not cheap. Trust me, I know
Kinda sounds like what my car would do when the ignition housing went. If you didn't get on the gas too hard it would drive just fine. But once you stepped on it, especially at low RPMS, it would miss until it go higher up in the RPM band. Never threw a code either. If you have another housing, swap it and see what happens.
MiniTransAm/02WS6TA wrote:I wouldn't run it that much. If you dump too much fuel you might burn your cat up. And that's not cheap. Trust me, I know
Kinda sounds like what my car would do when the ignition housing went. If you didn't get on the gas too hard it would drive just fine. But once you stepped on it, especially at low RPMS, it would miss until it go higher up in the RPM band. Never threw a code either. If you have another housing, swap it and see what happens.
Thanks man, you were exactly right. I swapped the old coil housing back on and it runs fine, And that was like the one thing i didn't think it would be, i thought it would have been the plugs or the coil packs, but it was just a bad housing. thanks again.
How much does a coil housing run? I am having the same issue with when you get on the gas, it seems to "bog down". However, most of the time, it drives fine. When it bogs down, it would "break out of it" and rev freely then. It hasn't thrown a code or even the check engine light yet either.
Any suggestions on ways to diagnose for sure? How is this repaired, as I have never myself replaced plugs (but can do other repairs)?
