new spark plugs or ask the machinist

so,
about six months ago i thought i had a serious transmission problem, but upon digging around i realized i just needed to change wires and spark plugs...everything was fine...tonight as i was driving i started to lose power..i stopped on the side of the road , and being a girl, had about every man stop and try to assist me. thank-you out there!
i had the free diagnostic done at autozone which told me that cylinder 3 was misfiring. i promptly bought one spark plug and dropped her right in and away i went. about an hour later...loss of power...wierd clanking noise maybe coming from exhaust system.?..engine sounds real loud....shifts fine though.....
so im wondering if there could , in fact, be a more serious problem rooted in the engine,rather than just from the plug and wire connections. what do yall think?

 

No clue, lots of members in Arizona, maybe one will step up and lend a hand.
Good luck.

 

You mention exhaust?? Normally the exhaust having a hole in it would have almost like a loud ticking sound or like a reverb of the sound waves escaping... I'm not sure how to explain it but besides being loud and having a minor power loss. your exhaust wont effect much unless its suddenly become blocked or plugged..

Anyone know if the 1st gens run distributor caps?? because if you only changed your plugs and wires that could be the issue. they wear out over time

 

my truck has no distributor cap...the plugs go right into the block

 

How did the old plug from #3 look?

 

First Welcome.

This is something your going to have to take in and have looked at. WAY to many things it could be and we don't want to send you down the wrong road.
You could have dropped a valve with the misfire and funny noise out the exhaust or could have blown out a plug. You seem to to know when things don't sound right so i would get it looked as ASAP before a potential to make things worse.

GOOD LUCK !!!

 

the old plug had barely any signs of use....
what does dropping a valve entail?
i really hate bringing in my truck.....rather work on it myself if i can.

 

Kudos for wanting to fix it yourself. I don't know that we (or at least I) can diagnose too much over the internet. You might want to have a local mechanic look at it to at least figure out what is wrong.

Not sent from an iPhone.

 

thanks so much yall!!!

 

looking foward to being a part of this website...im on my way to talk to a buddy of a buddy whos got a shop!!

 

Glad to have you. Let us know how you make out.

 

Try doing compression check on all cylinders. That should rule out valve or head gasket issue.

 

turns out i just needed to change the coil pack!!!!! easy fix, changed it out in about five minutes!!!!it cost me 75 bucks though!!!maybe should of went to the junk yard, but now its in and done and my truck is running great!!!!

 

A girl who works on a drives a truck. Where have you been all my life..lol

 

X2~!!!

 

It's very hard to diag things in a forum. With strange sounds and weird Clanking noises you don't want to take chances. LOL
Awesome you want to work on your own stuff.
glad your set to go.

 

Damn, that was my next guess. Good job, and welcome to the site.

Welcome to the internet. Now calm down.

 

It's best to replace all the plugs at one time. Coat the threads with antiseize. Replace the wires as well. Add a dab of dielectric grease to the boots.

Misfires can be caused by bad plugs, wires, coil packs or injectors. Bad wires and coil packs can be diagnosed by, in a dark garage, misting the wires with a spray bottle of water and look for leaking spark. Injectors can be swapped to see if the problem moves to the other cylinder.

 

well, i kind of did that...not in a dark garage though...in the parking lot of autozone ..i took spark plug 3 out of the coil pack and turned the truck on....did not see any spark..took spark plug one off and turned it on...was spark....causing me to believe that the coil pack just needed to be changed...yup..

 

truck all of a sudden started to lose power and fuck up again...i changed the oil....was pure black when it came out..no metal in it..therefore no internal engine problems...correct?......new air filter...checked the other coil pack and barley any spark coming out....going to change out the other coil pack and replace all plugs and wires tommorow....what a money pit!!!!thats two hundred something dollars in two days god dammit!!!!!...pepboys wanted 104 dollars to diagnose...theres no way in hell im going to let these dudes check it out for 100 bucks to tell me to change my plugs and wires!!!hahah....thought i fixed it...even got drunk in celebration...
sincerley working on truck with hangover all day,
grizelda.....