help! cylinders quit firing

[SC FOUR]

the other day as i was driving i noticed half my power cut out, the trans started shifting wierd and the tach went erratic. sounds like only the 4 cylinders on the drivers side are working. exhaust is a little white and smells like fuel. it also will idle without cutting off.

any ideas?

4.0 1UZFE 163k miles. synthetic oil every 3k

 

[sliva001]

Check both of your ignition coil 1 is probably dead. 1 is located on the driverside right above the a/c compressor and the other is in the passenger side infront of the engine.

 

[SC FOUR]

thanks. thats what i was thinking. no engine lights came on. would a fault code show up?

 

[Zuffen]

You could have a faulty igniter, which would feel like a coil and have the same symptoms or a wiring fault which could be intermitent and have the same symptoms.

The first thing I would do is acsertain which distributor is cutting out. Note each distributor drives two cylinders on each side of the engine.

This will tell you which coil is cutting out.

I would then swap the plugs on the igniters to see if that swaps the problem to the other side distributor.

If it does it tells you your igniters are fine.

Assuming you know the problem isn't the igniter check the wiring from the igniters to the coils as it may be damaged (particularly around the fan belt).

If all else fails try swapping the coils. The coil units bolt into the frames that bolt them to the engine.

As you tach went crazy it could be the feed to the igniter as only 1 igniter drives the tach.

 

[SC FOUR]

wow thank you zuffen. i figured it was something electrical at fault since i didnt see any fluids coming from the engine itself. it seriously sounds like a civic with a loud muffler. ill check it out this weekend.

plus i dont hear any unuasal ticking or knocking, which i assume is a good thing.

and im guessing fuel is still being injected into the cylinders which is why the exhaust smells like premium fuel...

 

[SC FOUR]

turns out the problem was one of the coil packs. i didnt have time to do it myself but let the shop change it for $225.

 

[ehogan]

I have the same problem.
Was driving along and lost acceleration to a almost halt.

Hubby pumped on the acceleration a few times to get the car going and it now sounds very noisy.

Unplugged the drivers side coil car stalls.
Unplugged the passangers side coil no change.

Replaced the passengers side coil with a new one, now there is a spark jumping on the coil lead to the distributor and car still is shuddering but will idle.

Any suggestions

though it could be the cats.

 

[Zuffen]

If you have sparks from the coil lead to the cap check the lead is correctly plugged in or not damaged in some way.

You could also have a faulty cap.

At least you know the coil works!