OT- Automotive Coil Ignition Wires Help!

WeberWho

Calling all gear heads! I needed to do a compression test on my old beater 2.3L Ford Ranger as I'm getting a P0304 code. (4th cylinder misfire) Fortunately each cylinder has good compression but unfortunately I'm an idiot and didn't keep track of where the spark plug wire from the ignition coil went into what cylinder. I've searched the last 4 hours and I still have no clue on what cylinder gets what wire. 

The coil has number markings on it. (1 through 4) I don't necessarily know what that means. 



I believe the cylinders start with 1 in the front and 4th being in the back. 

I believe the firing order is 1-3-4-2.

I'm not sure if that matters. I'm completely clueless on how this works. When I changed plugs, wires, and ignition last year I did them one at a time. There was a lot going on today and I completely forgot to remember to get a picture of what goes where. My head hurts. I know this might be a long shot but I'm really hoping to get the truck to a shop tomorrow morning. I'm having no luck over on the Ford Ranger forum. I'm always amazed what this place has to offer and figure I might press my luck. 

ColtsFan

Cylinder #1 is definitely the front closest to radiator. 1342 sounds correct. I’m pretty sure the markings on the coil pack 1-4 indicate the cylinder they go to. Some of those 2.3 were dual plug, two per cylinder. What year is this ?

WeberWho

ColtsFan said:

Cylinder #1 is definitely the front closest to radiator. 1342 sounds correct. I’m pretty sure the markings on the coil pack 1-4 indicate the cylinder they go to. Some of those 2.3 were dual plug, two per cylinder. What year is this ?

You're right about the older Rangers having dual plugs. My first Ranger had them. This one is just single plugs per cylinder. (2007)

You would think the numbers on the coils would indicate the cylinder but I cant find any confirmation anywhere. I tried that earlier and she was running rough with the wires ran that way. 

I also tried running the 1-4 numbers on the coil with the firing order. That was a big no.

I'm just shocked I can't find a picture or a clear confirmation anywhere online. It's crazy how a 3 second picture would have saved me 4 hours worth of going through old forum threads. 

Ozzie_Isaac

There are two seperate configurations on in the longitudinal 2.3L layout.

WeberWho

Ozzie_Isaac said:

There are two seperate configurations on in the longitudinal 2.3L layout.

Hey thanks. That configuration is with the older Rangers that had two spark plugs per cylinder. 

Ozzie_Isaac

WeberWho

Ozzie_Isaac said:

That's the closest diagram I've seen when looking earlier. I can't find anything with a 2007. You would think the numbers on the coil would match the cylinder but my truck runs like crap that way. Earlier my truck would idle fine but would misfire under load. Now the misfire happens at idle after taking out the wires for a compression test. The misfire could be getting worse or switching the sparks plugs around maybe did something. (They looked fine) I'll maybe try clearing the codes and see if something new has come up since. 

RRP

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Looks like the proverbial apple didn’t fall too far from the tree! I sure hope that your JEEP driving, big *ss kite flying, egger Father is doing OK out there in retirement land in AZ!  Please tell him “hi” for me! 

WeberWho

Now misfiring on cylinder 1 with the additional 4th cylinder. I just don't get it. 

alaskanassasin

Fuel filter ?

alaskanassasin

Still have the code?

WeberWho

alaskanassasin said:

Fuel filter ?

I'm not sure. The code is P0304. (4th cylinder misfire)

New ignition coil, wires, and spark plugs in the last year. Compression checks out on all four cylinders. I did notice I was getting (I'd assume gas spitting out from the exhaust) when it was misfiring earlier. I'm not sure what that is from. I had a spark plug tester on all four spark plugs and I was getting spark when testing. (I don't know if that really indicates all that much) I don't know if I have a bad injector on the 4th cylinder? I think 1st cylinder misfire is with something backwards with wires. (That's brand new)

alaskanassasin

I probably will not be much help but here are some ideas. the firing order should not be hard to figure out, the numbers on the coil correspond to the cylinders, you could call a ford dealer and get the firing order or probably a auto zone etc would have it in their computer.  

