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| Andrew | 96 Engine Miss | ||
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I have not driven my car since May and went for a short drive this evening. Very humid, which this car hates. While driving I could feel and hear a miss every once in a while. When I got home, opened the hood and was listening and watching for arcing from the plug wires, but could not see anything. However, I could hear that distinct "click" sound like an arcing spark. It is coming from the opti area. So, how do I diagnose and track down if I need a new opti or it is a plug wire issue?
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Posted on: 2011/8/6 2:04
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2003 Atomic Orange Z06 Sold - 1996 Competition Yellow LT4 - DRM 383, NX N2O, Line Lock, LT Headers, 3" stainless exhaust, Power Effects, and many more mods SOLD 1996 Competition Yellow LT4 SOLD 1979 4 Speed with 383 |
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| bogus | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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Grand Imperial Pooh-Bah
 
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That's gonna be a trick.
You will more than likely have to dig into it enough to determine if the wires are the cause or not. You may want to take a dark space, start, and use a mirror to look for sparks down by the opti. |
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Posted on: 2011/8/6 2:47
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| Matatk | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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One quick test for the wires is to run the car in a dark garage and spray a mist of water from a water bottle and see if you get arcing.
Matthew |
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Posted on: 2011/8/6 11:46
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| BillH | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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The Stig Moderator
 
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Yea, check the plug wires as indicated.
The opti's another thing. They can cause an occasional miss without throwing codes but, you need to check for codes anyway. If you can hear something at the opti when the miss occurs it MAY indicate a problem with the cap & rotor. The problem with this is that the only to tell is to physically look at the cap & rotor which is a pain. Wires first, then codes. How many miles on the opti? |
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Posted on: 2011/8/6 14:46
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| Andrew | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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2013 Memorial Day Car Show Winner!
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I did drive it again last evening. Overall, I'm a cruiser, so I thought the car needed a few hard pulls. In 1st, blew the tires off, shifted into second about 20 mph and blew the tires off again, so feathered through the top of 2nd and noticed that at about 5k rpm, it would feel and sound like it was bouncing off the rev limiter. More of a larger miss issue. Ran it up in 2nd again, and pulled to 6700 rpm easily. Tried it again and same 5k rpm problem. Pulled the codes and no problems there. I'm a bit baffled....
The opti is a MSD with about 10k miles on it. The car has just over 30k. It's not throwing any codes. I was able to pull all the wires from the passenger side and they look fine, ends all tight, no wire burns, all good. I was able to feel the drivers side to make sure they were connected tightly, but did not pull any of them (didnt want to get into that yet). Tonight, after it gets dark, I'll try the mist idea. Great suggestion. If I don't see anything, I'll tear the accessories off the front of the block and pull the drivers side wires and inspect them. If I cannot see any arcing, wires look good, and no codes are being thrown, should I go ahead and get another opti? Changing them is not that difficult, just time consuming. I'll be disappointed if the famed MSD opti goes out with only 10k miles.... |
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Posted on: 2011/8/6 15:42
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2003 Atomic Orange Z06 Sold - 1996 Competition Yellow LT4 - DRM 383, NX N2O, Line Lock, LT Headers, 3" stainless exhaust, Power Effects, and many more mods SOLD 1996 Competition Yellow LT4 SOLD 1979 4 Speed with 383 |
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| BillH | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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The Stig Moderator
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No, don't get another opti, yet.
I'll be very supprised if it has anything to do with the MSD. Yea, puzzling since it comes and goes. Check the coil wire closely tonite where it goes under the waterpump. Check the opti connector, and the ICM connector. It almost sounds like a loose connection. If it was the coil, the hotter it gets, the worse it gets. Same with the ICM. No codes will be thrown with the coil or ICM but keep checking them. |
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Posted on: 2011/8/6 15:51
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| bigmoe | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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Senior Guru
 
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Would a plug wire be more evident when you lug it at a lower rpm?
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Posted on: 2011/8/6 17:41
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| Andrew | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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2013 Memorial Day Car Show Winner!
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The coil is Accel with about 10k miles on it. I don't know about the IMC. How can I test the coil and ICM? I'd just like to get a check sheet, since I'm going to be tearing into the front of the engine.
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Posted on: 2011/8/6 18:57
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2003 Atomic Orange Z06 Sold - 1996 Competition Yellow LT4 - DRM 383, NX N2O, Line Lock, LT Headers, 3" stainless exhaust, Power Effects, and many more mods SOLD 1996 Competition Yellow LT4 SOLD 1979 4 Speed with 383 |
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| 1Fast04Vert | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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Before you take things apart get a good look at the coil to opti wire. They are known to rub and cause problems. Not a common thing, but a possibility. An auto parts store can cycle (heat) the ICM and test it for you, but usually an ICM either works fine or shuts the engine down. I have a good, used, and very cheap opti if you need it.
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Posted on: 2011/8/6 19:25
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| bogus | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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Grand Imperial Pooh-Bah
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Quote:
Yes. For sure! The greater the load, the greater the effect. |
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Posted on: 2011/8/6 21:40
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| Andrew | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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2013 Memorial Day Car Show Winner!
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Found the problem. It was a plug wire. Caution to those of you using Taylor 10.4mm wires. The area the drivers side wires go under the accessories in front of the motor is very tight. So tight, that it rubbed a spot through the wire, so that it would arc occasionally against the engine block. I rtv'd the tar out of it, took the car on a drive, and no more problems.
I think that this "fix" will get me through to winter, then I'll pull the wires and put some 8.5's back on. I know this has been discussed quite a bit, MSD or Taylor 8.5's? |
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Posted on: 2011/8/10 0:46
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2003 Atomic Orange Z06 Sold - 1996 Competition Yellow LT4 - DRM 383, NX N2O, Line Lock, LT Headers, 3" stainless exhaust, Power Effects, and many more mods SOLD 1996 Competition Yellow LT4 SOLD 1979 4 Speed with 383 |
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| BillH | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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The Stig Moderator
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Quote:
Nice thing about Taylor's 8.5s, they fit the stock looms. I can see where the 10.4's would be tight behind the p/s pump. |
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Posted on: 2011/8/10 1:05
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| toptechx6 | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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Senior Guru
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For future reference your 96 is OBDII and is therefore required to have misfire detection, that is what the crankshaft position sensor is used for.
The PCM continually monitors for misfire on each cylinder, but will only set a code or illuminate the MIL when misfire exceeds a certain threshold or percentage of total firing cycles. Misfire counts can be observed for each cylinder on a scan tool even though a code has not been set, this can be very helpful in situations such as you describe to identify which cylinder has the problem. Next time you have a scan tool connected to any OBD II vehicle page through the parameters available (PID's) and you will find the misfire list for all cylinders. To prove to yourself that it works, unplug one of the injectors while watching the misfire monitor and you will see misfire counts on the cylinder with the disconnected injector start to climb. If you leave it unplugged long enough eventually it will set a code and illuminate the MIL. |
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Posted on: 2011/8/10 9:37
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| RickAnthony | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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I agree.. Also on the plug wires, I've ran the MSD's in the past not happy with them at all.. they did send me one replacement wire in the past though but had nothing but problems with them. Same with their blaster GM coil.. I put a stock replacement on and ac delco wires and have been fine ever since... -=Rick |
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Posted on: 2011/8/10 12:34
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| BillH | Re: 96 Engine Miss | ||
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The Stig Moderator
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15k miles on the MSD GM coil, Rick. (Just sayin')
Never used their wires though, I only run Taylors. |
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Posted on: 2011/8/10 12:39
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