way off plc topic

but i figured what the heck,,

i have a 79 ford 4X4 pickup 400M motor,,,and my ignition coil is leaking fluid,,,and truck is running like heck,,feels like its hitting on 5 or 6 of its 8 cylinders,,if that,,ill assume its the dielectric thats leaking out,,but in my experience either coils go bad,,or not,,not this misfire stuff,,sorry for wrong forum,,,but this is where i figured id get a good answer


Fred Raud

If the coil is so old and decrepit that it's leaking, you have to ask what's the condition of the distributor cap, rotor, wires, and plugs?

The coil might be in such poor condition that it's not producing high enough voltage to arc across the gap on the plugs with the widest gap.

In any case, you'd better replace the coil before somebody calls in the hazmat team and they declare your driveway a Superfund site.

Possably the fluid is whats left of the insulation on the coil windings after it breaksdown and becomes liquified. (have you ever seen a burnt up controller transformer?).

If thats the case then the primary or secondary coils become partialy shorted and the coil output voltage becomes too low to produce enough spark to jump the plug gap. Things get worse as the plugs begin to foul, causing raw gas to enter the engine and pass through the valve system clogging the cat converter, and contaminating the engine oil. Eventually you end up with a well worn engine, ie scorched bearings, worn camshaft, worn pistons/cylinder, etc.. and LOTS of exhaust backpressure. And so on and so on and so on...

Time for a full blown tune up...

An ignition coil is (in this case) an oil filled transformer, if its leaking than you will have problems. The coil is meant to convert the 12vdc to 20000 (or more, this can vary) volts which is passed thru the rotary to fire the spark plugs. IF the coil is leaking usually that means it has overheated because of a breakdown in the windings, the breakdown will naturally effect if, when and how much fire is passed to the plugs. The oil is present to prevent overheating, it is also possible that by leaking it allowed the coil to overheat which will also cause breakdowns in the windings.

If you havent done a tune up in a while I would suggest replacing coil, cap, rotor, wires, plugs etc....ie the FULL tune up that was mentioned.

You guys are too funny, no matter what question is asked someone always has an answer!

I bet someone here knows how a solid fuel rocket booster works, and the best way to troubleshoot one, Right? I.E. "Rocket scientist"

And Norm does not count.

Sure, that's an easy one... just mix some of this and some of that, add a lot more of part three, heat carefully and pour into a tube, let cool, invert, and hold a Bic under the bottom...caution may cause burns if exposed to unprotected skin.... :site:

Now, how about a hard one?
David

too cool for school,,i actually just did a tune up recently(cap plugs wires,,rotor,, cleaned carb) and was soon after that that my problem got much worse,,and to boot,,i switched over to my alternate tank,,so i fear engine damage done due to fuel that has been in my alternate tank for well over a year,,(very bad smell from exhaust now),,but am hoping that my ignition coil may be the cause of my very bad misfire,,i googled the heck out of it,,but cant find out if my truck needs a condensor for the ignition(there is on mounted to the coil,,but not hooked up,,maybe the cause of my ignition coil getting so hot???),,,

at anyrate,,ill be buying a new ignition coil tonight,,and putting it on,,and of course,,ill chime back in to let yall know the outcome

Fred Raud

ps,,my fear is the bad gas varnished up my valves(it only ran a day or so on the bad gas) and caused one to get stuck,,and bent,,but since im not getting any intake backfire,,i find that unlikely,,so any voodoo doctors here say a prayer for me that its just a coil to cause my bad misfire,,

Fred Raud said:

i actually just did a tune up recently(cap plugs wires,,rotor,, cleaned carb) and was soon after that that my problem got much worse

Click to expand...

That was the trigger. How would you feel if someone replaced all your old friends with new ones?

You took away all the coil's longtime pals so he had no one to talk to, and he died of loneliness...

beerchug

-Eric

Fred Raud said:

i have a 79 ford 4X4 pickup 400M motor

Click to expand...

Im sorry

here is a quick fix. Hook an engine lift to the radiator cap, lift the cap up and slide a chevy under it.

On a serious note though just replace that coil and keep on driving. Once they start leaking it doesnt take long to completely go.

Bob

here is a quick fix. Hook an engine lift to the radiator cap, lift the cap up and slide a chevy under it.

Click to expand...

LOL, I owned a 79 4x4 Ford and did just that. I had a knock so built an engine but when I removed the old engine the flywheel came apart in pieces, found my knock. Then the transfer case wouldnt output to the rear wheels, then the locking hubs had to be repaired, then the rear axle went bad....get the idea. Sad thing is I liked that truck.

John about the Rocket Scientists, did you forget about this? http://www.patchn.com/forum1/viewtopic.php?t=255&highlight=rocket

Cute Rocket Story.

Early in the summer my son (6) wants to build and fly a rocket. So we go to the hobby shop and pick one out, build it and take it up to the local school yard ad launch it. So it goes up about 100 ft. Ok but not much of a show. So a few weeks later I go and buy more engines, Bigger ones, like a "C". So we go back to the school yard and launch it, and watch it fly out of sight, never to return.. We scoured the skys but no shute or any other sign of it.

So I assure my son that we can get another one. "But Dad, that was my FIRST rocket!!" sniff, sniff...

Anyway so we pack up and get in the car and go home only to find out the rocket went home too! So the house is about 3/4 of a mile north west of the school. Now thats rocket science!!

We went back to the smaller engines..

k,,back from town(i live out in the country),,,going to install the coil under the cloak of darkness( so Eric can be confident that the coil will retire with all his/her friends),,and hope they all live happily together, ill be back in a few minutes after my gal finds a flashlight to get this lil job accopmlished,,and let yall know the outcome,,its hard to do now that they are eating worms on fear factor,,

Fred Raud

ps,,still no one taking me up on the Mirc set up for real time talk for us???ill set it up and everything!!!

Well Fred, the darkness can be your friend too.

Turn off all the lights open the hood and start the engine. Look for arching from you iginition wires and such.. maybe youll find another culpret..

elevmike said:

Well Fred, the darkness can be your friend too.

Turn off all the lights open the hood and start the engine. Look for arching from you iginition wires and such.. maybe youll find another culpret..

Click to expand...

done that a week ago,,,was actually my first meter for the problem,,i just wish i still had an inductive pickup timing light,,so i can verify that ignition is the problem,,(yes my eyes are calibrated to see a misfire on an 8 cylinder engine),,

its a commercial,,so ill go install this guy now,,

Fred Raud

In all seriousness.

Try "Engine Restorer" (silver can) on your next oil change. My Toy truck was burning oil on startup (valve seal gaskets).

Next inspection the guy I take it to was crawling under looking for a hole in the exhaust system to find the O2 injection. Went from burning to better than factory specs.

I just alternate between Engine Restorer and Slick 50 - Gotta get 300K out of this next engine.

Rod (the CNC dude)