 As for troubleshooting you have four identical cylinders and 3 operating properly to rob from so switch the wires with operating cylinders or plugs or injectors.
 Fuel air spark compression. If you switch things around and have the same problem I would check fuel pressure, if it sits a lot it could be water in the tank.

alaskanassasin

Check your catalytic converter too. When it runs like shvt have someone gun it and stick your hand over the tail pipe it should be blowing like heck. 

kl8ton

Have you changed out that coil pack?  Back in the day my fussy Volkswagens had problems with those coil packs.  With a fine mist of water spraying on the wires and coil pack area you could see arcing all over the place. This was showing that the needed amount of electricity was not being sent down to the spark plug. That's my recollection anyway.

alaskanassasin

Spray carb cleaner around the intake manifold while it’s running to check for air leaks 

WeberWho

kl8ton said:

Have you changed out that coil pack?  Back in the day my fussy Volkswagens had problems with those coil packs.  With a fine mist of water spraying on the wires and coil pack area you could see arcing all over the place. This was showing that the needed amount of electricity was not being sent down to the spark plug. That's my recollection anyway.

alaskanassasin said:

Spray carb cleaner around the intake manifold while it’s running to check for air leaks 

Thanks for the tips. I replaced the ignition coil and wires in the last year. I went over it visually and it looks good. No cracks. My Ranger has just straight wires coming from the ignition coil. No packs on each individual wire. The ignition coil and wires look good. I did a spark plug test on each spark plug and I was able to get spark on each spark plug with the spark plug tester. So I'm getting spark. So I think I'm good for spark. 

I'm getting good compression but I'm not sure about leaks. 

I was going to try a drive it over to the shop down on a cylinder (2 miles away and mostly down hill with a manual transmission) Now I'm two cylinders down since I moved around the wires. So I'm thinking I'll need to get it towed now. It's never ending....

fishlessman

i would swap two plugs out first starting with the fourth one as thats the one you see with the misfire. then do the inexpensive things first, maybe the coil pack last.  when its running a while, look at the catalytic, they can get red while running and things will get worse, turn it off if it turns red and replace.  water in the tank will do it, my old dodge would run really bad when the gas was changed to winter blend in the fall(winter blend and warmer days dont mix well)  had a ford that would run well a few tanks then run terrible. shut it down for a few minutes and back to running well, an ongoing problem. turned out to be the seal from the cap of carb cleaner that was floating around finding the gas pickup in the tank and blocking it.  theres a tiny oring in my old dodge in the tank from the gas return line that failed, took me months to find, theres supposed to be some back pressure in that damn line, fixed it with teflon tape, less than a pennies worth for months of aggravation.

Canugghead

What you're trouble shooting is totally out of my league. Just thought I'd share my recent car problem ...

Manually turned on my 2011 Corolla interior light and forgot about it, duh. After recharging the battery overnight it started up next day but it was running rough as if something was misfiring. Fortunately it returned to normal after a couple of short shopping trips. I just chalked it up to some on board computer relearning?

Hope you get it resolved without breaking the bank, good luck! Sorry didn't mean to threadjack.

fishlessman

some times you need to get to the point where you start hitting things with a hammer

alaskanassasin

Or 
 fuel truck needs a engine so when it goes off the farm it’s being assisted 

lkapigian

fishlessman said:

some times you need to get to the point where you start hitting things with a hammer

LoL

fishlessman

lkapigian said:

fishlessman said:

some times you need to get to the point where you start hitting things with a hammer

LoL

i needed a special torx bit to remove a small brkt to change the battery in the rover, the type that slides over a pin in the screw. it was a metric with over sized pin that did not fit . cutoff wheel worked well. spent an hour or so looking at bits at the mechanic down the street, the european place a bit further, the harley place across the street, my shop.......cut the damn thing off.....next battery will go in easily. battery size tolerances must not be up to landrover specs. those stupid stainless covered lug nuts swelled up so much they came off with a hammer and chisel chromed solid lugs on there now

