Dead skip

I have an 04 with 55,000 miles. It is not an every day driver. After sitting for about two weeks in my garage I go to start it and it is running very rough. Check engine light came on. Had it towed to my mechanic he said code showed cylinder 1 and 3 miss fire. My question is could it be the coil packs and or the wires? He said it may have jumped time. I don't want him to start throwing parts at it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

at that little mileage seems kind of odd. cheapest things to try are spark plugs and wires (~$60) if you do it yourself. Coil packs will run you into the hundred plus range

I changed my plugs the first time at 90k.


the other issue could be bad gas. being that you leave it sit, it's probably good to run a can of Seafoam through it or even drain the gas and refill. If you know it's going to sit for a bit then toss some Sta-bil into it to preserve the fuel

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I will share this information with my mechanic.

 

if it skipped timing, you would have more than 2 cyl. missing. easiest thing is change the plugs first. Look at the wires, too. don't let a mechanic throw parts at it. that is expensive.

 

^^ What he said! I think you have an electrical issue, possibly a little moisture has crept between the spark plug caps n spark plugs. Grab yourself a can of carb cleaner, WD40 or something that will displace moisture and give your spark plug caps a squirt, let them dry, put it back together and try and fire it up.

If that doesn't do it, then move onto the wires etc.

Good luck, let us know what you find out as it will be some helpful information down the road for someone else.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Mechanic is suppose to get to my truck early this week. I will post what the problem and fix is.

 

Update. Number one cylinder has no compression per the mechanic. It is beyond his ability to proceed further so I have had it towed to another mechanic. With this information any ideas what's going on. It just seem so odd that truck was running fine a
When parked and a couple of weeks later this issue occurs!!! Any suggestions my friends as to what to expect?

 

Boy am I glad you decided to take it to someone else to check out! I wanted to suggest that in my prior post as it's pretty clear that guy was over his head, but I was hesitant and didn't want to sound forceful.

Hopefully it's a sticking/burnt valve that's giving you zero compression. The repair for a competent shop is easy but it will cost you some $$. A hole in the top of a piston/cracked rings is another possibility.

Let us know what the 2nd opinion is, wishing you all the luck pal!

 

Update: mechanic found a stuck open valve due to heavy build up of carbon. The water pump was leaking (which I already knew) and he is going ahead and changing the timing belt while in their. He is putting everything back together so should have my truck back in a few days. He said he had never seen a valve stuck open so tight. Just a freaky thing. He suggested to run some pure gas from time to time and a can of Seafoam to time. Thanks for everyone's input.

 

Sounds like your second mechanic should really be your first mechanic.

 

OP, glad you got it sorted out and its an easy fix! And the fact that you found someone that knows what they're looking at helps as well.

 

UPDATE: Got truck back and it runs great. Only issue is a slight valve tap. Mechanic says valves adjusted to specs. He changed the oil and filter. Any idea as to why this slight tap?