Thanks Disco (moderator) and Disco Mike

[bobthebuilder]

Tonight I did the salt water spritz in the wiring. 3 & 4 were glowing orange
for several inches. The coil packs looked like blue birthday candles.
'Light Show' is the right discription. I feel like I'm close to a sulotion now.

[Disco Mike]

So it sounds like it is time for a set of Magnacor wires. Make sure you use some electrical connection guh so you don't get any corrision build up over the next 50K.
I wouldn't worry about the coils at this point, do the wires and see how it goes.
Good luck,
Mike

[Hank]

Originally Posted by bobthebuilder

Tonight I did the salt water spritz in the wiring. 3 & 4 were glowing orange
for several inches. The coil packs looked like blue birthday candles.
'Light Show' is the right discription. I feel like I'm close to a sulotion now.

Swap two wires that were not arcing with the ones that were arcing. See what happens.

[Disco]

I'm pleased it worked out.

[Disco Mike]

Bad wires are bad, why waist time swapping them around when you should just replace the set.
mike

[derrickalda]

Magnacor is the way to go buddy

[Hank]

Originally Posted by Disco Mike

Bad wires are bad, why waist time swapping them around when you should just replace the set.
mike

Because it's not the wires.

[Disco Mike]

Originally Posted by Hank

Because it's not the wires.

I am trying to understand what your post is intended on saying??
Mike

[Hank]

The wires are still good. He can change the wire position, and the problem will still be present on that particular cylinder.

He can add all new wires, and still have the same problem as before.

This is what is going to happen.
He will change the wires.
Everything will be fine for 2-3 days
Once he gets back onto the open road, the hesitation will happen again.

I've seen the arcing problem before, and it was unrelated to the hesitation problem.

I would almost be willing to be the arcing is caused from a bad ground strap.

Only way to say for sure, is to either change the wires totally, or change their position and see if they still arc in their new location, or if a new wire starts to arc.

[Disco Mike]

Rover has such a bad history regarding plug wires, that is what I believe is the problem or at least a big factor in the way his truck is running.
Mike

[Muddy Oval]

Rover also has a bad history with ground issues- 5 minutes of swapping or testing the wires (does anyone know how to use a meter anymore) might be 5 minutes well spent. I've seen some Discos use the throttle cable for a ground and melt the entire casing- it's not an unreasonable test.

[bobthebuilder]

Hank and others: I changed out the wires. Still have the misfire. To locate the misfire I went thru both banks 1-3-5-7, 2-4-6-8 and pulled one wire at a time and connected it to an old plug on the exhaust manifold and re stared the engine. All but #3 fired, connected #3 wire to #2 coil post and it fired fine.
Is it possible that the coil doesn't work on #3 but does on #2?
Also, when I tested the passenger bank (2-8), I had a normal blue arc with an occasional orange 'pop' at the plug. Could this relate to 'ground issues'?
It didn't do it on the driver bank.
Any good links to changing a coil pack? Any good mechanics around Sacramento? I think I'm in over my head. I live in Chico CA.

[Hank]

Swapping the coil is cake. It's 4 small nuts and a wire harness. It's trickey to get to, but it can be done in less than 15-20 minutes.

Still have a hard time thinking it's the coil, though. As you indicated, it works "sometimes".

I would look as what tells the coil to fire and when. I think I would change the cam sensor, and replace the crank sensor and inspect the teeth on the "tooth ring" on the fly wheel, first.

[Disco]

I think it's the coil. Change the one you suspect. If you still have the misfire problem, check your vacuum lines for leaks as this will cause the timing to be out. This is a cheaper option initially than replacing crank and cam sensors.