ZanatechRacing

ok, i just moved from houston, tx to fargo, nd a few months ago and my car has had a few problems. it had been idiling rough (somtimes staying as low as 4-500 rpms) but only sometimes and right at startup (after driving or letting it run for 1-2 minutes it stopped). i changed the plugs up here because it was making a poofing sound coming from the exhaust, the plug from cylinder 6 was completely black and covered in oil or something. i changed the plugs with ngk v-powers(was some autolites, dad changed them last... don't ask) and it seemed to be running fine now, still making the poofing noise as before (from the tailpipe) but not nearly as loud so i think it might just be an exhaust leak since my muffler is close to rusting off. im gonna try to pull codes from the ecu later today to see if anything shows up.

in the last 8 months:

-new starter
-new battery
-new plugs
-new plug wires
-new distributor cap
-new distributor rotor
-some parts of the distributor were replaced

the car did get hot once (temp gauge pegged) when a radiator hose clamp busted on the highway but only for like 5-10 seconds before i turned the car off. but that was when i first got the car (about a year ago) and it didn't seemed to have caused any problems.

things to check for:
-vaccum leaks
-o2 sensor (? mention in some other rough idiling post)
-bad fuel injector ( possibility )

any insight would be appreciated.

Also the car died this morning after starting.
RPMs went up to 1000rpm then dropped back down and died.

Ford5.0forlife

i had the slight poofing sound too, if its like a puttering and doesnt go away its prolly an injector sputtering like mine was. as for the idle that would be unrelated to the injector, but id say clean the tb, idle air control valve and like the other thread said, try checking your coolant temperature sensor

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

putt putting is normally a sign of a misfire
however since one of your plugs was black, I'd do a compression test on that cylinder just to make sure it still has enough compression to fire off

the_3d_man

iTrader: (1)

The beast is angry! It misses playing with my maxima.

decus

As said I would check the CHTS (temp sensor).

ZanatechRacing

thanks for the ideas, ill try to compression test it and stuff this weekend depending if i can get my hands on the tools, the ecu codes will have to wait because its like 13 degrees outside with wind and snow.... hopefully its not a compression problem or anything "major"