What plugs were used? Hopefully Motorcraft or Autolite. Other brands, especially Bosch, seem to lead to missfires in 10K or less miles.

Coil pack failure is a common problem.

 

I'm not totally sure on what kind, but my dad said they're good for 5 years or 50,000 or 60,000 miles, which it's been 51,000 mi or so since they were changed.

 

If he said the plugs are only good for 50,000 miles then you used the wrong plugs. You need to use motorcraft or Autolite double platinum plugs. They will last you over 100k, easily.

I appreciate you already reading the misfire diagnosis sticky!

It could be your coil pack. That's annoying to get to on the 24v though. it's on the back of the motor on the rear bank cam cover. If you can get that off and check the underside for cracks.

 

So is that where we should start? Do I need to replace all of them or just the cylinder that's misfiring? He said he had everything replaced and it cost him like $500 =\ Also he said to try and use some fuel injection cleaner too cause it feels like it's not getting enough gas.

 

Replace all of them. If it feels like it isn't getting enough gas you should be testing the fuel pressure. You have to get a pressure gauge and hook it up to the Schrader valve on the fuel rail.

Replacing the spark plugs shouldn't cost THAT much to do. Shop around. Buy the plugs yourself first though (rocauto.com - motorcraft plugs are cheap there). REMEMBER: Autolite or Motorcraft Double Platinum plugs!! If you buy the plugs online get a set of UIM gaskets (plenum gaskets). The shop should replace those too since they have to take the intake manifold off to do the plugs.

 

Well the whole not getting enough gas thing is again what my dad said, personally I've never run out of gas but like I said it's shaking and sputtering at start-up and (sometimes) low speeds. My husband said he had a car do this before too and he had to replace the wire and the plug on the cylinder that was misfiring and then it was fine -_- I guess I'm just looking for reaffirmation that that's what it is and I'd be a fool to pay the idiots at Monro $350.

 

Read the misfire sticky in the maint./repair forum, then check/replace plug(s), wire(s) and/or ignition coil pack.

 

I did read it actually It doesn't seem to have my specific problem/symptoms listed which is why I took it here.

 

If you think it's fuel related, throw a fuel pressure gauge on it and monitor the pressure.

If you think it's rain related, try spraying your plug wires with water and look for arcing:

 

Well, it's the fuel injector. Found out after my husband and sister-in-law's boyfriend replaced the plugs and wires, which also needed replacing. Now it's worse and they're going to replace the injector tomorrow morning. I guess at least it's not something completely serious

 

Ya it could be worse, you could have a scored cylinder wall or something and need a new motor. Atleast it's not that.


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That scares me and I almost want to know how I'd know that....... :\

 

You would know it if you sucked some sand or metal shavings into the engine.


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Lol, no, I don't think so. But thanks for your words of encouragement

 

Update

So, they finally fixed the fuel injector. My hubby also cleaned out the air filter (I have one of those that you don't replace) and reset the check engine light and it hasn't come back on, however, I'm still feeling something wonky. It's skipping a little when idling and when I turn the car on (not always just on a cold start), and when I turned the A/C on it started shaking a bit. Do I have a vacuum leak now? I'll be honest, I did not have a professional do the work on the car. The MPG is great and it doesn't seem like it's misfiring (maybe just slightly) but I'm still definitely feeling something off. I swear they may have not connected a hose properly or something because they're space cadets.

Here's what we replaced: All spark plugs with Motorcraft platinum plugs, all plug wires, and cylinder #1's fuel injector. We also put that Seafoam stuff in it. My husband said they had to depressurize my gas tank and someone at school said there may be air in there and I should go through a full tank of gas before I'll notice the car running perfect. But I don't think that's going to cause the car to shake with the A/C running. Should I give up and just take it to a mechanic? This car is making me broke!

For those just joining in: Had a cylinder 1 misfire that turned out to be a bad fuel injector. I have a '02 Taurus 3.0L 24V Duratec DOHC engine.

 

If you have an oiled air filter, there is a possibility of MAF contamination from the oil, so you may want to try cleaning the MAF.

It does sound like a vacuum leak to me. Check all the hoses on the back of the intake manifold since they might have missed one when they put it back.

