Engine has a miss

[jobar]

Hey guys need some help.

I've got a 97 2.3 that has a miss in it. I noticed that my fuel milage had droped off, and that my truck had started running rough. I had my brother hook it up to see if there was in fact a miss and he said it had been missing for a while. I ask about the 02 sensors, he said they were ok.

My question is what could it be? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

did he say which cylinder is missing? or is it a random misfire?

 

[RangerFabWorks]

change your spark plugs.

 

[jobar]

He said it didn't tell him which cylinder was doing it, it only said that I had a missfire. I changed the spark plugs about 7 months ago, it should'nt be time for new ones, ill check them just in case.

Something I forgot to add was, that I can smell gas every once in a while. Drive or idleing.

Any ideas?

 

[jobar]

I talked to a buddy, and he said that I might have clogged fuel injectors. He said that if one of them is clogged then the computer might be sending more fuel to the cylinder than what is needed, thus why im smelling fuel.

So, my question is how do you test for clogged injectors? and does clogged injectors sound right to you guys.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

smelling fuel? like raw gasoline smell? or rich exhaust smell?

if you're smelling it out the exhaust, its because you have a misfire and that fuel is not being burned.

otherwise you might have leaking injector o-rings if you smell raw fuel, check for leaks on all the fuel lines

 

[slolearner]

Make sure plug wires are still on good and tight. Look at your engine idling in the dark to check it out. Do the cheap things first.

 

[Fx4wannabe01]

^^I don't suggest having plugs 'good and tight', more like nice and snug.


Be sure to check all your plugs....here's a plug that I found after I dropped my new engine in. I was having a miss under load and it was idling weird.

NEVER seen anything like it. After you've eliminated plugs, start looking at your wires, then the coil packs, etc...

Run a bottle of Lucas fuel injector cleaner in it. That stuff is really good. My 110k engine's injectors were beautiful when I popped the inejctors out. I've ran lucas in it every other tank and got some darn good mileage out of it. Don't forget fuel filter replacement just for hte hell of it.

 

[slolearner]

I said PLUG WIRES good and tight.......................Sometimes after change out, wires can feel ON but need to be double checked ...........

 

[Mark_88]

OH...and make sure the boots are down far enough in the cable that they actually contact the tip of the plug...and the distributor/coil pack...

I've accidentally yanked them too far up into the boots and they simply don't touch the plugs...and it's easier to do than you might think...