1G Cylinder 4 misfire but everything is fine?

[TupperWare]

Try to make this not a long story but I just got this 92 Talon TSi had it running good on ECMLink. Then the car just started running horrible, I never got to drive the car only idle tuning. I verified base timing but when I set it to 5* the car barely ran and wanted to die. Today I checked cam and engine time, it was fine. I then checked the CAS and it was backwards. Put it all back together set timing to 5* and car still ran rough but didn’t want to die like yesterday. I then found out #4 cylinder isnt firing. I checked spark at plug it’s fine, compression check 170psi, swapped spark plugs around, swapped around fuel injectors, new plug wires and still misfiring on #4. I probed the injector and it is firing and I can hear it clicking. I didn’t check again but when I pulled the plug the first time it was dry. When I pull out 1-3 spark plug wires they keep arcing, but when I pull #4 it doesn’t arc. Is it a bad coil? Are the wires supposed to keep arcing? I didn’t gap the new plugs yet but would it really be blowing out the spark at idle especially when it was running fine before? I think I read that these cars are batch fire ignition so could I swap the #4 plug wire with I assume #1 and see if it switches from 4 to 1 misfire?

 

[EShield]

When you say arcing, do you mean while you are pulling them out of the spark plug tubes the spark is jumping to the plug and/or surrounding metal tube or they are arcing while fully installed and seating?

 

[TupperWare]

While I’m pulling them out. While the car is running I can pull out the #4 wire, put a spark plug in it and touch it to ground to check for spark. If I pull 1-3 and try to put a spark plug in it I get shocked (Yeah I know stupid but you gotta know ) and when I pull 1-3 when I get them out it sounds like I hear it coming from the coil pack area.

 

[pauleyman]

Possible cracked tower. Coil shouldn't be bad or you would lose two cylinders.

 

[TupperWare]

Tower as in the part that sticks off the coil where the plug wire clips on to?

 

[pauleyman]

Yes

 

[TupperWare]

Okay just pulled 1-3 wires and I see them arcing at the coil. I swapped #1 and #4 plug wires and car still runs and now #1 doesn’t fire and #4 does.

 

[EShield]

Bad wire, ohm it out.

 

[miguelmcv]

Did you swap the wires at the coil or at the spark plug location.
If you did it at the spark plugs then it might be the wire, if you did it that way, then swap the wire, use the suspected bad wire with another one and see if the miss changes.

 

[TupperWare]

It's new plugs, newish wires. I got a coil pack set from a local and it fixed my issue. Then I drove it around got into boost and it then killed the entire 1-4 cylinder coil. I pulled it all apart, I read the resistance on the old coils and the new coils. Both 2 and 3 coil on both packs were fine, but for some reason both 1 and 4 packs were barely within spec but I guess not enough. So since both 2 and 3 coils were good I put both on and now it works fine. I'm gonna check the resistance next couple of day and see if for some reason the coil might be killing coils.