1996 850 Base NA Severe Misfire after smooth running

zupta82 · Post by **zupta82** » 24 Feb 2019, 18:50

Hello everyone, I hope this is not a long and annoying explanation, I am absolutely lost and don't know what to do!!

I have a 1996 850 Base Model with a 2.4 liter. In the past two weeks I have been trying to chase down a severe misfire with no check engine light. I have replaced the plugs wires cap and rotor, checked compression (180psi all cylinders), checked fuel pressure(45 psi with relay terminal jumped I then pinched the return line and pressure wasn't building so I replaced pump). I also blew into the pressure regulator and no air was going thru. I manually checked the following sensors and power stage coil with a voltmeter according to the chilton manual (coolant,maf,iac,tps,crank).
I did however notice that when testing for the correct voltages on one of the "cam sensor" terminals harness it was reading battery voltage instead of 5V. At this point I was thinking it may be the ecm or the path within the harness to the cam sensor.

I also tried a good used ignition coil that I had laying around and both o2 sensors are only several months old. I also checked for grounds and B+ voltage at the ecm.

Lastly, I was going to check for a plugged converter with the use of a vacuum gauge but can't get even get it to idle and I noticed that the plugs are wet with gas

I would greatly appreciate some help!!

Post by **abscate** » 24 Feb 2019, 19:25

Confirm plugwire order. Easy To mess up And some references have them wrong

zupta82 · Post by **zupta82** » 24 Feb 2019, 19:32

Oh by the way I forgot to mention when I checked for spark on some of the cylinders I couldn't hear the crackling sound when I lifted them off the boots.

zupta82 · Post by **zupta82** » 24 Feb 2019, 19:37

I will check the firing order of the wires, I did remember immediately after replacing the plugs, cap and wires the engine did seem to run smooth for about 3 minutes and then began to misfire again.

Post by **erikv11** » 24 Feb 2019, 22:16

Are you sure the cam seal is not blown out under the distributor cap, sending in moisture and oil?

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 24 Feb 2019, 22:58

Turn off the lights and watch for arcing, specially around the coil. If your doing this outside wait until night fall. Sometimes a boot does not seal up correctly.

zupta82 · Post by **zupta82** » 26 Feb 2019, 20:22

Sorry everybody I haven't replied, I had to take a break because this is driving me crazy.

I went ahead and checked the plug wires for correct order and they are fine and I did not see any arcing in the dark.

Also, I was able to start the engine and take a vacuum reading and I am getting about 15 inches, I changed the cam sensor with a good used one. I did notice that the rpm's are not moving during the misfire and the lights are slightly dimming. Also, when disconnecting and connecting the negative battery in between testing I did notice that there were no sparks jumping from the battery to the cables

Post by **abscate** » 26 Feb 2019, 23:41

Don’t disconnect the battery while running. This can cause a large range of expensive problems.

What kind of parts did you use for replacements? We recommend OEM only here

zupta82 · Post by **zupta82** » 27 Feb 2019, 04:21

I did not disconnect battery while running. There was times when I had to disconnect the battery when testing some sensors and I had to remove the battery from the car to charge it. I also have been using oem parts from the junkyard

Post by **abscate** » 27 Feb 2019, 04:35

Hmmm...tough one. Can you pull out a plug, ground the thread part with wire to the block, Andy crank looking for a bright blue spark? That will tell you about the health of the ignition system.