Misfire

[99marodriver]

My car started to misfire about a month ago.. thought it might be due to not driving it(in college) but it never went away and finally got the "check engine" like to come on... now i hooked up my analyser and it said #1 plug misfire... i changed the plug and gapped it correctly but the misfire has not stopped... I now beileve that the coil is bad but i am getting something wierd because the spark interval for that coil is not as slow as the rest... would this show signs of a bad coil?? Or could this be because of a broken plug wire?? also the miss is not constant its like everyonce in a while... what else could cause this?? or has anyone ever had this problem?

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Originally posted by 99marodriver:
My car started to misfire about a month ago.. thought it might be due to not driving it(in college) but it never went away and finally got the "check engine" like to come on... now i hooked up my analyser and it said #1 plug misfire... i changed the plug and gapped it correctly but the misfire has not stopped... I now beileve that the coil is bad but i am getting something wierd because the spark interval for that coil is not as slow as the rest... would this show signs of a bad coil?? Or could this be because of a broken plug wire?? also the miss is not constant its like everyonce in a while... what else could cause this?? or has anyone ever had this problem?

plug
wires
coil pack
ICM

Rare case's
O2's
Maf
Cam sensor

[BLLDOGG]

i would check the wire

[99marodriver]

well looking through previous posts ive noticed this is an ongoing problem... if anyone has had these same problems and has figured them out please post on here.. thanks viper for your post i will start looking into those.. tomorrow i am going to put my computer back on because the check engine light came back on.. so maybe it will tell me something new

[98Camaro3.8]

Originally posted by 99marodriver:
if anyone has had these same problems and has figured them out please post on here

The things that Viper listed are what you want to check. Start off by replacing all the plugs and wires.

[99marodriver]

Originally posted by BLLDOGG:
i would check the wire

thing that is throwing me is that the wire is not losing spark from the top to the bottom... also has anyone else has a problem with a "fast" spark, meaning that the spark interval is rather fast compaired to the others

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Originally posted by 99marodriver:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by BLLDOGG:
i would check the wire

thing that is throwing me is that the wire is not losing spark from the top to the bottom... also has anyone else has a problem with a "fast" spark, meaning that the spark interval is rather fast compaired to the others </font>[/QUOTE]our plugs fire on both the exhuast and combustion stroke's

a wire firing 2x as fast is normal becuase of the waste spark system

take the plug out put the wire on it and ground the threads where you can see it...

pull the fuel inctor fuse from the fuse place under the hood...

have a friend turn the car over you should see the spark acr over the plug gap.

[99marodriver]

is this waste spark system because the gas is not being ignited on the first spark so it ignites again??

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Originally posted by 99marodriver:
is this waste spark system because the gas is not being ignited on the first spark so it ignites again??

no you notice how the 2 plugs are on one coil?

the sides of the coil do not fire sperate... the PCM (cars computer) fire's the coil as a hole. the one piston in the coil needs the spark and the other psiton on the the same coil is just on it exhuast stroke, it basically a waste of the spark. it does not help do anything firing 2 times.

[98Camaro3.8]

Waste Spark Theory
In a Distributorless Ignition System, a spark plug is attached to each end of the ignition coil secondary. Each coil secondary fires the plugs in two companion cylinders: cylinders that read Top Dead Center (TDC) at the same time. The cylinder that is at TDC on the compression stroke is referred to as the "event" cylinder while the cylinder that is at TDC on the exhaust stroke is the "waste" cylinder. When the coil discharges, both plugs fire at the same time to complete the series circuit.

Since the polarities of the ignition primary and secondary windings are fixed, one plug always fires in a forward direction while the other always fires in reverse. This arrangement requires somewhat more energy than conventional systems where all plugs always fire in the same direction. Coil design, saturation time and primary current flow on distributorless systems are modified to produce more available energy.

No ignition coil is designed to be run with the secondary unloaded. However, this is particularly true with distributorless ignition systems. The high voltage produced by these systems can cause personal injury and/or equipment damage.

Cylinder firing order on 3.0L, 3.8L, 3300 and 3800 engines is 1-6-5-4-3-2. Companion firing sequence is 1-4, 6-3, and 5-2.

Since both plugs in companion cylinders fire at the same time, it is not necessary for the module to recognize which cylinder is on which stroke. Because of lower pressure in the exhaust cylinder, the waste cylinder requires less voltage to produce an arc. Therefore, most of the voltage is used to fire the plug on the compression cylinder. The 2.8L and 3.1L engines have a different firing order (1-2-3-4-5-6). Companion firing sequence is 1-4, 2-5, and 3-6. During initial setup, the ignition module fires the 2-5 coil first.


With the exception of the 3800 Fast Start system, during initial start-up, the ignition module first energizes the coil that fires the second cylinder pair that reaches TDC in firing rotation.

[99marodriver]

so if im having a misfire in #1 plug... shouldnt #4 have a misfire also if it were the coil? it doesnt seem that im losing the spark threw the wire and ive changed the spark plug.. this is whats confusing me

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Originally posted by 99marodriver:
so if im having a misfire in #1 plug... shouldnt #4 have a misfire also if it were the coil? it doesnt seem that im losing the spark threw the wire and ive changed the spark plug.. this is whats confusing me

yeah do not get hit buy your plug.... becuase you get hit 2 times... i found that out the hard way

[99marodriver]

so what?? change the plug again?

[98Camaro3.8]

Change all your plugs and wires. If you still have a problem, start on the coils.

[99marodriver]

are plug wires a problem on the cars?? was just talking to my dad and i work on car as a hobby.. have never come across a bad spark plug wire