Hey guys,

I need some help/direction/advice before I seriously either burn the EB or lock it away until I've calmed down enough to start messing with it again and buy an AU.

For the past few weeks its had a bit of a rough idle/miss when first started after sitting for a few hours. It starts easily but it just idled a bit rough.

Anyway coming back from uni last Thursday, it started fine, drove it for about 20 mins (constant at 80-90km/h), came to a stop at a set of lights and it started idling really rough like it had a miss somewhere and stalled.

I limped it home and tested a few things.


All leads had spark however number 2 lead was a bit weak so I swapped it for 2 other known working good ones and same deal.

So I changed the distributor cap and rotor button (I think its called) for new ones to no change, number 2 still had weak spark compared to the other leads.

Swapped the spark plug on number 2 for an older one that I cleaned up and same deal.

So I gave up on that and decided to check the injectors which is where it gets weird.

I unplugged them all one at a time and when unplugging number 2 injector, the idle didn't change...

Swapped all of them for the older EB injectors (its running AU injectors) and still no change to idle.

I'm stumped with what else it could be but it sounds like it definitely involves cylinder 2 which is scary as all I can think of is its potentially dropped a cylinder...


Is there any relation to number two having weak spark and the fuel injector potentially not pumping properly?

Is there any sensor that could possibly be rooted?

The way it runs at idle and low revs is as if its down a cylinder however it still gets up and goes fine, I'm just hesitant to drive it as it is so haven't really taken it for a long drive.


I've also tried to disconnect the battery and swap the J3'd ECU out for the old EB XR one.

I've pulled a couple of the spark plugs out and they look a bit black but surely that wouldn't make it run the way its running?


Any help/ideas/suggestions are welcome as this has me stumped.

I'll also get a video if that would help haha

I'm just over fixing it all the time.

Cheers,
Luke

*Edit, sorry for the essay, just didn't want to be brief!

If pulling the injector didn't change the idle at all , it sounds like cylinder 2 isn't firing.
If it had dropped a cylinder it would still have decent spark it just wouldn't fire properly.
Definitely sounds like an electrical problem but Im scratching my head on what it could be.
Is there any shaft play in the dizzy? Only thing I can think of is if the shaft has slop in it , it could be trying to make the spark jump across a bigger gap weakening it.
Makes very little scence but I reckon its a spark problem.

Nah, definitely get rid of it and buy a VT.

Only kidding...

I still have my old dizzy in the shed if you want to give that a shot.

You need to build a big Chinese wall to keep the kilometres out.
Rabbits are ok. They eat turnips.

Hahaha I'd take an AU1 forte over a VT anyday

Thanks Matt!
I'll have a play with it tomorrow and update here!

I'll let you know Ev, cheers!

Hi. It sound odd that spark is poor even after changing that lead. Even if u have dropped a cyl it would make no difference to your spark. If the other 5 leads are producing good spark then there has to be a break down in the distributer cap. Did u clean the cap or replace it?

Hi. It sound odd that spark is poor even after changing that lead. Even if u have dropped a cyl it would make no difference to your spark. If the other 5 leads are producing good spark then there has to be a break down in the distributer cap. Did u clean the cap or replace it?
Ive had the hose going to the map sensor come off which made it run bad too

I ended up replacing the cap mate.

Anyway dad went to take it to the mechanic yesterday and he said it had no power, backfired twice then switched off lol...

So it's there atm.

If its going to cost more then a few hundred its new car time!

Going to go look at an AU tomorrow probably regardless of the outcome.

Thanks for all the help guys!

Could be a break in the wiring to injector #2. Have you tried back-probing the connector to see if it's getting voltage at the injector?

Other possibility that comes to mind is head gasket failure between coolant passages and #2 cylinder. After sitting for a while or while idling or at low revs, the cylinder would get enough coolant in it to prevent the fuel/air from igniting (lots of vacuum, so lots of coolant; low revs and load, so very little fuel). My EF did this when the head gasket went. But I was losing 200-500mls of coolant a day. Is your coolant level staying steady?

Diagnosis is it has stripped the aux shaft lol
Lucky its still under warranty!
I'm going down to see it this arvo but my guesstimate is that a cheap s**t dizzy was installed...
Gotta love s**t C*** mechanics! (Different mechanic to whom has it now)

Anyway cheers for the help as always guys!