AutoZone diagnosed a misfire in number one due to the ignition coil. I have just pulled it out and found it to be oily! Not just a little oil I am on my umpty ninth paper towel stuck down with a little stiffener shaft and keep pulling out oil - it must have had a pool down there and that’s why it was misfiring. Does anybody have a clue why?

 

Valve cover has tubes which allows passage for the spark-plugs and coil pack. These tubes have gaskets to keep the engine oil out of the tube.

Fix is to remove the valve cover. Bend back the metal tab and remove the tube gasket. Then bend the tab back. While you are at it, replace the valve cover gasket too. The valve cover gasket usually is sold with the tube gaskets/seals. I have good luck with felpro valve cover gaskets.

Salim

 

after all the oil is soaked up do you think it’s safe to drive it. The nearest parts store is 45 minutes away. I guess what I’m asking is should I use the new ignition coil or the old one. Seems it was the pool of oil that was giving the misfire. I could then save the new one for use after the gasket fix.Number one is not so hard to get to. I only have the one car.
thank you!!

 

Hard to say if the coil pack survived the soaking. After cleaning/drying you can see if it has recovered. You may like to carry around a spare for few days after repair.

Remember 1-3-5 are on the firewall side. Getting the valve cover out for that bank is not trivial.

Salim

ps: Assuming the down the hole part has recovered without damaging the coil-pack, it is hard to predict the rate of fill of oil in the tube. Maybe it took years to fill up or it handed in just a day. Usually the awareness makes us overcautious.

 

Since it was still a random miss I’ll try it. I've seem how involved the repair is but when you’re back is against the wall and there is YouTube you can do what you might not imagine you could. Thank you for your immediate, clear help! Is there a product you would use to clean the coil?

 

I usually use the brake-cleaner as it is typically on my shelf. Just dont be in a hurry to use after cleaning. Let it dry out completely.

Salim

 

Good morning!I thought the replacement of both valve covers with spark plug gaskets and three new coils in the back went really well. But, when we started the car up it was missing and when revved even above 1000 it started to scream. It’s the oddest Sound seemingly coming from the base of the Plenum. It was high-pitched a little metallic and Very loud so we shut it off. I have of course no idea and it’s a long way to tow the car to a mechanic. I’m hoping this might ring a bell with someone. I could make a sound recording but I don’t know if you can post those on the forum like you would a picture. Thanks to one and all and especially you Salim for getting us this far.

 

oh oh. I assume only the valve cover was removed and nothing was left behind. If yes then examine how the valve cover is seated. You may have to remove and reinstall the valve cover and see if the 1/2 collar [top half is the valve cover] and the bottom half have not messed up the seal.

Salim

 

Yep 00 is right.
We were very careful with the gaskets and tightened the valve covers down gently going all around and all around many times. I used Flepro as you suggested. Of course anything is possible but I’m hoping that something might have been left in the air intake that could cause these symptoms? It is really loud and high pitched and has some similarities with a belt whining getting worse with higher rpm.
Thank you in advance for your thoughts!

 

Hi Salim
I’m struggling to understand what under the valve cover could make this loud, high pitcher screaming sound. Could you explain it to me?

 

The key question is how invasive was the fix? If only valve cover is removed then the issue has to be limited to the what is inside the valve cover or timing belt cam pulley cover. Start by examining the cam pulley cover and if necessary remove the valve cover.


Salim

 

That's what I was think too .

You said sound seemed to come from under plenum but is there a chance you leaned hard on the metal timing belt cover and it is now rubbing on the cam gear sprockets?

Just a wild guess hoping for easy fix for you.

 

Vaccum leak?

 

Happy Father’s Day - May your efforts and sacrifices brought joy!
So, the screaming sound was a Huge air leak. I forgot to tighten the Allen key headed plenum bolts! Duh. What a sound that makes.
The oil in the rear spark plug tubes was from the original spark plug tubes Seals, which were deeply cracked. That repair all went well and was really needed.
But, the lack of power and bucking between 2500 and 3000 persists. After watchzing another video on missing I started checking spark and luckily on the first try found that #2 is dead. Replacing that coil pack didn’t help. I’m assuming that there is no impulse coming to the four wire connector but don’t have electrical experience. Let’s say that is the problem how do I go about repair? This is our only car and money is short which is why this fix is important- if possible.
Guidance will be Greatly appreciated!

 

Lucky that it is #2.

Go through swap procedure with #4. Plugs/coil-pack. 2 items should have 4 combination.
Next step would be check voltages [dc/ac] on connectors while the engine is running by back probing the pins.

Salim