wet engine misfires

[texasbear]

Had a replacement engine put in my Discovery II 500 miles ago.The engine had K on it. It has ran fine up until yesterday. I was having problems with oil drops in my garage floor and smells of burning oil after long runs. I checked the oil everyday and no loss. So, I decided to use a oil cleaner on the lines running under the truck. I also sprayed off the exhaust and the under carriage.

As soon as I rinsed (making sure not to wet the plugs or the coil pack or anything sensor wise, I started the truck. It was running rough. I drove it thinking that possibly the plug wires had gotten wet or something was wet that should not be. The further I drove the truck the better it was running. Although the check engine light was on.

I decided to have Advance auto do a scan and he said I had multiple misfires and it should clear up. He reset the check engine light and it was running better by the minute. I came home and parked the truck in my garage.

This morning, I moved the truck out into the driveway and it was running rough again. Also the Check engine light is on again.

Any ideas what I screwed up. The plugs and wires are new. The wires are Proline and the plugs are some kind of expensive champion plugs that were OEM spec for the truck. I know you guys like the magnaflow ,but when I started this project, I did not know about them. anyway, I think if it was due to the wires themselves it would have reared its ugly head long ago, but it all started with this super ingenious idea I had to get rid of the smell. OCD has its disadvantages

Also Since posting this. I have let the truck sit out in the sun with the hood open waiting for the glass guy to come fix my chips in the windshield. When I started it at 9:00 am to move it, it was running rough, I started it again at 11:am and it started rough but I let it run for a few and it evened out and the tac was steady at one line below 1000. THe truck was running as smooth as before and very steady. The SES light still on. Cut it off, had rock chips fixed and started at 1:00 pm and it is running smooth like it is suppose to, SES still on though. I am going to take it and have it checked in a few minutes. Hopefully after resetting the SES it will not run ragged like it did this morning. If so I have no idea what to try. I will get the codes from him this time and write them down. He seemed to know what he was doing using the tester and it was an expensive model telling him exactly what was wrong. The only thing he could find wrong during the test was multiple cylinder misfires. I asked if possibly the O2 sensor was a problem. He said the O2 sensors were OK. I also recently replaced the cats when I replaced the engine.

Thanks, Texasbear

[Disco Mike]

I power scrub my 99 D2 a couple times a month, and have for years. D2's have no issue with water like the D1's do.
What if any codes have you pulled so far, be exacr.
Mike

[texasbear]

I just drove the truck up to the Advance Auto parts store and he checked the truck again. The truck is running fine and is idling just fine as well. It had no problems coming or going to the auto parts store with idling or power. The SES did however stay on the whole time. What I can't figure out is if it is going to misfire like this, why does it clear up. It would seem that if the coil pack is bad, it would continue to misfire all the time.


The codes he got are as follows:

P1509 - Idle Speed
P1300 - Misfire Ignition system
P301 - Cyl. 1 misfire
P303 - Cyl. 3 misfire
P305 - Cyl. 5 misfire
P307 - Cyl. 7 misfire
P300 - Randon misfire

To me it sounds as if something is wrong with the coil packs, but it seems coincidental that I never had these problems until I degreased under the engine and transmission. If the pack was defective , shouldn't I have had a problem with the SES before. Is it possible I got the coil pack wet and ruined it or will it work if dried out? I had new coil packs put on when the newer engine was installed.

I turned the engine off and on a few times since going up to the store, and it is running smooth and the SES is not on,yet anyway.

Thanks for your input and help,

Texasbear

[Disco Mike]

Are you still running factory plug wires??????????????????
Looks like it is time for a set of 8 mm Magnacor's to correct all those misfires. Are running high octane?
After the wires I would suggest an induction cleaning to clean out that engine after all the misfires.
By the way, there is nothing wrong with your coils.
Mike

[texasbear]

No, I replaced the wires with a set of proline wires that I purchased from Rovers North. At the time, I did not realize that the magnacore wires where the way to go. Also why is it that the misfires are down the drivers side of the engine? That is the side that I did most of the cleaning on and sprayed most of the water down through to the exhaust pipe. Why would'nt I be getting misfires on the other cylinders like 2,4,6,and 8.

I am running premium gas and always have. Also what exactly is induction cleaning? Should I change the plugs as well and what brand do you recommend.

Sorry for all of the questions, I have spent about 5k on this thing in the last three months getting it up and running again and it is a little discouraging that now I am having to fork out more.

