Cylinder misfire? 96 Sport 1.8L

[apedosmil]

It seems that my engine is sick, feels like fouled spark plug. I pulled them and they looked fine, but replaced them anyway.
This did not help at all.
Any Suggestions where to go from here?

MIL is flashing........

Vehicle is well maintained.

Thanks in advance to my fellow Suzuki Family!

[jtgh]

CEL (mil) flashing has special meaning, it means gross misfire.
it also means you CATCON will be melted to slag if you dont fix it fast.
cascade effect.

your car will show P0300 or 301---304 misfire.

Misfire means: " i the ECU ,discovered that one or more cylinders are not producing power , intermittantly or all the time" ( not always ignition related)

can be anything that can stop proper burning of the fuel.
Possibles:
bad coil on plug, COP , pull codes and it will tell you which one.
blown head gasket.
stuck valves , again pull the codes.
or worse , pull the codes.

I hope your cam chain isnt howling like a crazy dog ,like last guy here and blew his engine. listen to the cam chain, can you hear it, then do not drive the car.

I wouldnt drive any 16v engine that popped codes unless I :
1: check codes,
2: compression test.
3: full timing validation on cam and ignition ( just IGN timing on 1.8L , if off cry)
4: 1.8L listen very carefully to that cam chain , if it is talking, act.

keep in mind:
Misfire is the rate of crankshaft acceleration is weak. (a purely mechanical test)


It is a blessing on all 16v engines to have early warning.
For the lucky , they find a serious problem early and save a ton of cash.


example :
I pull codes, is see misfire on #4 , I immediatly pull compresson test on #4 and just
1 second before look at #4 cop for any damage in the insulation.
the cops can be had for $50 - $200 ( fleebay thru dealer)
in some cases you can swap the COP and see if the COP fail follows the cylinder or the COP.

Harbor freight sells a compression guage for $11.
what a deal.

watch exhaust for steam , and radiator fill hole ,look for junk in the green fluid.
look for milk in the oil, dip stick.

that should get you going.

[apedosmil]

Awesome!! Thanks for your guidance. I priced the ignition coil, and of course, I found one for a 98 Sport for $25, however the coil for 96 Sport was $150! (different coils apparently)
Just my luck..... it always seems parts are more expensive for the 96........
I will get the codes first, then worry about the 96 conspiracy.


By the way, what does COP mean?
Sorry, I'm new to this.


Thanks again!

[jtgh]

some kicks. have 4 cops and others have shared pairs . 2 cops and 2 spark wires.
on 98 the ignitor is moved to the inside of ECU and all is different. in this case.


COIL on PLUG.

epa mandates hotter spark every year, so suz , remove those wasteful spark wires.
just makes is more expensive to fix.
less resistance = more current.

I = V /R (or I = E/R for traditionalists)

new chevy pickups have 8 COPS, just like a Corvette.

ps; if you need a cop , EBAY sellers sometime have them on sale.
at 1/4 price.

yours could be a bad ignitor too, but I dont think so.

inspect the ends if all cops (pull them (twist gently as you do) and clean them and make sure no pin holes , carbon or cracking. i you see damage , it means it was FLASHING over to the Valve cover pocket.

[jtgh]

keep in mind, it can be purely mechanical or electrical,
find out which side it is first.
1- pull code.
2- if says cycl 3 is bad, pull a compression test pronto on $3
3- of 2 is good, move cop postions , if problem moves with cop, cop is bad.

if you move cop and misfire stays on #3 as above example, and you are sure compression on engine is high 150 psi and equal then the ignitor might be bad.
but bad ignitors are very rare.

[apedosmil]

P0301 code..........COPs all looked fine.

[jtgh]

cylinder 1 misfire.

id check compresson on #1 pronto.
if ok the rotate swap cop 1 for cop 2. ok is 150 psi cold. ( id read them all )
each cop has same PN so I know they can be swapped !

compression test, pull spark plugs, all, place guage in spark hole, crank with Fuel pump relay pulled. pull ignitor device input plug and with throttle wide open, crank it.

Cops plug into ignitor.
FP relay is on bracket to the right side of radio.
top relay is fuel pump .

the FP relay prevents the flooding of engine with gas.
and the ignitor plug pull keeps you for Tazering your self, OUCH.

my FP relay has a green socket , on 96?

[apedosmil]

OK, I swapped the COPs and rescanned her and its a goner. The spark plug with the bad cop attached turns black, not oily black, sooty black. Its consistent with the movement of the suspected cop.

So you think this is confirmation enough? Should I bite the bullet and hunt down a new cop, or do more testing?

[jtgh]

if the cop fail in the new cyclinder, that is it.

ebay has best price.
rockauto is good but faster
and fastest is dealer or local. and $$

so long as the plug in the suspected bad cop was good before the move.

id hate to condem cop for a $1.29 plug.

compression tests are so nice, what if those two cylinders were leaking to each other.
but I am always suspicious, just been burnt so many times.

a good scan tool shows pendings codes and just maybe there are adjacient pendings and one hard fail. ( so much for cheap scan tools , now we know why full scans are always best)


In school the instructor always yells , "check the basics boys or get bitten"

one guy here , we went round the world , and it was a stuck valve.
what a waste of time. engine bad, all that fancy electronics , actually perfect.

I always pull a compression test, on any 16v for sure.

most likely the cop is carbon tracked, look under very bright lights in and out.
every inch, you will see it. if it is there , most the time.
but some times it just beginning and are only tiny pin holes in the rubber.

[apedosmil]

Plugs are 4 days new, that was the very first thing I tried to fix it.
I had an old Chevy Caprice many many years ago that had one spark plug that would constantly foul ( it was a bad seal or something, covered in oil ).
Thats why my first suspected culprit was a spark plug.
It has the hesitation and rough idle syndrome, so naturally i thought ureka! Bad Plug!
Anyway, I purchased a fancy Actron Scanner so no other codes or problems found.

None of the local parts merchants have the cop in stock,
What about used?