Hi! Two of its 4 cyl. have been misfiring for several days but I needed to drive it to get to work . Now the engine died. Is the PCS (engine computer) malfunctioning? I don't have a lot of $ but wonder if I need the engine put on a machine. Thanks for any help.
2001 focus is misfiring
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What happens when you try and start it back up?
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Could be a bad coil pack. Need to see if there are any codes
I'd like to apologize to this forum in general and in particular to those who have answered my call for help for my absence in responding. However it was due to circumstances which were beyond my control. 1st; the eng. computer does not have any codes. Also the car does start and is drivable (barely). I also had the coil pack replaced only a couple weeks ago and have all but eliminated that. I pulled all the plugs and all but one looked normal. That one has a bent ground electrode. Other than a foreign body getting in the combustion chamber what else could have bent the ground? Finally, I noticed white smoke coming out the exhaust. Could a blown head gasket cause the misfire? If so then the bent ground must be coming from something unrelated. I'll replace the plug to see how it affects the misfire. Thanks for your patience and forbearance .
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Do a block leak test or have a shop with a gas analyzer sniff the coolant rsv for HC's.
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^^ Are you sure, did you do a compression test and check your results against the specs in the manual for your engine?
White smoke can be fuel or steam from coolant. Smell the exhaust and see what it is. Your problem could be plug wires. To test plug wires, use a household cleaner, or a spray bottle full of water. Start the engine when it's dark, spray down the plug wires, and look and listen for the spark. You should be able to see flashes in time with the miss in the engine on the plug wires if you have bad plug wires.
You can also test for spark leak by turning the AM radio to a place where there is not a station and listening. You will hear a pop through the speakers in time with the miss in the engine.
Best wishes, but generally if you need a head gasket you'll have coolant mixing with the oil, or coolant leaking into the combustion chamber. If you're not missing any coolant, and there's no peanut butter substance in your oil, then the head gasket is likely to be ok.
White smoke can be fuel or steam from coolant. Smell the exhaust and see what it is. Your problem could be plug wires. To test plug wires, use a household cleaner, or a spray bottle full of water. Start the engine when it's dark, spray down the plug wires, and look and listen for the spark. You should be able to see flashes in time with the miss in the engine on the plug wires if you have bad plug wires.
You can also test for spark leak by turning the AM radio to a place where there is not a station and listening. You will hear a pop through the speakers in time with the miss in the engine.
Best wishes, but generally if you need a head gasket you'll have coolant mixing with the oil, or coolant leaking into the combustion chamber. If you're not missing any coolant, and there's no peanut butter substance in your oil, then the head gasket is likely to be ok.
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