84 Carrera ignition problem

[robhamster]

I started the car up today and it is acting like it is running on 5 cylinders. I checked the distributor, OK, and I am getting spark to all 6 cylinders. When I disconnect the spark plug wire, the engine runs a little worse with all of the cylinders except the one closest to the front on the drivers side.

Is it possible to have a fouled plug. Will it unfoul itself or do I need to go through the agony of taking it out?

Help

[RickM]

You at least will want to take it out to inspect. So you might as well replace with OE plugs? How old and what type plugs are in now?

And C'mon, it's not that hard to replace.

[Jon Hile]

in addition to the spark plug be sure to also check the distributor cap for cracks and, if that is not the culprit, resistance in that wire.
Do you still have the spark plug removal tool in your toolkit? It makes the removal and replacement of plugs a lot easier.

[kqw]

What was the weather like? Exposed to rain or moisture lately? I agree with Jon, re: checking the distributor cap. it sometimes can be difficult to detect a crack in the distributer cap.

[Robert Sanchez]

Check to see if the conectors for the flywheel sensores are OK. Some times they become loose. Good luck!

[kqw]

If you have the correct tool ( spark plug removal tool) it's fairly easy to extract and check all your plugs. Check your gap (.028) and re-torque them back at 18ftpds.

Check your seal on your oil cap, check hoses behind your throttle, the coil connector.

When did you acquire the car and when was the last major tune-up?

[stlrj]

A bad plug could be the sign that your ignition cables have gone bad. My old Beru cables looked good on the outside but when I looked inside, I found a lot of corrosion at the terminals where they screwed into the connectors or plugged into the cap.

[Hald]

could it also be an injector that's fouled or not energizing? On my '84, I found two injector caps that had corrosion on the contacts causing a high resistance.

[robhamster]

Thanks all, My car has 70,200 miles. I replaced the plug wires and cap at 42,000 mi in 1999 and adjusted valves and changed plugs last year at 62,000 mi. I put on the bosch platinum plugs assuming they would last.

I will dig into it this weekend.

[Jon Hile]

Even if its not the primary source of the problem its not a bad time to think about having the injectors cleaned. Its a bit of a project getting the fuel rails off, etc. but it sure improved the performance on my 84 after I had it done. Not very pricey either, $120 with tax. (That included new pintle caps, filter baskets and o-rings)

[Hald]

I had my injectors cleaned & tested at Marren . Excellent service, big difference after it was done [along with replacement of the intake gaskets].