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ignition problem (I think)

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khartley

15+ Year Contributor
1,235
2
Jul 20, 2004
Faith, South_Dakota
Ok explaination of situation:

Car was running fine. Got into boost. Car suddenly had no power in low RPMs. Checked the plugs, all seemed fouled, bought new ones, made no difference. Whipped out datalogger, which said that injectors were fine, but that my engine had 0 knock until 5000 RPMs, then it had over 100. Discovered that I was only firing on cylinders 4 and 2. Thought it was possibly the ignition coil, bought one, replaced the first coil pack, made no difference. Switched the new one with the second coil pack, still made no difference. (Which makes sense since the first one runs 4 and 1, the second runs 2 and 3.

So, what are the chances that both coil packs crapped out at the same time? Or is it my ignition module?

Also...my car suddenly has a huge smoking problem. It's always smoked blue smoke out the exhaust a little, but not this bad. And now, when I shift at about 5 grand, a huge puff of blue smoke comes out from under my hood. Then when I stop, oil is dripping slowly under the car. Is this because of the 2 cylinders that aren't working?
 
wow looks like you have some problems on hand. First off, you can run a check on the ignition modules using an ohm meter. Disconnect the ole battery and run the meter between the middle pin (B-) and each of the sides separately. Right side is 1 and 4 and left side is 2 and 3. If the resistance is not between .51-.61 ohms you need to replace the ignition coil.

On to the second problem, black smoke would be expected through shifting because of the unburnt fuel of your two mis-firing cyclinder (granted you injectors are firing). Since its blue smoke your burning oil. Find out where your oil leak is comin from. Check your coolant for oil to see if your headgasket is done for. Finally, due a compression test on each cyclinder because im willing to bet it is off.

Good luck
 
Oh I did a dry compression test a while ago, and it was 120-115-115-120. Not good, but basically even all the way across.

The smoking issue came about the same time as the power loss, so I'm guessing it all comes to one thing. Just not sure what that would be.

Also, I ordered an ignition module from AutoZone, but I'm not quite sure what or where it is...can anyone help with that?
 
I know on a 1g its near the left side of the intake and the connectors are attatched to the same harness as the coil. Your compression is horrible and I think its time for a recondition or rebuild. I would take a deeper look into your fouled plugs. The condition they are in says alot of whats going on in each cylinder. From what your symptoms are I would guess that they are oily and black. If thats the case then valves seals might be in order or a complete valve job, or any thing else that could introduce oil into the engine. If your plugs are white and have pits or small beads of aluminum on them you are running very lean and need to look into your feul system or intake leaks. If they are black then check and clean the injectors, replace pressure regulator etc. The plugs should be an even light brown color like toasted marshmellow. Last is the turbo. I had a friend that overheated his car terribly and in a panic he filled his car up with nice cool water. Well by doing that he warped his head cracked valves and dislodged turbine blades. His car smoked and ran horribly. People would honk at him at lights because he would take so long to get the car going. The turbo was cooked beyond belief the shaft had huge amounts of play that would let oil into the turbine all the time and got worse under boost. This sounds very similar to what your going through hope it helps. Good luck :) :)
 
khartley said:
Oh I did a dry compression test a while ago, and it was 120-115-115-120. Not good, but basically even all the way across.

The smoking issue came about the same time as the power loss, so I'm guessing it all comes to one thing. Just not sure what that would be.

Also, I ordered an ignition module from AutoZone, but I'm not quite sure what or where it is...can anyone help with that?

The root of your problem is an engine that has insufficient compression and bad rings. You NEED to rebuild the block.
 
The wires were changed very recently, so I don't think that's the problem. As far as the turbo, it still spools up like it always did, and it was rebuilt not too long ago, so I don't think there is anything wrong there. I know that I have horrible compression, and I know my rings are going out. But I'm trying to get it running again because I won't be able to get my new engine for at least another 2 weeks, and that car is my only mode of transportation right now.

I ordered a power transistor so I'll find out tomorrow if that solves the problem of the car running on 2 cylinders. If not, I'm thinking it could be either both coil packs or the ECU. I don't think there is anything wrong with the engine itself, though. I have never gotten any counts of knock on my logger, and it shows that my injectors are working fine. After this problem started, however, on my logger it shows no knock until about 5K rpms, then it goes to about 120 counts of knock.
 
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