Rough Idle, Flashing CEL - Testing Coils and Wires
I have a 1999 3.0L V6 XLT...this topic has been discussed a bit, but I have a few specific questions that I haven't seen...
While driving I got the flashing CEL and a rough idle and loss of horsepower, which I believe means a misfire. I got towed home and swapped out the spark plugs (Autolite Platinum 103, .054 gap) and cleaned the spark plugs wires (which seem to be in decent shape, although I will be changing them today).
The idle improved slightly, and the CEL is gone, but the idle is still very rough, and significant loss in horsepower when applying the throttle. I have good spark at the coil for the rear 4 cylinders, but very little spark at the front two.
Two main questions:
When checking for spark by removing each plug wire at the coil- should cylinders 1 and 4 (the front most plugs) show significantly less spark due to the "flex fuel" feature? Does it idle on 4 cylinders?
If I am getting good spark between the cylinders and the coil- does this indicate that the ignition coil is functioning properly?
I recently swapped out a badly rusted filler neck, that triggered an EVAP leak. Things were fine with no code for 2 weeks afterwards, but perhaps the engine is not compensating for the change back to proper EVAP pressure? I plan to clean the IAC sensor today as well. Would a fuel filter change also be advised? Thanks in advance, this forum is awesome.
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1999 Ranger XLT 3.0L
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