Spark firing order?, and oil leak! Options

[marco-polo]

my car has been stuttering on idle after start up and at stop lights and wondering why since i have new dizzy, wires, plugs, fuel filter and pump. could it be my timing?

is the firing order 1-3-4-2?
been searching all morning and looking through multiple pages but can't seem to find.

Thanks for any help or links.


another topic is i have an oil leak, went to the mechanic at the corner and we took a look and told me it was my o-ring on dizzy, so i took the dizzy off and the oring is still in tact. is there a gasket that goes before the dizzy because i do have a small gap between dizzy and head.

This post has been edited by marco-polo: Aug 16, 2011 - 12:33 PM

[stephen_lee]

replace the oring, it can leak even if its intact.

the firing order is 1342.

when i bought my DD (95 ST) it was runing rough at idle, what felt like random misfires but it wasnt quite a true misfire.

it was the injectors plugged in the wrong order.. (cyl 2&3 were swapped between eachother)

This post has been edited by stephen_lee: Aug 16, 2011 - 12:39 PM

[marco-polo]

how do you know if injectors are plugged incorrectly?

[lagos]

Why do you need to know the firing order?

[lagos]

another topic is i have an oil leak, went to the mechanic at the corner and we took a look and told me it was my o-ring on dizzy, so i took the dizzy off and the oring is still in tact. is there a gasket that goes before the dizzy because i do have a small gap between dizzy and head.

No, you just replace the o-ring on the dizzy with a new one. You can buy a new one from the dealership or any car parts store.

When you put the dizzy back on, you have to set the ignition timing with a timing light and the car in diagnostic mode. Could be the cause of your issues if you havent done that.

[stephen_lee]

how do you know if injectors are plugged incorrectly?

i looked in the wiring diagram and saw what color injector wiring went to which cyl.

[marco-polo]

Why do you need to know the firing order?

the reason i wanted to know the firing order is i had my wires incorrect as well.

but i redid them so they are correct now but the car won't even stay on for 5seconds now.
car just sputters for a few seconds then shuts off?

any clue?

[stephen_lee]

does it revv up fine?

[marco-polo]

as of now the car barely turns on.

[lagos]

Why do you need to know the firing order?

the reason i wanted to know the firing order is i had my wires incorrect as well.

but i redid them so they are correct now but the car won't even stay on for 5seconds now.
car just sputters for a few seconds then shuts off?

any clue?

The firing order really has nothing to do with installing the spark plug wires.
The distributor cap and the plug wires are all labeled 1,2,3,4. You install them in that order from left to right while looking at the engine. There is no need to know the firing order of the cylinders.

[Bitter]

a bad coolant temp sensor can screw with things too, computer will add way too much fuel. gauge has it's own sender so gauge can read normal.

[marco-polo]

Why do you need to know the firing order?

the reason i wanted to know the firing order is i had my wires incorrect as well.

but i redid them so they are correct now but the car won't even stay on for 5seconds now.
car just sputters for a few seconds then shuts off?

any clue?

The firing order really has nothing to do with installing the spark plug wires.
The distributor cap and the plug wires are all labeled 1,2,3,4. You install them in that order from left to right while looking at the engine. There is no need to know the firing order of the cylinders.

i thought they had to match up to firing order in order to function properly or thats incorrect?

[xrav22]

Why do you need to know the firing order?

the reason i wanted to know the firing order is i had my wires incorrect as well.

but i redid them so they are correct now but the car won't even stay on for 5seconds now.
car just sputters for a few seconds then shuts off?

any clue?

The firing order really has nothing to do with installing the spark plug wires.
The distributor cap and the plug wires are all labeled 1,2,3,4. You install them in that order from left to right while looking at the engine. There is no need to know the firing order of the cylinders.

i thought they had to match up to firing order in order to function properly or thats incorrect?

It is 1-4(i am pretty sure) from left to right and it would matter if they are wrong.

[ST205WRC]

they do match up to the firing order. as stated above the firing order is 1-3-4-2. on the dizzy cap they should be labeled with the number going in the firing order around the cap. on the link below it has both 3s and 4/7a. that should be all you need.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/repairgui...900c15280046253

[match220]

Also check your spark gap if your plugs are old. You can pull them out and check them with a $1 spark plug gap tool. If the gap is high, push the tip in until they show the correct gap.

If that's not it put a bottle of injector cleaner in. If you want to go a step further, check inside the TB for oil buildup. Take off the TB and clean the inside of it with Throttle Body cleaner, then put it back.

You could also try to check your Idle Air Control valve.

All of these are common things that happen to older cars. Some people replace the parts, some people clean them. All of these things will show no check engine light, but the car will feel like it's about to die at stop lights and start up. Start with the first thing I mentioned and then go from there.

Good luck

This post has been edited by match220: Aug 18, 2011 - 3:34 AM

[marco-polo]

Also check your spark gap if your plugs are old. You can pull them out and check them with a $1 spark plug gap tool. If the gap is high, push the tip in until they show the correct gap.

If that's not it put a bottle of injector cleaner in. If you want to go a step further, check inside the TB for oil buildup. Take off the TB and clean the inside of it with Throttle Body cleaner, then put it back.

You could also try to check your Idle Air Control valve.

All of these are common things that happen to older cars. Some people replace the parts, some people clean them. All of these things will show no check engine light, but the car will feel like it's about to die at stop lights and start up. Start with the first thing I mentioned and then go from there.

Good luck

thanks to all
got the car to start again last night but couldn't do much cause i was taking care of my daughter since wife takes night clases. still need to do timing but has to wait until weekend.

Match220- plugs wires and dizzy are about 2yrs old but have less then 2k on them since i really dont use the car.
use company van as dd and my 08mazda3 hatch is the family car.

This post has been edited by marco-polo: Aug 18, 2011 - 8:35 AM

[lagos]

Why do you need to know the firing order?

the reason i wanted to know the firing order is i had my wires incorrect as well.

but i redid them so they are correct now but the car won't even stay on for 5seconds now.
car just sputters for a few seconds then shuts off?

any clue?

The firing order really has nothing to do with installing the spark plug wires.
The distributor cap and the plug wires are all labeled 1,2,3,4. You install them in that order from left to right while looking at the engine. There is no need to know the firing order of the cylinders.

i thought they had to match up to firing order in order to function properly or thats incorrect?

The basic idea of installing plug wires on our cars is that you don't have to know the firing order. The plug wires and the distributor cap are all labeled 1,2,3,4. All you have to do is connect the plug wire labeled no1 to the distributor cap port labeled no1 and insert it into cylinder 1 (first cyl on passengers side). Then do the same thing for cylinder 2...3...and 4.

You don't have to know the firing order to figure out what to connect where. Its all labeled and done for you.

[marco-polo]

^^ thanks Lagos helped me out!