[LoveSTANGs99-04]

:wavey:smoke:I have a 2000 mustang v6 auto 135k miles that i bought almost a year ago. I drive it frequently and have had the CEL come on and randomnly go off very frequently over the year except for more recent months. About 4-6 months ago, my car started having trouble starting, it would crank anywhere from 3 to ten seconds before finally starting. After researching the problem online, i found out i could turn the key to the start position to run the fuel pump completely first and then turn my car on right away. This made me realize that i lose all fuel pressure once my car is turned off. So from my research it seemed most likely that i either had a leaky injector, a fuel pump sensor problem, or a leak in my vaccum tubes? i believe, or the lines from the fuel pump to the engine maybe?.. Being not very knowledgable about how to figure which it was and without much money..ha i let it go and my car continued to turn on after i ran the fuel pump first.. Also at least since the starting trouble or maybe even before that, my engine vibrates as if a gear is sticking or something when i am accelerating through 35mph-40smph but then smooths out perfectly after that, until i get to 55mph where the engine shakes more heavily but not too horribly all the way up to 70mph or so , which then after would ride very smooth all the way up to 100mph.. I frequently have driven 75-95 mph in my car without any problems.. Sorry for writing so much but trying to give you as much background info as possible to narrow down my current problem which i am leading up to.. ha.. SO recently i was highway driving for about a half hour and my engine light started flashing as i heard a clicking noise and felt engine shaking.. I continued my drive home for another hour and a half bc i cant afford to just stop at a mechanic or have it towed..As i would let off the gas the shaking would get worse and the clicking got louder and rougher sounding..When coming to a stop, the engine barely kept on and sounded as if it were a lawn mower running out of gas, spuddering and rumbling..but I had a full tank of gas. Acceleration in the beginning was the worst until i got past 40 mph it would smooth out some but still made clicking noise and shaked just not nearly as bad as when idling it barely wanted to stay on, but didnt stall..When i got it home i turned it off opened the hood and turned it back on. My friend saw a slight amt of smoke, a small puff near the spark wires and brake cylinder right behind the brake fluid. Two different clicking noises come from the engine while idleing, a loud thumpier one and a much quieter faster paced light clicking. Also it spudders loud thump sounds come out the exhaust and from the engine(the sound like its out of gas and is gonna shut off). I am aware the engine is misfiring but i am not sure what the exact cause is.. and dont have money to keep throwing at different parts til i get the right one..Then the next night i turned it on and let it idle again and saw a spark arcing from one of the spark plug wires to the brake cylinder behind the brake fluid but am not 100% sure which one or if it was def the wire but its the only thing close to where the spark was and i ditn see it too long cause i thought immediatley to turn off the engine since there were sparks..lol. Also while it idles in park the rpms constantly jump up and down not sure exact range..I gave the engine gas through the throttle on the engine and it doesnt seem to be a problem of the motor mounts.. Also on the car records the last replacement of spark plugs and wires was early 2007 along with the pcv valve and 6 cylinder tune up at that time.. drive belt and air filter replaced early 2010.. fuel pump and fuel filter replaced mid 2009... pretty sure ignition starter was also replaced within last two years.. Also the gas mileage was just about normal for when i drove it home during the horrible recent problem(misfire). I usualy get 20mpg for 14 gals avg 280 miles a tank but i have a 15.7 gal tank so does almost two gallons typically stay in the engine or car when it says im really low like end of red zone on fuel tank.. ha Also almost forgot, back in feb i ran out of gas completely and the battery dies then from leavin headlights on while panicing with my car out of gas on the road.. Again im sorry for so much information and bull **** but i dont know a ton about fixing cars and if any of this is most likely related and it helps diagnose it then i feel i should provide it..
I also put a BBK CAI in my car myself back around april which im pretty sure was fine and works great i did use to notice a high pitch squeak from it like air escaping during acceleration but haven noticed in forever and was told it sounded normal..
I am hoping to figure this out and fix it myself since i cannot afford to have the work done.. I would appreciate any help and as much help and information as you could give me as soon as you can and have time b/c i do badly need it to drive and may soon try the spark plugs and wires hoping thats it and i didnt waste money..I appreciate it very much you reading all of this information and hope i have been specific enough for you to help..:?::?::?:

 

[wmburns]

If this were my car, I would focus on the weak spark plug wires and the cross fire that is obviously going on. Once arcing is allowed to continue, the insulation is broken down and ruined. Likely your spark plug wires have been ruined by the arcing that has likely been caused by misrouting of the wires.

It's important that the factory routing be followed and all stand offs and looms be used. The spark plug wires can not be allowed to touch any metal parts.

Once you have replaced the spark plug wires, try this old racer's trick. Run the car in a totally dark location. Look for the blue hue of escaping spark. Check the wires for white spots which is evidence of arcing.

 

[LoveSTANGs99-04]

:hihi::gringreenTo update, i had the codes ran and found that i have a misifre on cylinder 4 and a misifre on cylinder 6. Also, i changed the spark plug wires and the only difference i noticed was my rpms didnt jump up and down anymore while idling but every other problem still persists. I then changed the spark plugs adjacent to the 4 5 6 cylinder side of the enigne(driver side) and again have had no change.. I am gonna do the other three plugs just had to take a break and having trouble getting some of the other spark plugs out. The spark plugs were motorcraft platinum and i replaced(some) with autolite platinum. Also, my exhaust(tailpipe) is leaking a black liquid which was spattered on the ground and had a frozen drip of it on the edge of the tailpipe. Any help would be greatly appreciated.. Thanks, Chris.:heha:

 

[blkmstg01]

It's the spark plugs bro! I would definitely change them along with a new fuel filter!! Not expensive at all especially if u do it yourself.


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app

 

[LoveSTANGs99-04]

To update again, I now completely changed the spark plug wires and all the spark plugs. There has been barely any noticeable change.. The engine still shakes and misfires.. Battery keeps dieing after sitting a week or so in the old without being started so i have to jump it to get it running to see if there was any change.. If anyone has a better input on what i should do next i would really appreciate it. I cannot afford to keep throwing money into it that isn't fixing the problem.. I really don't think it's the coil pack either.. Thanks again, Chris.

 

[Markstang]

did you even read wmburns' post from back in october? you said nothing about making sure that your wires went to the correct cylinders and that the wires weren't touching anything metal. make absolutely sure that each and every plug is getting spark. did you gap the plugs correctly? when it started clunking did you notice the temperature gauge? did you overheat the engine? next step in my opinion would be to have your compression checked in each cylinder you would most likely have a mechanic do this. a substantially lower cylinder compression would indicate either a headgasket leak in which case your bearings are almost guaranteed to be toast.

 

[LoveSTANGs99-04]

Yes, I made sure when replacing the spark plugs and wires that the plugs were gapped correctly and all wires followed correct routing not touching any metal using all proper standoffs.. Also, the temperature did not change when the problem started even after continuing to drive it in that condition for an hour and a half because i had to get it back home. Cylinders 4 and 6 continue to misfire, starting to get an eggy smell which im guessing means my catalytic converter is getting ruined from the current problem and the clicking sound that I was told is my intake valve smacking into a head gasket bc the current problem (whatever it is) caused that timing to be off.. well that clicking sound is sounding more metallicly or more of a metally click sound.. hard to describe but guessing its getting close to ruining my intake valve... Any more help or insights would be greatly appreciated.. Thankyou all, Chris.