ignition issues now, no blown motor

[Mazda_Powered]

hey guys, incase you didnt know or remember i thought i blew the motor in the escort, well it turns out 6 things happened at once!

turns out i blew the top rad hose, spoiled my distributor unit, coil pack, wires, fowled 3 plugs cuz of the over heating, and all the wires went bad...wow eh?

well anyways, i've replaced the distributor unit and coil pack, so im getting lots of spark to the distributor cap, and im getting spark jump from all 4 wires when i pull them off the disti cap, and it seems like im getting spark when i pull the wires from the spark plug end it seems like im getting spark BUUUUT

its running on 3 cylinders and im getting a horrible popping sound from the exhaust!

i did a compression test, reads 142,145,146,138. so its not a head gasket

BUT GRRR!!!!! any ideas why she wont run on all four??? its definately an ignition problem now.

thanks

JACK

[jitb37]

ITs gonna soudn obvious, but it just soudns like soemthgn is aloose, maybe an injector? What elses did u do while u were repairing? Check you vaccum hoses, they will make it run and make it feel like its on 3 cyls. Also you might want to check the ground wire near the distributor it may came aloose and or shorted out.

[Mazda_Powered]

ok, thanks dude, i'll check that out tomorrow. i just wanna sell this damn thing so i can start getting the other turbo goodies i need...which is everything BUT the injectors and VAF, lol.

JACK

[Mazda_Powered]

ok, is there anyway i could have crushed an intake valve? my dad thinks its that and he's getting really pissed off at me and the car.

he wants me to pop off the valve cover, isnt it a non-interface engine?

JACK

[Tazman2]

ok, is there anyway i could have crushed an intake valve? my dad thinks its that and he's getting really pissed off at me and the car.

he wants me to pop off the valve cover, isnt it a non-interface engine?

JACK

Non Interference correct!

[Mazda_Powered]

so then the BP will not run if it has a crushed or bent valve or anything like that, right?

JACK

[Tazman2]

so then the BP will not run if it has a crushed or bent valve or anything like that, right?

JACK

Umm no car will. Point of non interference is that even if the timing belt snaps nothing can hit as it NEVER interferes ie NON INTERFERENCE!

[Mazda_Powered]

so its doubtful its a crushed or bent valve? i just need to get this thing running so the buyer can take it home

JACK

[bmikedaman]

Your compression test #s immediately rule out intake valve, if you squashed the valves you'd be making **** compression. You said you fouled 3 plugs, did you replace all 4 plugs after this happened? Also, have you tried pulling the wires one at a time to see what cylinder is missing? If its just one the car will die when you remove the wire for any of the working cylinders, and the dead cylinder wont change when you remove the plug wire. If you find that its not specific to a single cylinder id suspect a failed hall effect unit in the distributor or a bad ignitor. If its cylinder specific you need to start looking at the fuel and spark for just that cylinder, ie use a long screw driver or mechanics stethescope to see if the injector is clicking open and shut, noid light to see if its getting electrical signal, then start checking the spark system.

[lscrx]

FYI... the BP will run and drive with only two working cylinders... I found that out when I ran through a big puddle at the j/y and drowned two of my plugs. Just don't try and race a Geo... their 3 cylinders own a 1g running on 2!

[Mazda_Powered]

bmike, yea, i've already replaced the spark plugs, i've replaced the wires, and i've replaced the cap and rotor and the distributor unit out of a running escort gt.

i know for sure the coil is giving off lots of spark, and that the disti cap gets spark to all of the wires, and that i get spark travel when i pull the plug wires from the plug side.

so its making, sending, and recieving spark, but only 3 cylinders are running. the exhaust is also making a loud popping noise...kinda weird.

JACK

[srad2drag]

Do you have your firing order correct?

[Mazda_Powered]

yup, the firing order is correct i checked that too

JACK

[jitb37]

maybe you shoudl reset your timing. are yo injectors working correctly?

[Mazda_Powered]

yea, the injectors were replaced from a running BP about 2 months ago, replaced all the o-rings on it, properly installed, the whole bit.

im gonna get a spark plug/wire tester, and see if for sure i have good wires.

this is sooo annoying though, grrr

oh, any reason why cylinder # 4's compression is significantly lower than the other 3???

i did another test and it was 20psi lower than the other 3, it was like 128 and the others were between 142-146.

JACK