I guess my big question is why did it run fine for 500 miles ,then all of a sudden start having all of thesse problems with misfires. Is it possible that I got the wires wet and the plugs on the drivers side are fouled?

Thanks,
texasbear

[Disco Mike]

My money is on the plug wires. Wait till this evening and go start your engine when it is dark out, wiggle the wires and spry them with water, from a spray bottle, while running. I bet you will see arching from the wires to the block, then install the Magnacor 8 mm wires, not the 7 mm's.
If you have a question tomorrow, get back to me.
Mike

[Rovin4life]

actually I would pull the plug wires off the spark plugs and put them back on making sure they are tight and always clean the motor with the engine running to prevent issues like you are having.

if you have oil spots in the driveway have it looked at, its possible when they put the heads back on something went wrong and its leaking.

or the frt diff is leaking. seen a few leaks out of the pinion seal leaking.

[texasbear]

OK, Heres what I did. I went to the local and only auto shop that carries Bosch plugs. There are a few different parts stores here but everyone of them except one either did not carry Bosch or they had to order them. I drove our ML500 up to the parts store and the best Bosch plug he had in stock was a platinum +2. He said he would have to order anything else. I live about 45 miles north of Austin and thats where everything is that you usually need. However, this weekend there is a big UT game and the Austin City Limits music festival, so no way was I going near Austin this weekend. This is my daily driver and I needed to get it fixed by Monday morning.

I purchased the plugs and came home and changed all of the plugs out . The plugs that the shop had installed where Champion 7318's. I remember they called and said that I would have to wait on the Bosch plugs but that they had found a OE replacement at Carquest. I also remember paying 7 bucks a plug. At the time I did not give it much thought. Anyway,after I changed all of the plugs out, I noticed that at the back of the motor, the wires were not in the looms, just laying across the valve cover on the drivers side of the engine. I placed the wires into the looms and made sure each wire was plugged into each plug tight. Also plug wire for cylinder 7 was actually laying across the engine bonding strap. I do not know if that is a problem or not. Something tells me it is not a good idea though.

I noticed that the wires I purchased did not easily fit into the looms. I had to really push to make them go into the space. I don't know much about the brand, I just purchased them at the time because I was running out of money for this project. The brand is Pro-line and I figured since Rovers North offered them, there should be no problems. So I am not sure what size they are. I looked on the wires and could not see any markings visible. I am going to contact Rovers North and ask about them to see if they have any specs on the wires.

After installing the new plugs and cleaning up the wiring, I cranked the engine and it is running real smooth and no SES lights. I backed it out into the driveway and let it run for a few and it idled at just below 1000 rpm smooth as it originally ran when I bought it two years ago. I guess time will tell. I do not smell the burning oil any more in the garage like before and I have driven the truck twice today without any problems so far. It also seemed to have more pick-up than before.

I will end up getting the wires replaced, its just a matter of time. Also the plugs on the drivers side bank, the ones showing all of the code errors, where really black and kind of sooty. I also noticed that I think the gap on the plugs looked larger than the Bosch plugs. I need to check them but I can't seem to find my guages. Last time I used them was on the pinball machine, so they may be locked in the lower cabinet.And of course, I can't locate the key. Ain't life grand.

I really appreciate all the help. I will let you know if I have any more problems.

Thanks again, Texasbear

[discoII2go]

Glad to see your post. I am having the same problems, however not as a result of cleaning the engine. I experience the same problem when it rains, especially heavy rains. The car will run very rough, no power, however if I sit at neutral and rev it up, its fine with no misses. I have to drive it for up to 10 minutes (again not with a lot of power) until it smooths out and is back to normal. Plug wires?

[texasbear]

I checked with the company I bought my wires from and they said that they were 8mm. Since changing out the plugs to Bosch ,it has been running as smooth as the day I bought it. I guess either it did not like the champion plugs or something was wet that should not be and it finally dries out. I also think that the champions had the wrong gap on them as well.

As for the post about the rain, I live in the middle of Texas near Austin and we get no rain ,very dry and arid. So I have not experienced the rain problem yet.

I would say contact Rovin4life, the post above my last one. He works on these things so he probally know best what to do.

Texasbear

[scottagnew101]

I had a coolant leak that was giving me misfires. It was leaking form my TB preheater and dripping down the plug wires and into the tip of the spark plug. Pull the plug wires and clean off the inside connection and make sure the end of the boot is sealed. I sealed mine with silicon.

Scott