1992-1999 Series I L27 (1992-1994 SE,SLE, SSE) & Series II L36 (1995-1999 SE, SSE, SLE) and common problems for the Series I and II L67 (all supercharged models 92-99) Including Olds 88's, Olds LSS's and Buick Lesabres Please use General Chat for non-mechanical issues, and Performance and Brainstorming for improvements.

Cylinder #5 not sparking.

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Old 02-20-2004, 07:25 PM
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Default Cylinder #5 not sparking.

Okay so for a while, actually since i bought my car, ive had a small miss, notable at idle mostly. But now i was on the hwy today, going 85mph when suddenly it felt like i had a flat tire, so i pulled over at a gas station to insepct, no flat, so i open my hood, and had a friend put the car in drive, hold the brake down, and hit the gas, the whole engine was shaking around, definate miss. So i get in the car, and limp mode it all the way home.

Now for the test i ran on it, kinda rednecky, but it worked! I pulled plug wire one off the coil, started the car for a second, the post sparked, i did the same for 3, the post sparked, then come number 5, i start the car, its running no diffrently, i touched the post, and no shock. I presume this is my coil, because this problem has been present to me after i wash my engine, but its NEVER near as bad, only at high rpm accelration, and its always gone over night. But it started to do this after i used a spray bottle to test for wire arcing. This was a week ago, problem slowly escalated, and was kinda interminet, but now its a dead cylinder

ALSO, my low coolant light has come on, yet my coolant is full in both the resivor and rad. I'm going to un hook the battery for a while and see if the low coolant light still comes on.

I ran a code scan on the car, no stored codes present.
Last week code 31 was stored, i did not reset the pcm, so it somehow mysteriously dis-appeared!
Old 02-20-2004, 07:30 PM
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How long has it been since you've changed spark plugs and wires?
Old 02-20-2004, 07:54 PM
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about 3000 miles
they are 8mm wires, and the AC Delco plugs that the spec calls for
That cant be the problem though, because there is no spark coming off the coil post it self..
Old 02-20-2004, 08:43 PM
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Check the coils resistance. It should be between 0.5 and 0.9 ohm.
Old 02-20-2004, 08:43 PM
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Also check that none of the wires are shorting on anything.
Old 02-20-2004, 09:16 PM
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the spark plug wires have NOTHING to do with it!!!!!!!!!!
I am doing this test by pulling one wire off at a time off of the coil!
Old 02-20-2004, 09:39 PM
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Coil troubleshooting in Techinfo. Doesn't always work, because sometimes they fail only with heat. Pull the #5 plug and check for fouling to confirm your suspicions. Pull the coils, and reseat them. Check for corrosion between the ICM and coils.

If you know someone else with a Series 1 or 2 3800, try swapping in a coil, or buy a cheapie to test with.

Your PCM isn't capable of logging a cylinder miss.
Old 02-20-2004, 10:36 PM
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okay, i removed that coil, its resitance on the top posts are 0.65. I cleaned up the terminals, and the primarys under the coil, i shot it clean with DRY compressed air, and still a no go. Plug 5 is wet with gas after running as well.
Old 02-20-2004, 11:10 PM
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If you're sure it'* the coils, swap the bad coil with one of the other ones on your car. Switcheroo.
Old 02-20-2004, 11:17 PM
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If you only checked the top posts, you checked the secondaries. You need to check the primaries underneath, too.


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