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Hello all,

A few weeks ago I had what I thought was a spark plug go bad in my car. Made sense, I had gone about 40K miles without changing them, I figured no big deal. Changed it and parked the car for a while (ride motorcycle mostly in summer).

Ran fine until yesterday while I was driving I discovered when I gave it enough gas to accelerate, the engine lost power and almost died. A little further down the road, it DID die. Twice. I parked it and since it was doing the same things it was doing last time I needed to replace a plug, I went ahead and bought all new plugs and replaced them all. I discovered one of the plugs (not the one I had problems with a few weeks earlier) had oil on it. The other 3 (including the one I just replaced) were a bit corroded, but not too bad.

Replaced them all, started up and idled fine, but was still having problems when giving it gas. I tried to drive it home, but it died in the middle of traffic as soon as I pulled out of the parking lot. Had to push it back in and park it.

Looking closer, I found that one of the spark plug boots (second from left) keeps coming up everytime I give it a bit of gas, no matter how hard I push down. Wiggling it a bit, it seems very loose and is a bit corroded. Looking at the wires, there is a spot where the insulation is missing...appears to have melted, or worn away. There is AT LEAST 50K miles on it, as I have never changed them.

I ordered new ones today, and they should be here tomorrow....but I'm worried that is not the only problem. Can anyone think of anything else I might check that could be causing all these problems? I have about 150K miles on the engine, so it's far from new, and I don't expect it to run like it is....but it should be better than this!

Side note; The oil level is fine, but is about 300 miles overdue to be replaced...going to get it done soon, but don't think it is the source.
I'm not overly mechanically inclined, but I also ordered a new rotor cap and fuel filter. Might those help some? (Brother in law works at Car Quest and suggested I do those too).

EDIT: Forgot to mention a few things.

It's a 1994.
It was overheating pretty badly both today and the day I replaced the first plug.
I'm sure I'll think of more....

Thanks!

Replace all four plugs at the same time if you do change one change them all. and replace all of your plug wires at the same time not just one. I tried driving my car for about a 400 mile drive and half way there i found an auto zone and bought new wires and my car was fine.

your wires were probably corroded.. all green and powdery

Well...I went and bought all new spark plug boots, distributer cap, and rotor....installed them, and it ran HORRIBLY, but it was a different "bad" then what seemed to be wrong with it earlier.

Gave up on it for the day, and brought the family mechanic out to look at it the next day....I had somehow managed to switch cylinders 3 and 4, so they were firing in the wrong order.

Switched them around, and it fired right up. D'oh.

Drove it home today...ran fine, but it was running hot. Let it cool off in the garage for a bit, then put some water in it. It took 1.5 liters of water before the radiator filled up. Must of been a bit low, hm?



In the end, it seems I had two problems:
There was a bare spot on one of my spark plugs wires that seems to have been shorting it out.
Second, one of the spark plug boots was no longer fitting securely, and was being popped out when the cylinder tried to fire.

It's working for now, at least....heres to a few more miles before it kicks the bucket.

There is no reason a plug wire would pop off when a cyl fires. That simply doesn't make sense. Its not like the plug moves or anything.

Did you buy new wires? The correct ones?

Where is your coolant leak?

Ryan wrote:There is no reason a plug wire would pop off when a cyl fires. That simply doesn't make sense. Its not like the plug moves or anything.

Did you buy new wires? The correct ones?

Where is your coolant leak?

The plug wire didn't fit anymore due to heat and corrosion (it was pretty nasty, I'm surprised I didn't have issues before now), it wasn't a tight seal and seemed to me it was popped off by either air, or the movement of the engine. Or something.

I don't know, you are correct it doesn't really make sense, I just knew it came off when the engine was on.

I'm not sure where the coolant leak is yet...I filled the radiator with water in hopes of finding it before I spill radiator fluid all over the place.

Yes, now that I have new wires everything is working again.

freakyalien wrote:Well...I went and bought all new spark plug boots, distributer cap, and rotor....installed them, and it ran HORRIBLY, but it was a different "bad" then what seemed to be wrong with it earlier.

Gave up on it for the day, and brought the family mechanic out to look at it the next day....I had somehow managed to switch cylinders 3 and 4, so they were firing in the wrong order.

Switched them around, and it fired right up. D'oh.

Drove it home today...ran fine, but it was running hot. Let it cool off in the garage for a bit, then put some water in it. It took 1.5 liters of water before the radiator filled up. Must of been a bit low, hm?



In the end, it seems I had two problems:
There was a bare spot on one of my spark plugs wires that seems to have been shorting it out.
Second, one of the spark plug boots was no longer fitting securely, and was being popped out when the cylinder tried to fire.

It's working for now, at least....heres to a few more miles before it kicks the bucket.

i have never re-installed or messed with my dizzy but i know if you dont put it on right. like crooked? i guess or upside down it will be all messed up. and Ryan my spark plug wires used to fall off cause they were THAT corroded i even saved them it was that bad lol ill take a picture some time.

If they're that bad, then why aren't you getting new ones?

Ryan wrote:If they're that bad, then why aren't you getting new ones?

lol i did finnaly. when it was really messing with my car. like i said i was 200 hundred miles away from home and bought new wires.

Before you destroy your B6 -

Your water pump is likely leaking and will just get worse until all the coolant
leaks out ... maybe 1.5 liters till it hits the bottom of the leak point.

Get that looked at and changed, if you cant do it yourself pay the shop
to replace timing belt/water pump and all that goodness. If its not leaking
from the water pump and from the hoses double up the clamps, the hoses
tend to leak when they get ancient.

Also if you had it at a mechanic already and he didnt spot the leak dont take
it back there for your belt and pump replacement.

I tend to ramble but the first and most important thing is to discover where
its leaking from.