Help--Embarassing Screw Up

[Kevin Lang]

Guys, as much as I hate to admit it, I've royally screwed up with putting the passenger side livewires on.



Probably because I didn't heed advice and tried to do it all with the wheel on, but now I get codes P0303 and P0010.



Google tells me that P0303 is "cylinder 3 misfire", which I can understand as I was manhandling the boot on that sucker and actually broke it off on the plug, and had to extract boot remnants from the plug. Did I mangle the plug? I hope not.



It can't be something as simple as putting too much dielectric grease in the boots of the live wires, can it? (hopes)



Those lousy MotorCraft wires were stuck on there--they probably haven't been replaced in the lifetime of the truck, which is 7 years (2002 model, 2001 build) and 92,000 miles :angry:



Google didn't tell me what P0010 was, but I did see something about a mustang and a camshaft position sensor, and I that can't be right as that would be a larger problem



I'm also getting P0174, but I was getting that code before I started maintenance--it was one of the things I was going to check and fix, but I couldn't leave well enough alone with the spark plug wires.



My ride has become one of those GM 5 cylinder cars--I can't have that ! Anything but that lol.



Embarrassing as it is, I have managed to screw up my daily driver and only vehicle, with only a limited amount of time left to repair her. Any hints?

 

[EddieS'04]

Did you replace the wires? If so you may have firing order crossed. Or it is not snaped onto the plug copletely. If you changed the plugs, you might have cracked the ceramic insulator on #3...

 

[Tom Schindler]

You need to remove that plug and wire and inspect it. Did you replace the plugs too, or only the wires?



If you did not replace the plugs, this is something you really need to do.



As for the P0010 code, it seems to refer to the VCT, something I am sure the 4.0L SOHC engine does not have. Possibly when streaching around the tire, you may have broken a wire or plug. Check around for something that doesn't look right.



To start off, replace all plugs. Plugs are subjected to a more brutal environment than wires are. Change them first, if you havent already. If you have, I would swap two wires with each other. If the code changes to another cylinder, you know the wire was destroyed and you will have to replace it. If it stays the same and the plugs are new, replace the bad plug.



As for the other code, P0174, Check for a cracked elbow. Not a big deal.



If there is anything else you need help with, please ask ere or email me. I will be leaving for work shortly. If you need more help, email me for my cell phone number. You could than call me directly.





Tom

 

[Kevin Lang]

Thanks--I'm going to see if I can persuade her to move to where I can work.



I just replaced the motorcraft wires on the passenger side with the LiveWires. I replaced the drivers' side wires a while ago, but I didn't want to mess with the passenger side until I had some time, good thing I waited.



Hopefully the LiveWire isn't destroyed--I didn't do anything dumb to it, but the MotorCraft wire is dead.

("d-e-d dead!") It came off in 4 pieces, and considering how I had to get the boot part off the plug with needlenose pliers (couldn't move the truck without wires, couldn't remove the tire for better access without moving the truck), the plug probably is shot as well.



Of course, it's a long hike to the store, and all of my friends just happen to be at work.



If it was easy, it wouldn't be fun...

 

[Tom Schindler]

Replace the plugs first thing.





Tom

 

[Todd Z]

Kevin,

Also make sure you did not push the wire deeper in the boot of the livewire... That can happen and cause the wire not to sit on the plug properly....



Look in the boot and see if the tip of the wire lock is against the little lip in the boot....



IF not you need to push the wire back in the boot further...



Todd Z

 

[Kevin Lang]

Well, it turns out that this was embarrassment more than an actual screw-up. Since I tried to put the wires on with the tire on, I couldn't see what I was doing, and once I took the tire off, I found that I had wedged the livewire in _next_ to the plug, and had convinced myself that it was on.



Since I was already there, I took the plunge and replaced all of my sparkplugs with autolite double platinum (the only autolite they had). Whoever came up with the "brilliant" idea of mounting stuff to the wheel well liners is an idiot. Whatever that toilet float thing is on the passenger's side, well, it wouldn't remount properly, so I had to improvise.



Being out there, I decided to do the shocks as well. Whoever said that the rear right shock was the easiest, know that I disagree. The front 2 were the easiest because you had access to the bolts. I couldn't get a socket wrench on the upper ones with the bed there, so I had to crank them off with a little 13mm wrench



I need to do the driver's rear shock, and I'm thinking about dropping that box to get to the bolts easier, but I don't know what is in the box. There is a hose connecting the 2 boxes reading "gas/fuel", and while I doubt that fuel would be in there as the boxes are behind the gas tank, I don't wanna be wrong and end up drenched in 3.54/gallon gasoline.

(on a side note, that hose is almost 50% larger in diameter than that little anemic swaybar...I really can't believe how pathetic that bar is. It flexed when I bashed my head on it. Sad.)



Man, I really wish I had gotten some other stuff to add on while I'm working, like that CAI and the manly swaybar, but if i did it once, I can do it again

 

[Tom Schindler]

I really can't believe how pathetic that bar is. It flexed when I bashed my head on it. Sad.)

The competition does not install sway bars. How pathetic is that?





Tom

 

[Kevin Lang]

Competition? You mean rice? My dislike for the asian car knows no bounds. Now that you mention it, I think I have found a picture to rival the TRD shirt that fanboys keep posting in threads.



It may loose a little because I scaled it, but their appearance, their crappy civic, and their mutilated and spray painted (not automotive paint, mind you) mustang sum up my feelings on rice.



[Broken External Image]:



TRD needs a "u" as a second letter. (Yes, it isn't a toyota in the pic, but all rice is the same)



Even my 92 lesabre has something which resembles an anti-sway bar.





So...any info on that box?

 

[Tom Schindler]

You do not need to remove it. Just put your arm around the top to get access.



The box is For the fuel tank fumes. You can drop it, just be careful you do not break any hoses off of it. if so, you a new light on the dash.





Tom

 

[Kevin Lang]

Thanks for the advice Caymen--it gave me the final push to go out and change the plugs instead of just putting new wires on and procrastinating on the plugs.



You're right, I got too distracted in a mini rant about the sway bar. The only thing I meant to post was about those rear shock boots, which were almost difficult to get on, and to ask if there was some trick I didn't know for them, but that didn't happen. Gotta stay away from late night posts, I guess.



After spending all this time to remove the check engine light, I don't want to get it back, so I'll go wit h the reach over plan.