Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us
Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network
HomeAnnouncements
Discussion Groups
By Brand
BMWChevroletDodgeFordGMHondaLexusMercedes-BenzNissanPeugeotToyotaVolkswagenOther Brands
By Topic
4x4 CarsRVsDrivingMaintenance & RepairCar AudioCollectible Cars
Country Specific
Australian ForumsUK Forums
ArticlesAuto InsuranceBuyingCars & TechnologyMaintenanceMiscellaneousSafety
DMV Resources
Related Topics
MotorcyclesBoatsMore Topics ...

Car Forum / Pontiac / Pontiac Cars / March 2008

Tip: Looking for answers? Try searching our database.

3.8 coilpacks

Thread view: 
Enable EMail Alerts  Start New Thread
Thread rating: 
clare at snyder.on.ca - 20 Feb 2008 04:08 GMT
Got called back to the office this afternoon because a computer was
rebooting. The 1994 Trans Sport 3.8 ran beautifully. I shut ijt off,
and when I came out half an hour later and restarted it I smelled raw
gas from the now cold exhaust, and the engine had a pronounced miss.

I limped it home and disconnected injectors one at a time ntill I
found #3 made no difference. I shut it off and pulled #3 plug wire.
When I cranked it over there was no spark.
I pulled the wire from the coil. Still no spark. I pulled #6 from the
coil (opposite connection) and it had LOTS of fire.
I pulled the coilpack and replaced it - lots of fire, but the engine
still missed. Spark tester showed the second (middle) coil pack was
producing a weaker than normal spark - so I replaced it too, and the
engine now runs as sweet as ever.

Any idea what would cause 2 coils to "go south" all at once?
The other coil pack was replaced something like 5 years and 90,000 km
ago. (thruck has over 365,000km on it now)

Signature

Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Bon·ne·ville - 20 Feb 2008 04:26 GMT
> Got called back to the office this afternoon because a computer was
> rebooting. The 1994 Trans Sport 3.8 ran beautifully. I shut ijt off,
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> The other coil pack was replaced something like 5 years and 90,000 km
> ago. (thruck has over 365,000km on it now)

Its simple really, bad plugs or bad wires will eventually equal bad
coils.

Need I say more?
clare at snyder.on.ca - 21 Feb 2008 01:52 GMT
>> Got called back to the office this afternoon because a computer was
>> rebooting. The 1994 Trans Sport 3.8 ran beautifully. I shut ijt off,
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
>Need I say more?
Plugs are fine. I'll be checking the wires when it warms up, but the
spark testers show excellent spark on all six now. Also, absolutely NO
ignition noise on an AM radio held close to the running engine (which
is usually a pretty good way of indicating bad spark plug continuity)

Signature

Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Bon·ne·ville - 21 Feb 2008 17:47 GMT
> Plugs are fine. I'll be checking the wires when it warms up, but the
> spark testers show excellent spark on all six now. Also, absolutely NO
> ignition noise on an AM radio held close to the running engine (which
> is usually a pretty good way of indicating bad spark plug continuity)

Is it a HEI spark tester? Either way a spark tester still wont tell you
wire resistance. An Ohm meter should always be used. Nothing suprising
about having 'new' wires that are bad right out of the box. Wires are
also pron to chafing and if not correctly routed or tied down they wont
last 40k miles. Factory routing of spark plug wires is pretty bad...

HEI
http://www.matcotools.com/ProductImages/kd2756.jpg

Standard
http://www.matcotools.com/ProductImages/kd2757.jpg
JHG - 20 Feb 2008 05:16 GMT
Old age?

> Got called back to the office this afternoon because a computer was
> rebooting. The 1994 Trans Sport 3.8 ran beautifully. I shut ijt off,
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> The other coil pack was replaced something like 5 years and 90,000 km
> ago. (thruck has over 365,000km on it now)
dye - 05 Mar 2008 16:34 GMT
>Got called back to the office this afternoon because a computer was
>rebooting. The 1994 Trans Sport 3.8 ran beautifully. I shut ijt off,
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>coil (opposite connection) and it had LOTS of fire.
>I pulled the coilpack and replaced it - lots of fire, but the engine

I've had these fail, but never like this.  Each coil pack fires two
plugs at once (one at the top of the compression stroke, firing
the cylinder, and the other at the top of the exhaust stroke, doing
nothing).  A coil pack failure turns the V6 into an odd firing
V4 really quick.

>still missed. Spark tester showed the second (middle) coil pack was
>producing a weaker than normal spark - so I replaced it too, and the
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>The other coil pack was replaced something like 5 years and 90,000 km
>ago. (thruck has over 365,000km on it now)

The first one sounds like an electrical breakage, the second
one normal (for 350Kkm!) wear and tear...

--Ken

Signature

Ken R. Dye                               an optimist is a guy             |
Chicago, Illinois                        that has never had               |
www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Track/8746   much experience                  |
dye1146 at sbcglobal dot net                                 archy        |

 
Sign In
Join
My Latest Posts
My Monitored Threads
My Blog
My Photo Gallery
My Profile
My Homepage

Start New Thread
Enable EMail Alerts
Rate this Thread



©2009 Advenet LLC   Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.