If someone could direct me to some site that shows exactly how the spark plug wires should be routed on my vehicle I would greatly appreciate it.
I fear that I may have crossed two wires. The car idles roughly, now that I changed out the plugs and wires.
I thought I marked everything properly and rerouted the wires the same but now I have a rough idle that wasn’t there before.
BTW, the car accellerates fine, it’s just the idle is rough, almost like a vacuum line is loose (I checked, couldn’t find anything like that) or like it has a huge cam in it, checked that too .
I’m going with the simplest thing and that’s that I may have effed up two of the wires.
It’s a 96 Explorer with a 4.0 (6 cyl), four wheel drive XLT.
It is called a shop manual. Has all the details.
I seriously doubt that you will find a free web site vs. buying a shop manual.
Alternatively a certified technician.
IF you are lucky a SDMB’er may come by that has either the manual or the tech. certification and help you out.
Or he could luck into someone who actually has this exact car, such as me. I can probably go check around lunchtime, but I dont’ know how to describe what goes where.
Nice job there skippy. Could it be you are unaware that we have several mechanics on the board who could probably answer this question pretty quickly?
Anyhow, one of the easies ways to find out if you have crossed some wires is to pull them while the engine is running. If the wire is misrouted, you won’t affect the idle at all, but if it’s an active plug you will nitice a significant stumble in the idle.
If you have no acceleration problems, I suspect you don’t have wires misrouted. You should notice a decrease in fuel economy and rough running throughout the range of the vehicles performance.
I am not a professional mechanic, however, I do my own oil changes and tinker a bit. If you want professional advice, wait gor Rick or one of the other auto mechanics to come on board and give you some.
On the engine, from front to rear, the right side has cylinders 1, 2, & 3; the left has 4, 5, & 6.
The diagram I have shows the coil pack oriented front-to-rear on its long axis. From front to rear, on its right side are cylinders 1, 2, & 3; on its left side are cylinders 5, 6, & 4. Note that while the order on the coil corresponds to the order on the engine for the right side, they are different for the left side.
Gary T has given you the base info you need. There is one more thing. When you changed the wires, did you route the new one exactly** in the same place and manner as the old wires? If you did not, go back and re-route them exactly as they came from the factory.
If two plug wires run parallel and too close together you can induce voltage into the wrong wire, and get a missfire.
crazyjoe Pulling plugs wires on a modern engine is not always a good idea. On some systems, the available voltages can reach 90,000 volts. Enough to kill. I met a mechanic that told me one time that he had laid his arm on top of the coil pack of a GM car. It shocked the shit out him, and the muscles in his arm stopped working for several minutes. :eek: Note that this was without disconnecting any wire, just what leaked past the insulation.
Ah, this might be the problem. I couldn’t (read; didn’t bother to) route the wires around the back of the block as the wire holders are in some pretty tough locations to access. I will try to get them seperated and routed properly and let you know how it turns out.
I think, right now, two or three of them are just laying on top of each other between the fire wall and the engine block as they make their way from the coil to the plugs.
GaryT, thanks for the info - Rick too.
I read at one site that there are two different coil pack set-ups for this particular auto. One has the coil mounted from front to back and the other has the coil mounted sideways (left to right) as the coil pack is rectangular in shape. This will also determine the firing order. Does this sound right to you guys?
My book showed only the one orientation for that engine/that year. Maybe it’s different for different engines and/or different years and that site didn’t make that clear, maybe my book omitted that detail, maybe that site is flat wrong. Nevertheless, if there is a sideways orientation, I doubt the arrangement on the coil pack is different - it would just be rotated 90 degrees. You could trace the wires, and since we figure at least 4 of them are on properly, you could figure out where each should be. The cylinder numbers might even be marked on the coil.
If by front you mean standing in the front of the auto looking at the engine then;
Holy Crap! I just checked and I got em routed as 4,5, and 6, not 5,6, and 4…they’re all wrong.
I couldn’t have screwed it up any worse if I tried.
I’m at work and I couldn’t spend the time to re-route them right now but I will do so in a couple of hours and get back to you to let you know how remarkable the difference is.
I’m shocked it even starts at all!~
(BTW, the coil pack is mounted as you describe, length-wise like the engine)
Which way you’re looking makes a difference if you’re describing left and right. My use of left and right corresponds to sitting in the driver’s seat looking forward - the driver’s side (U.S. vehicles) is the left, the passenger’s side is the right.
Which way you’re looking doesn’t affect front/rear - the front is closest to the front bumper.
I’m guessing you’ll tell me that I have everything transposed, the engine bank with 4-6 should be 1-3 and vice versa. The same with the coil pack, 5, 6, 4 should be 1, 2, 3.
If that’s the case then I’ve really got this fouled up.
You have it backwards. The passenger side plugs are what Gary labeled 123.
The rear passenger side plug goes to the rear passenger side cylinder, the middle to the middle and the front to the front. On the driver side, it’s switched up. I couldn’t follow the wires from end to end on my engine because of how buried they are behind and beneath stuff, which is why I didn’t comment before.
Ok, good so far, that’s how I actually have it wired - on the left side. 1, 2, and 3 on the coil go to 1, 2, and 3 on the engine. It’s the drivers side that I still might have screwed up. I’ll have to double check that before I drive home.
Whewh!
The sketch is a left/right mirror image of the layout on the vehicle.
At the right side of the engine, right being the passenger side/side on the driver’s right hand when sitting in the seat facing forward/side that blinks when you signal a right turn, the frontmost cylinder (closest to the right headlight/closest to the radiator) is #1. Behind it on the right side is #2, behind that is #3.
When you’re standing at the front bumper looking into the engine compartment (towards the rear of the car), these will be on your left but they’re still - and always - on the right side of the vehicle.
On the left side of the engine are cylinders #4, 5, & 6, #4 being closest to the left headlight/closest to the radiator, #6 being rearmost.
According to the diagram I have, the coil is conveniently laid out with the towers for the right side engine cylinders on the right side of the coil pack, and the towers for the left side engine cylinders on the left side of the coil pack. On the coil pack, the order on the right side is #1 front, #2 middle, #3 rear. The order on the left side of the coil pack is #5 front, #6 middle, #4 rear. This is exactly how it is on my 1990 Aerostar with a 4.0, and the diagram for it is correct, so I’m sure the diagram for yours is also.
Here’s a view with the same orientation as your sketch (i.e., standing in front of the car looking into the engine compartment):
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