[Ken_94Stang]

Hello all,

Actually, this isn’t Ken, but Ken’s dad- he drives during the day and torments himself working on his car at night. Well, we didn’t intend for it to be torment.

Here’s our tale of woe:

Ken gets a very nice 1 owner ‘94 GT, 37K original miles, clean as a whistle, about three weeks ago. Since we’re close enough to Akron, he takes off for Summit and gets the CAI, headers, new H pipe, Flowmasters from there back, underdrive pulleys, coil, 9mm wires, plugs, & chip.

We mount everything (except the chip), fairly straightforward. Except he forgot to check the firing order before he pulled the wires... So I head upstairs and find this site, and get a firing order. Cool. But the car won’t run, or, more properly, it’s only hitting on 4 cylinders. Got the cats glowing nice & red. Rechecked the site, now there’s a difference between the firing order on a “straight” 5.0 and a 5.0 HO. Now 5.0 HO is cast into his manifold, but he insists it runs even worse with that order. So here are the two of them:

1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8 (5.0L HO and 351W order).
1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 (straight 302 - currently in place)

I’m racking my head to see if I can visualize if this is the problem. He insists it runs worse with the other order, I was out of town that night.

If not, anybody have any ideas? What’s so special about the ‘94 that it gets the SN95 designation (as I’ve just figured out...)? If it says 5.0 HO on the manifold, why wouldn’t firing order #1 work?

But one thing I noticed was that, with firing order #2 in place, we have a pattern of 2 hitting, 2 not, as this:

1 - firing
5 - dead
4 - dead
2 - firing
6 - firing
3 - dead
7 - dead
8 - firing

and that HAS to be the problem, the only ones firing now are the ones that are correct on the #1 firing order... Blast if that ain’t enough to make you throw a wrench!

I think I’ll post it anyway, just to say hi, to warn others, and to give the rest of you a good laugh. I’ll try it tonight when I get home, if that ain’t it, I’ll be back very frustrated!

Best to all,

Tom

[crazycarnut]

sounds kinda bad. i hope it gets better.

[FoxChassis]

#1 Are the wires on the cap arranged counter-clockwise or clockwise? They're supposed to be arranged counter-clockwise.

rear
4--8
3--7
2--6
1--5
front

#2 Have the plugs been gapped to spec? Doesn't matter if they're supposedly pre-gapped. Check them anyway.

#3 Has the base timing been checked/set? The SPOUT connector is supposed to be removed while checking and setting. And cylinder #1 is the one to hook the induction clamp to.

[Ken_94Stang]

Hello, all...

Just a warning, I spoke to my son again and he insists he had the #1 position and rotation correct the other night, and that the 5.0 HO firing order did not work.

So if ANYBODY out there has any ideas, I'm asking again pre-emtively. If we have to run and get a computer or ignition module or something quick, I'd like somebody's thought that this may be the reasn only haldf of our plugs are firing, in a 2 on, 2 off pattern.

My home computer connection isn't worth diddly, so I may not be able to post until later.

Thanks to anyone who can help, and thanks, crazycarnut, for your sympathies.

Tom

[Ken_94Stang]

Cross posted with you, FoxChassis. Thanks, I'll print this and take it home. Base timing shouldn't be bad, though, should it? It ran like a champ before, he didn't turn the distributor., and we're fanatical about gap ( i.e. pre-gapped is never close enough!)

And yes, we're counterclockwise at this point. I'll double check it.

Thanks again,

Tom

[papajohn711]

sometimes / not trying to be a smart ---, I have an HO and I have caught myself starting with the no 1 hole in the cap 1 off of the back clip---HO's start with no 1 ---2holes off of the back clip---done it a few times and ran into prob's---also make sure you are going counter clockwise with the order---hope this helps---Papajohn711

[RLG34750]

Originally Posted by papajohn711

sometimes / not trying to be a smart ---, I have an HO and I have caught myself starting with the no 1 hole in the cap 1 off of the back clip---HO's start with no 1 ---2holes off of the back clip---done it a few times and ran into prob's---also make sure you are going counter clockwise with the order---hope this helps---Papajohn711

I bet since the orginal post was in 2004 i bet they figured out the firing order....

another dead post rises fron the ashes......

[notchbackfox]

hahahahaha 5 years later.....

[drillpipe]

This is my first post on this forum and as usual I am looking for some helpful info. I have a similar issue as the original poster except mine is reverse.

1 - dead
5 - firing
4 - firing
2 - dead
6 - dead
3 - firing
7 - firing
8 - dead

I checked, and it is CCW rotation. I have tried the alternate firing order of 13726548 and it won't even start. All the parts are new, although the distributor was already installed when I picked up the car. Any help on this is greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone knows a GOOD shop in the OKC area, post up some contact info. I used a shop in TX and they had this car for 2 years and did a terrible job on what little they did. Finally had to go pick it up and try to get it running myself, but I still need body work, paint, and interior work done, not to mention suspension work as well.