Blew a ring? Faulty coilpack? Buggy ECU? HELP!

[danwit]

I feel your pain dude. Last comp test i did i got about the same numbers. Try putting a few drops of oil in each cylinder and run the test again. I got about 10 psi more across all cylinders which points to worn rings. Im still undecided as to if i will rebuild in the winter or or swap in a healthy rb20. In the meantime i just cranked up the boost.

[DreadedFist]

Low compression? Turn up the boost to compensate!

[TBird713]

Well I haven't had any problems since i took out my #5 coilpack and reseated it so I think I'm sorta fine for now as my car pulls like mad! Only thing is there is occasionally white smoke comin out of my exhaust when I get the revs up past about 6k. Coolant levels are still the same and there is no mixing of coolant or oil anywhere, so I dunno. AND I fixed my poor idle by adjusting the TPS down to .48 from .525 but my new problem is my HIGH IDLE. It's goin at about 1500'ish on a hot idle and I've already adjusted the IACV as much as I could. Any other mechanical fix before goin into the ECU and retuning (an engine I plan on swapping out in the future anyways)?

[TBird713]

Bump! Also when I unplug the brown plug from the little cylinder on the IACV my idle goes way down to what it should be ~700-900. Still need help as gas isn't cheap!

[Jezu21]

Rather than cluttering up the forum, I'll post my problem in this thread since it's rather similar.

I'm getting a dead cylinder as well. Except mine is very random.

It did it a few days ago, so I checked the plugs and cleaned the coils. It ran fine for a couple days. Then yesterday it started doing it again, so I parked it and figured I'd look into in the morning.

Wake up, fire it up, runs fine. So I go for a drive, boost it a bunch trying to get the engine hot. Still running fine.

So I take it to work and all is well. On my way home it starts doing it, but it's off and on. So I unplug the coilpacks one at a time to see if I can isolate the cylinder that isn't firing. Cylinder 4 is the only one that doesn't change the RPM when I unplug it.

So I switch that coilpack with one from another cylinder. And cylinder 4 remains the one that doesn't change the RPM.

Now today it starts up fine and I drive it to work with no problems. Come home from work still no problems. Just now when I go to run to Walmart, it starts doing it. So I ice the ignitor to see if that getting hot has anything to do with it, but nope, still doing it.

So my question is what the ef? lol

Plugs? Injectors? Wiring? Do I need to get a mad scientist to rip apart the block and replace the piston rings I fried?

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

PS. I'm going to walmart to grab some injector cleaner to see if that helps. I'll also clean my MAF.

[TBird713]

Ya that's pretty much the problem ive been having but the broken/loose coilpack is #5 and when i unplugged #2 while it was sputtering it make almost no difference. rpms went down just a slight bit but went right back up which means i now need 2 coilpacks >_> Hope someone can help us out cuz it's emberrassing getting challenged at the lights from a little neon but you got a dead cylinder so you KNOW you wont beat him :'(

[Jezu21]

It'd be so much easier if it was doing it all the time, consistantly. But it comes and goes. And even when it's doing it, sometimes it isn't constant. Like it'll run fine for a few seconds, then drop a cyl. then kick back in.

I'm thinking it has to be electrical since it's so random. But I'm no mechanic.

Edit: Injector cleaner and cleaning MAF didn't help.

I put my ignitor in the freezer for a few minutes until it was cooled off, threw it on and drove for a bit and it seemed to run fine. But that could just be coincidence. Since the problem comes and goes when it wants.

Edit 2: From what I've gathered by reading about similar problems, it could be
- Bad coilpack
- Bad Injector
- Bad Ignitor
- Bad wiring
- Bad compression
- Leak somewhere

That's a lot of could be's.

[Jezu21]

This is rather frustrating. I can't pinpoint what the problem is because it's not consistent enough for me to find the problem...

It has yet to do it while the car is cold.

Someone from work mentioned the thermostat. Could that be the issue?

[DarkCaporaL]

The thermostat is mechanical and only controls the water flow to cool the system. I can't see how it would cause missfires. Rather it would cause the engine to overheat if it doesn't open.

[Jezu21]

That's what I thought as well. Just figured I'd ask to make sure.

I'm considering everything because I honestly have no clue. lol

A few of my coil packs have pit holes so that could be the issue. But I would think it would do it all the time if that were the case.

[TBird713]

UPDATE!

So today one of my cylinders died hard. So I took out all the coilpacks and sparkplugs and look what I found >_> This is #5 vs #6. Sad sight. Oh and all six were pitted on both sides.

So either I find a new coilpack within the next day or two or I'll haf to order a set of yellowjackets friday (that's all my budget allows)
On a side note, what is this and should it be plugged in?

What would I call that broken part (above the window) there and do we have a part number or anywhere I could find one?

And as for the project itself, got my suspension work done Thanks AMS!

[TBird713]

Bump /w update: Ended up ordering a set of Yellowjackets and it turned out coilpack #2 was the problem, not even the corroded one >_> Should be here in a day or two.

[TBird713]

Update again lol: Yellowjackets came and are already installed. PROBLEM FIXED!!!! And I think that plug I linked was one for the old stereo system that was horribly hard wired in. Now I just gotta fix the shaking front end/steering wheel at highway speeds and we can finally start with real upgrades and not repairs =/