2001 Ford Taurus (Page 1/1)
psychosurfer AUG 09, 09:24 PM
Engine light flashing. Runs very rough. Code is Cylinder one misfire. New plugs and wires. Replaced coil and now Cylinder 3, 4 and 6 misfire and trans seems to not downshift. Put old coil back on, check engine light returned for cylinder one again and all other symptoms left.

Compression seems good, have swapped cylinder 1 and 3 injectors to rule that out. Thinking computer, cats... what do you think???

This is a close friends car. She is really an amazing person down on her luck and I want to help her out but dont want to keep the money I have into her car down to a minimum.
3058 AUG 27, 11:15 PM
Check the PCV and crankcase breather hoses (there should be separate ones, the crankcase breather hose is much larger in diameter and typically harder to access) to see if they've collapsed. The crankcase breather hose, especially, likes to fold in on itself and cause a severe misfire issue--I've seen this happen on everything from 3.0 Vulcan motors to DOHC Duratec engines to a particularly finicky supercharged Cobra.

If you have access to a code reader/scanner that can view live data, see if either the long-term or short-term fuel trim are in excess of 20% (this pretty much guarantees that a vacuum hose somewhere has failed, or at least that there is a sizable vac leak).

The fuel system in all Fords since around 97-98 are "returnless," which effectively means that a saturated fuel filter can cause quite a bit of starting and running issues. Replace as a general part of the "tune-up" service if not done already.
Ensure that all plugs are set at the correct gap--plugs do come with the gap "pre-set," it's just whether or not it's pre-set for your particular application. :P

Higher-mileage (or just higher-age) vehicles of any type will require a pretty thorough "everything" service, so you may be able to gauge your friend's commitment to keeping the vehicle long-term by dropping a realistic number (cost of labor, or at least the parts) on them.
Good luck!

[This message has been edited by 3058 (edited 08-27-2013).]

jimbolaya OCT 09, 12:08 PM
Don't dismiss the possibility that the second coil was bad from the get go. I had the same thing happen exactly like her. Same cylinders and everything. I had gotten my coil from Advance, I then went to NAPA and bought a better quality one. Problem was solved. I'm not saying this is it, just saying it's possible, and irritating as hell.

Jim

Edit: my vehicle is a 02 Windstar which, I believe, has the same 3.8 motor.

[This message has been edited by jimbolaya (edited 10-09-2013).]

thesameguy OCT 09, 10:47 PM
If the engine light is flashing, that means whatever is going on is serious business - a flashing CEL is "catalyst damaging misfires." Be very careful with your diagnosing or you may end up incurring a cat replacement.

I second the notion of a possibly bad coil pack out of the box - a new pack shouldn't make things worse under any circumstance. If you can, I'd consider junkyarding a OE coil pack - they tend to be pretty durable, so a used one could be a cost-saving tool.

On the Ford coil packs, there are three physical coils fired in wasted spark. Each pair of opposed towers is one coil. From memory, #1 and #4 are a shared coil, so on the original coil pack I'd swap #1 and #4 wires and see if the code follows the swap. If it does, there's a high likelihood (like damn near 100%) the problem is in that coil tower. If it does not, chances are the problem is in the cylinder - plug, wire, valve, etc. A vacuum leak would *probably* show up more systematic, as would a plugged exhaust. I do like the fuel system explanation - especially if #1 is near the end of the rail. I know of several cars where weak fuel pressure results in damage to the last cylinder on the fuel rail. Once you've verified it's not the coil, the fuel system is where I'd look.
mwzephyr OCT 20, 04:03 AM
There is help at

taurus and sable owners club

look it up on the web. Member named "chart " can help...
I have a 99 Taurus se and am a member there.
~Zep

[This message has been edited by mwzephyr (edited 10-20-2013).]