rough idleing for the last month!

[jmonsrvr]

before this the truck ran fine (95 discovery), but I have developed a very slow head gasket leak

i got my engine steam washed about a month ago. they winded up spraying the top of the engine and the truck idled rough and while under load would misfire a bit. no loss of power. just rough idleing at a stop and slight misfireing under load. so i wait a few days nothing improves. pull wires, cap and rotor to let them dry.. a slight yet noticeable imrpovement, but the symptoms are still there. Fast forward 4 weeks- replaced all plugs and wires. I noticed one of the plugs, #4, was fouled. the rest looked fine, but worn. So I have new kingsborne 8mm wires and autolite plugs, the same ones I have been using for years (cap and rotor look fine and are genuine) and there is a huge difference- you can tell there are new plugs and wires, but there is still a mild rough idleing and under acceleration. I did notice when starting the truck it was a bit "rough" at the initial spark/start.

What could it be? (all vacum lines were checked) its really getting annoying now. cheers and thank for any help

 

[singingcamel]

Check the sequence of the low tension leads again, check your rotor, twist it counter clockwise does it spring back? check all connection at the coil.

 

[jmonsrvr]

all of that checked.

 

[Quentin]

There's nothing worse than a lunatic with a high pressure washer getting stuck in under your bonnet :banghead:
Who knows what he has dislodged (vac lines, elec plugs, etc, etc) or weather he directed a squirt up your air intake.
Did you check to see if there was any moisture in your airbox?
Check MAF.......... clean it with a bit of brake cleaner while it's open (no not touch the 2 wires !)
Check idle valve....... remove and clean plunger & refit
Check trottle potentimeter elec plug
Spray all elec connections, plug wires, etc with a good water displacing spray.
I NEVER steam clean or high pressure wash my motor. I do that all by hand :victory:

 

[jmonsrvr]

so i took into the shop yesterday afternoon and just got off the phone with them. They can not trace the problem. arrgggh they told me worst case scenario- its a cracked block. WTF a cracked block?! It was running fine before i took into the wash and now one month later its still idleing rough. I will say this- I do have a slight headgasket leak and when changing plugs and wires out I noticed that the the plug on cylinder 3 was fouled with a bit of oil. so now what? take to another shop for a second opinion?

I asked if they pressure tested the system and they told me that with the minimal amount of cooling that im losing that it would not show anything.

 

[jmonsrvr]

any thoughts on this? Could it just be the head gasket leaking into the cylinder? rather than a cracked block? vehicle is not overheating, just picked up the truck and noticed a bit of white smoke at start up, but it lasted for about 20 seconds then went away. exhaust smelled like coolant for the about a minute... then normal. i know thats not a good sign..

 

[jmonsrvr]

to those that posted and those that just looked at the thread heres an update.

PROBLEM SOLVED (and not by the shop I took it too, they told me it was a cracked block, dumbasses)- DAMN that took a while.

Injector plug for cylinder #4 was loose causing the misfire. Plugged it back in and now it works like its supposed too. It looked like it was on, but had been disodged during the washing.

Also I found out that taking the cap off of to check for moisture was not enough, i physically took the black cap the covers the distributor guts off and found lots of water in there, actual water. Let that dry out a bit. (moisture in there for 4 plus weeks).

TRuck runs great again. In the process i purchased new plugs and wires. I usually get magnecor, but after all the hype about the kingsborne wires- well had to try them. They are great wires and for the price they can not be beat. Will no longer purchase magnecor.

did i mention that life is good again too (because of the rover)