Ozzie_Isaac

fishlessman said:

lkapigian said:

fishlessman said:

some times you need to get to the point where you start hitting things with a hammer

LoL

i needed a special torx bit to remove a small brkt to change the battery in the rover, the type that slides over a pin in the screw. it was a metric with over sized pin that did not fit . cutoff wheel worked well. spent an hour or so looking at bits at the mechanic down the street, the european place a bit further, the harley place across the street, my shop.......cut the damn thing off.....next battery will go in easily. battery size tolerances must not be up to landrover specs. those stupid stainless covered lug nuts swelled up so much they came off with a hammer and chisel chromed solid lugs on there now

You can use a drill bit to remove that center pin on anti-tamper fasteners, then hammer in an allen head bit into torx.

lousubcap

@WeberWho "I'm having no luck over on the Ford Ranger forum. I'm always amazed what this place has to offer and figure I might press my luck. "  Truer words never spoken regarding the scope and breadth of knowledge that resides here.  
Good luck-

fishlessman

Ozzie_Isaac said:

fishlessman said:

lkapigian said:

fishlessman said:

some times you need to get to the point where you start hitting things with a hammer

LoL

i needed a special torx bit to remove a small brkt to change the battery in the rover, the type that slides over a pin in the screw. it was a metric with over sized pin that did not fit . cutoff wheel worked well. spent an hour or so looking at bits at the mechanic down the street, the european place a bit further, the harley place across the street, my shop.......cut the damn thing off.....next battery will go in easily. battery size tolerances must not be up to landrover specs. those stupid stainless covered lug nuts swelled up so much they came off with a hammer and chisel chromed solid lugs on there now

You can use a drill bit to remove that center pin on anti-tamper fasteners, then hammer in an allen head bit into torx.

then i would have had to move the anti corrosion battery terminal fan in the compartment.......it only took two ladders, me sitting on the engine and two others to get that battery in there as it was. if i only had it under the overhead crane when i started......

WeberWho

Canugghead said:

What you're trouble shooting is totally out of my league. Just thought I'd share my recent car problem ...

Manually turned on my 2011 Corolla interior light and forgot about it, duh. After recharging the battery overnight it started up next day but it was running rough as if something was misfiring. Fortunately it returned to normal after a couple of short shopping trips. I just chalked it up to some on board computer relearning?

Hope you get it resolved without breaking the bank, good luck! Sorry didn't mean to threadjack.

I had a battery light that randomly would go on/off on my dash for the last month. I thought it was my alternator was maybe going before plugging in my scanner with the icon popping up randomly at times. I checked the battery with a multimeter and the battery was good. I checked the battery again with the truck running for the alternator and that was good. 

I'm guessing it has something to do with the ignition somewhere with the battery icon showing up randomly in the last month but that's just a guess. 

WeberWho

fishlessman said:

some times you need to get to the point where you start hitting things with a hammer

I think we're approaching sludge hammer territory!

WeberWho

alaskanassasin said:

Or 
 fuel truck needs a engine so when it goes off the farm it’s being assisted 

That F-150 is sweet! It looks clean

Ozzie_Isaac

WeberWho said:

Canugghead said:

What you're trouble shooting is totally out of my league. Just thought I'd share my recent car problem ...

Manually turned on my 2011 Corolla interior light and forgot about it, duh. After recharging the battery overnight it started up next day but it was running rough as if something was misfiring. Fortunately it returned to normal after a couple of short shopping trips. I just chalked it up to some on board computer relearning?

Hope you get it resolved without breaking the bank, good luck! Sorry didn't mean to threadjack.

I had a battery light that randomly would go on/off on my dash for the last month. I thought it was my alternator was maybe going before plugging in my scanner with the icon popping up randomly at times. I checked the battery with a multimeter and the battery was good. I checked the battery again with the truck running for the alternator and that was good. 

I'm guessing it has something to do with the ignition somewhere with the battery icon showing up randomly in the last month but that's just a guess. 

Sounds like a bad ground.

fishlessman

last battery would test right, alternator was working, borrowed a 7o year old load tester.....junk. never had done that with a battery before.