Tweaked Tay

Hey guys,

I was driving on Saturday and boy do I have a story for you!

I was swinging by the local stealership to get some info on a recall notice I received recently for the driver airbag deployment device, and sure enough, the car died.

I was driving down their back road in second and noticed a sudden power drop, then downshifted into first as I entered their parking lot where the car went down to idle, then stalled out completely. After a few attempts to restart, I let it roll back down onto the street and was able to get it into a parked position.

First thing I figured was that the plugs fried, so I walked over to the closest NAPA and bought a set.

After changing them in the street, to the dismay of a local police officer, I tried starting her again to no avail. Luckily she was parked on a hill so I bumped it.

Once she got started from the bump, I DID NOT let it idle, I had to keep it around 3K to avoid a stall. So I limped home on that.

Once home, I pulled the plugs again, connected them to wires and got my wife to hit the ignition to see if I was getting a spark. The front rotor did fine, both sparked and I got ignition in the chamber. With the rear rotor, my trailing plug wasn't firing. I figured wires at thing point. After going to another NAPA and purchasing those, I got them installed. The car finally fired up, but with a P0302 cylinder #2 misfire code. After playing with the throttle a bit, it went away. I took it out on the street and it immediately died. Got it back into the garage and pulled the battery (which is also new) and the 'room' fuse I read about on a thread on here. After that, no ignition. She'll try to turn over, to no avail.

The last two things I can think of are either that the coils are fried, or that my seals are done on the rear rotor......Which I obviously hope isn't the case.

The car is basically stock minus the RB Duel Res mid pipe I installed last year, which is legal in my province. She's an '05 manual.

I'm going to call my local rotary shop today and see if they have any ideas, but I figured I'd try the ALMIGHTY POWER OF THE INTERNET first.

Thanks guys, any help at all would be appreciated....

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Coils would be the first place to start (even before plugs and wires, those don't fail suddenly).
The fact that you were able to relight while the engine is hot points away from a compression issue.
Get those coils.

Tweaked Tay

I'll be swinging by my local rotary specialists this afternoon, hopefully they'll have a few of them laying around that i can buy... Thanks for the help

Steve Dallas

Coils, plugs, and wires are wearable items on this car. They last 20 to 30K miles on average. If you have not replaced them by now, you definitely need to. Then, you need to check your cat. Bad ignition kills cats. Dead cats kill engines.

Tweaked Tay

I've done the plugs and wires twice now within 15K kms, so we're good there But the coils haven't been changed since they were recalled ages ago...

I have no cat, so no worries there, but thanks!

Tweaked Tay

Update:

So I did the coils last night and got nothing. She's definitely trying to start but she just won't turn over. Was able to get it started once and kept getting the rear rotor misfire code.

When she was cranking, I could hear a 'ffft ffft ffft' kind of sound from in/around the intake manifold.... Never remember her making this sound before. I checked all the hoses I could see and everything seemed sealed and in place. Could a vacuum leak be the culprit?

Tweaked Tay

Hey gents, quick update, still need help.

I think I've found the problem, the rear, trailing plug is not firing.

I've replaced all the plugs, wires and coils now, and I'm not sure why that plug isn't firing....

Any help would be awesome guys.

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

Did the noise you're hearing occur after you installed new plugs?
If so, check that the ceramic insulator of the plug is attached to the base and not loose.
It's been known to happen.

Tweaked Tay

I figured id go for broke and try one of the old plugs in the rear trailing, and still no firing. The old plugs are still in good shape and it seems to only be this one plug that isn't firing...

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

I'm not an expert, but it could be a bad harness connection on the corresponding coil.
That's all I can think of if it's a new coil, wire, and plug.

Steve Dallas

The car should start and run without one of its trailing plugs firing. If it will not, something else (probably related) is wrong. I'm with BC. Look at the harnesses and make sure nothing is damaged, shorting, etc.