First off I would like this thread to stay on topic, as in giving me ideas or solutions to fix my problem, so no spammers.

So let me start at the beginning, about five months ago when I took a 700 mile trip to Mississippi, towards the end of my trip my car suddenly started shaking, the tone changed, the car pretty much lost all power, and SES light started blinking when this happened. So I backed off the throttle and after a few seconds the car started acting normal again and the SES light stopped blinking, but stayed on. Well this freaked me out to say the least, so right when I made it to my destination I got my SES light checked, and it said I had a misfire in cylinder 2. Well the entire time I was up there my car acted fine, but about half way home the same thing happened again. I let off the throttle for a few seconds and the car started acting fine again, and made it home with now problem.

The next day I took my car to the local Ford place to get fixed, there first diagnoses was that the MAF was bad, so they replaced it, the next day I got on my car a little and the same thing happens again. So I take it back to them, this time they say I have a bad coil pack on cylinder 2, so they replace that. The next day I get on my car a little, and the same thing happens again. So I take it back again, this time they say that I have a bad fuel injector on cylinder 4, and that all of my fuel injectors seem to be going bad, it is just a matter of time they said. So they replace the fuel injector on cylinder 4, and my car seems to be running fine, I few days later I smell fuel as I get out my car, so I pop my hood and notice that one of my fuel injectors is squirting fuel on my intake because the Ford people didn’t put the fuel rail on good. So I make them come to my house pick my car up and fix the problem, again my car seems to be running fine, but a couple weeks later the same damn thing happens again and my SES light comes on with the same code. So I take a look under the hood and notice that the Ford place didn’t tighten the rubber seal were my JLT RAI connects to the plenum, so I tighten it then crank my car up, and SES light goes off and the car runs great for awhile.

A few months later the SES light comes on again with the same code, but I hadn’t noticed any problems so I disconnect my battery and all that jazz to reset everything, and the SES light didn’t come back on. Now the past month I’ve noticed my car has been what I think is skipping, it’s like one of the cylinders is not going quiet as fast as the others, and the exhaust note sounds a little irregular, but it doesn’t do this all the time. Sometimes it will do it if I let my car sit a few days and then go crank it up, but when it warms up it goes away, and sometime it just happens at random times, but when this happens I don’t noticed a big performance loss.

Today I went and pulled couple of my plugs and they seem to have normal wear on them, but I tried to pull the coil pack that Ford replaced to check that spark plug, but it seems they stripped the threads because I can’t get the little bolt to back out or tighten. Any after I look a couple different plugs, I crank my car up and take it down the rode and back, and notice my SES light is back on. I haven’t got it checked yet, though I’m pretty sure It’s gonna be the same code I’ve been getting.

Now I would like any help you guys could give me, a parts check list (like what to check/replace first, second, exc.) would be great.

 

damn man..it seems like ur having quite the time huh? i dunno about the code or what ever but for the coilpacks...i would scream at ford...

id start to look at new engines or replacement engines if i were u if u dont have a warrenty anymore..like me

 

Yeh, It's been pretty rough latley, and replaceing the engine is my last resort, I hope it doesn't come to that.

 

I know this isnt what you want to hear, but the first mistake was bringing it to Ford. It seems to me like they are the cause for most of the problems.

If the car is having a misfire the first thing to do is read the code and figure out where its coming from. Its either the COP, plug, or injector. So you might as well replace the plugs first. If that doesnt work then reset the battery and move the COP to a new cylinder and see what happens. If that doesnt work then do the same thing with the injector. Its all about trial and error here, not just replacing random parts. And it seems to me thats exactly what Ford did.

The next step is to get the code checked. Dont go buying any more parts or bring it to the Ford dealership. Just check the code and let us know what it is. Then we can start recommending stuff that YOU can do.

 

Ok, the code that I keep getting is P0302 Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected. How do you tell what cylinder is #2, do you know how there #? I didn't get the code I got earlier today checked, I reset my battary again and it didn't comeback on, but I assume it's the same code again.

 

Passenger Side

Back of engine
4
3
2
1
Front of engine

Drivers Side

Back of engine
8
7
6
5
Front of engine

Its also in the Hanes Manual.

"The next day I took my car to the local Ford place to get fixed, there first diagnoses was that the MAF was bad, so they replaced it, the next day I got on my car a little and the same thing happens again."

That was a BS diagnoses.

"So I take it back again, this time they say that I have a bad fuel injector on cylinder 4, and that all of my fuel injectors seem to be going bad, it is just a matter of time they said."

That seems to me like another BS diagnoses. HOWEVER, you said everything was fine until the light came on again, but that was because of your intake. So you fixed that and the car is fine.

Then the light comes on again with the same code. What code are you referring to? The misfire in cylinder 2 one?

