CRANKS on 3-----WON'T on 4

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sugarlimb
New User | Posts: 47 | Joined: 07/10

Posted: 07/19/12
08:25 PM

2001 FOCUS 2.0 WILL START WITH ANY PLUG WIRE PULLED OFF/WIRE LAYING ON VALVE COVER. WILL NOT FIRE WITH ALL 4 WIRES ON PLUGS. REPLACED COIL PACK,WIRES,CRANK/SENSOR, EVEN REPLACED IGN.SWITCH.TRYING TO STAY "FOCUSED" WITH THIS FOCUS.IT'S NEVER BORING AROUND HERE;BY THE WAY DID THE DIG. VOLT METER TEST ON ALL 4 AREAS.

waynep71222
Guru | Posts: 825 | Joined: 03/12

Posted: 07/19/12
11:42 PM

still have a timing light in your tool box...

install all 4 wires.. hook the timing light over each one.. while somebody cranks the engine..

are you getting a single flash on them .. or a double flash that would show there is an issue..

the coil has a condenser mounted to it.. is it still there??? under one of the hold down bolts?? like the taurus and other V6 motors. to dampen the primary wave forms..

any fatigue issues on the wiring into the coil connector..

i will have to come back in the morning after i have looked at the wiring diagram for the engine controls and see how the ignition..

waynep71222
Guru | Posts: 825 | Joined: 03/12

Posted: 07/20/12
08:03 AM

you did not mention if its a single overhead cam or a dual overhead cam motor as they show both as optional...

can you see the capacitor hooked to the 12 volts positive supply?? if thats off.. you may have problems.

you say you have checked the voltage drop.. where is the computer grounded to the engine at???
could that be loose..

you can see the cap connection heading off to the right above pin 2 on the coil in the drawing. its bigger than you can see..

do you have 4 decent spark plugs laying around.. pull all the plug wires .. stick the spark plugs in them.. strip some copper wire. loop it around the shell of the spark plugs so you hold them in a pack of 4.. ground the far end of the wire to the engine.. position it so you can see the gaps..

when you have somebody crank the engine.. do the spark plugs fire in pairs???? snappy blue sparks.

crank the gaps open... so that you have like .080 gaps... are you getting nice blue snappy sparks from each..

i have been tempted for a long time to drill a scrap of sheet metal and run my 14 mm spark plug tap through the holes... so i can screw 4 spark plugs in and ground this strip to visually inspect the spark quality while cranking..

next step might be a continuity beeper test between the coil connector to ecm connector while wiggling the harness to check for a broken ..

or... and i have not opened a 2001 ECM.. but i have found bad solder junctions in a LOT of other computers... but it looks like a conventional ford computer..