 

We opened the hood and heard a hissing for sure. Just have to find it now, I heard it around the intake manifold so I believe that's roughly where it is. When they took the intake manifold off to get to the back spark plugs, they had to re-seal the intake manifold but didn't use new gaskets, instead they used Permatex which I guess is a gasket rebuilder. Can that also contribute to the problem? It looks pretty sealed up but I don't know what they did. The CEL finally came on and I have just a random misfire code. The car drives like a friggin dream but it idles intermittently like garbage (even more so when the A/C is on). I just really don't think it's a coil at this point.

 

Not replacing the intake gaskets was a BIG mistake, as was using gasket sealer on the old gaskets. The gaskets are cheap and easily available. Replace them with new.

 

Do you think that's what's causing this crap? You're not the first person to tell me this (my overly anal retentive father said the same thing but I thought it was just him being anal retentive.)

 

Get new gaskets, gasket maker isn't really meant for intakes, it's best for oils pans and things of that nature. As others have suggested, replace the gaskets and report back. Make sure you clean the gasket mating surfaces on the intake.


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That didn't fix it. Checked for all vacuum leaks, nothing. I'm getting a steady P0301 and P0316 (cylinder 1 misfire and misfire in first 1000 rpm's). I have replaced fuel injector on cylinder 1, spark plugs, and spark plug wires. It's either an ignition coil or something about a crank shaft censor. I'm leaning towards coil at this point. I had someone do the spraying water trick and it didn't necessarily spark, but the car ran even worse after he did that.

 

If the idle changes after spraying water on the ignition coil and wires you definitely have a voltage leak somewhere to address.

 

So I'd just assume to replace the coil then? I really can't think of anything else to replace All the plugs AND wires were replaced perfectly. I think the fuel injector was also bad because I was smelling gas but not anymore. Maybe the coil shorted out the fuel injector. It's been running pretty well today after the oil change, but there's still the idle hiccup and it's still meh when I turn it on. I really think after all that rain, there may have been just the tiniest crack in the coil and it absorbed a crap ton of moisture. The car runs progressively better during the day.

 

Take the coil out and look over it really carefully from top to bottom. If you see any kind of cracking, it's a safe bet that it will go bad if it hasn't already, so replace it. Just make sure you get the wires on correctly.

 

I don't know if this will turn out to be the case for you, but I've had a single cylinder misfire (codes 305 with the occasional 316) at idle on and off for at least 5 years. I've never been able to figure out what it is. It'll be regular-ish for months and then go way for months. I've changed just about everything out (coil pack, fuel injector, spark plugs & wires, intake manifold gaskets, o2 sensors, pcv valve) at various times due to maintenance issues, but it's never gone away permanently. Of course, it's never flashing when I go to the shop, so I don't remember to say anything.

I think a cracked head, a burnt valve, or some other kind of vacuum leak is the only thing I've got left. I figure a cracked head would stranded me on the side of the road by now, so maybe a burnt valve or other vacuum leak? I haven't done a vacuum or compression/leak-down test on my car though, because I don't have a smoke machine for the vacuum test and I cannot get my spark plugs out to try a compression test (I think I'm just afraid I will break them somehow when I try).

I'll probably have them done the next time I change my spark plugs (if I still have the car then) just to figure it out once and for all. If it's not either of those, then I just dunno. I will probably just leave it as is in the end since I have no problems driving the car.

 

Hello, I replaced the coil pack in my 2003 Ford Windstar yesterday,which Btw was running just like your car,and now it runs and idles perfect. The old coil pack showed no visible signs of cracking and I also installed new plugs. Not sure how old the old plugs were as were in car when I bought it last winter. You can get new coil pack from amazon for 35 dollars whereas autozone wants 70dollars. Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

Thanks, I'm definitely going to have our cousin swap the coil pack. I'm assuming moisture got under there and started shorting out the coil pack when we had heavy, steady rain for 4 days (two of them were remnants of a tropical storm!). It's getting worked on Sunday and I'll report back. Thanks everyone so much for your advice. The person working on my car this time is the person who has replaced TONS of things on it already, and has a Saab that he's rebuilt a couple few times. I think working on a domestic will be a little easier for him

 

^ I would recommend a Motorcraft coil from RockAuto online or a Borg-Warner (BWD) from Advance Auto or O'Reilly.

 

had all the above problems, and first bought a cheap coil made matters worse rock auto has the coil (motorcraft) for 77 bucks, google rock auto discount im sure you will find a 5% coupon, and they had the coil at my house in 22 hours make sure you use die electric grease on wires and make sure red band (cheap coil had it lose in box) is installed correct on ecu wires which plug into the side