 

What year is your GT? What was mentioned above is correct just get a know working part from another cylinder like COP or injector and move it to another cylinder,clear the codes and see if it comes back,if it does is it the same code or did it just change. The reason I ask what year you have is to see if you have the intake that cracks on intake runner #1 that may have cracked to runner 2.

What was the last mod you did? Did you remove the screen from the MAF meter most people dont have an issue with this but some have reported a problem. Also have you tried to put the stock intake back on to see if problem is with your JLT. These last two suggestion are highly unlikly but I would suggest that you take it to a shop that works mainly on mustangs as they will have spare parts laying around and can try it before they charge you for it.

 

Yep, the only code that I have ever gotten was Misfire in cylinder 2.

My car is a 2002, the last mod I did was the JLT, but I had the OEM intake when all this started and I changed to the JLT after the first or second time I cared it to the ford place, and I did remove the screen in the MAF when I put The JLT in.

 

Doubt its the problem, but put the screen back into the MAF. Its there for a reason and shouldnt be removed.

Get the code read tomorrow and post back.

 

If it was doing it before you replace the JLT then logically that cant be the cause. I would try what has been suggested so far as that will only cost you a little bit of time. Do the COP first and injector 2nd after that I would take it to a reputable Mustang shop and let them work on it as they will know more that the dealer.

 

Ok I picked up my sparplugs today, I got some autolite double platnums. (are these ok plugs?) I'll be installing them as soon as the weather gets a little better, along with some fresh oil, oil and fuel fillters, and some carb cleaner for my IAC, but will it be ok if I just install 7 sparkplugs untill I can figure out how to get the stripped coil pack bolt out, and back in? (any helps on this would be great) Also I read in another post awhile back that my car takes 6qts of oil if I change the oil fillter, is this correct?

 

Knowledable people here are trying to help you and for some reason you dont listen. You didnt listen before and you arent listening now. Look what it got you.

Are we wasting our time trying to help you?

 

What are you talking about, you told me to replace the plugs first and thats what I'm doing, I just opted to wait a week so I could get my oil and filters at the same time.

 

use a vise grip get the bolt out and replace it with either one form ford or one like it from a bolt store etc..

I had the same problem mine was a bad COP on passenger side aswell. If the new plug fixes it ( i really doubt it) there is a guy on ebay who sells new COP the whole set of 8 (might as well replace all of them) for $110 is what i paid about a year ago or so. Thats what i am will to bet you will end up doing.

Also dont get the COP from ford they want more then just one fromt he guy on ebay trust me i found out the hardway when i was charged 125 for a single COP.

 

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I had a misfire after I replaced my cracked intake in record 2hrs by myself. I knew that it may have been the coil pack but since my motor swap was coming up in a few months and not worth buying more parts. After my stock motor was replaced it was sold to someone else a few weeks ago and they verifield that the coil pack was the culprit as the motor was running strong after they replaced both packs. Another member was having issues WaterDr and it turned out to be the COP which got messed up after he washed his engine therfore his name WaterDR .

 

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Thats a great deal, If thats what it turns out to be I'm gonna have to look that guy up.

 

just search ebay for Ford coil on plug. thats how i found him.

 

Hey, looks kinda like you have the same problem my friend was having with his camaro... his turned out to be the ignition control module (this is after replacing coil packs, spark plugs, all of that). You can pull that out of your car and autozone will test it for ya for free. He got a new one from the u-pull for 10 bucks.

 

What you need is a good trouble-shooter. Ford techs generally believe in a "swap the box" approach. Often times they find somethig they think might be bad like the MAF, swap it, and hope for the best.

I would have asked them WHY they thought the MAF was bad rather then just letting them swap it...but that is water under the bridge.

You need a good tuner...someone who can dig deep and is willing to be smart.

I had a very similar problem as you have been experiencing a few years ago as a result of washing my engine....which i will never do again.

I had a bas misfire and it only got worse. Here is the thing....we found TWO bad COPS. I kept getting a code telling me I had a misfire, but the actual misfire was in two other cylinders. Because I had two bad COPS, swapping cops really did not help isolate the problem. And the SES code was giving us false info.

I found a local, private technician who pulled all my COPS and bench tested them. Since he was not a Ford tech, he did not even know what a good COP reading was supposed to be, but he was able to determine that two of them were not the like others, so we replaced them both. Problem was gone and never came back.

Now, I have a new motor. It was replaced for different reasons.

Here is a thought.....you should replace all the COPS if you can't bench test them. But they are expensive to buy and a waste to replace if they are not bad. You can't buy them and take them back because they won't allow it. But, you could find a friend with a Stang and take all of his cops and drive the car for a while. That might tell you that you have a problem for sure.

There are also shops that you can send your COPS and injectors to for flow testing. This si also expensive though.