86 scared me today
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,495
Likes: 475
From: New Jersey
86 scared me today
I was turning a corner today while out with the car and the motor began to run rough and lost all power. I had to get to an event so I parked and went through my event with ominous thoughts of code readers, MAFs, and intake mani tear downs.
On the way home I paid close attention to the condition. It was a very definite direct miss which gave an oscillating quality to the way it was running. No sputter, stall, or backfire, no surges.
In the driveway, I listened very closely to the exhaust. Right muffler sounded odd. Hand to the tailpipe detected a regular misfire from that side. Pulled the distributor cover and wire retainer and started popping wires loose one at a time. First one I pulled- #4- jackpot. Got a shock and the motor note did not change at all. Pulled the other end- no arcing to the plug. Dead spark plug wire. Never so happy to say that.
When diagnosing engine roughness or loss of power, a dead miss like that is usually the simplest to trace. Thank goodness.
On the way home I paid close attention to the condition. It was a very definite direct miss which gave an oscillating quality to the way it was running. No sputter, stall, or backfire, no surges.
In the driveway, I listened very closely to the exhaust. Right muffler sounded odd. Hand to the tailpipe detected a regular misfire from that side. Pulled the distributor cover and wire retainer and started popping wires loose one at a time. First one I pulled- #4- jackpot. Got a shock and the motor note did not change at all. Pulled the other end- no arcing to the plug. Dead spark plug wire. Never so happy to say that.
When diagnosing engine roughness or loss of power, a dead miss like that is usually the simplest to trace. Thank goodness.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 10,036
Likes: 346
From: Anaheim CA
Unless you have an aftermarket exhaust system the two sides join at the rear catalytic converter and then split into two. The exhaust out of the mufflers is coming from the same place, so there is no way to determine if one bank of the engine has a problem.
Last edited by Cliff Harris; Oct 6, 2013 at 11:04 PM. Reason: Corrected spelling error.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,495
Likes: 475
From: New Jersey
That is 100 % true, of course, and something I had not considered. I am at a loss as to why there was a definite difference between left and right. But there definitely was- that was what made me start on the right side. The left felt smooth and the right did not.
