I joined this forum to solve this problem

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ffel2

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I'm gonna try to give as much information as possible.

One day while driving my V8 3.9L 2001 LS began to sputter. While rolling I shifted into neutral and gave it some gas... it seemed fine. I put it back into drive and it almost immediatly stalled. I tried to restart it with no luck (even drained the battery trying).

I bought this vehical with 27,000 miles it now has a little over 70,000 on it. I have also performed regular maintenance (oil changes, filters, fluid checks etc.). With the exception of the waterpump, it never needed any major work in 5 1/2 years.

Here's what I've done so far:

Checked OBDII codes - none

*Installed new plugs (in the process discovered the leaky valvecover gaskets that every LS owner is so fond of).

*Replaced the valvecover gastets

*COPs were saturated with oil so I started replacing them but every store I went to only had 1 in stock (I replaced a total of 3 and cleaned the other 5 with electronic cleaning spray).

I put it all back together and tried to start it (still only cranked with no start).

I tested one of the new coils for spark and it had none. (I also tested it in other cylinders and nothing)

I figured possible dead battery could have cleared codes

*Replaced the cam position sensor... nothing

*Replaced the crank position sensor... nothing

My battery was dying awfully quick so I installed a newer one... nothing... well not exactly after about 1 hour that battery drained.

I started investigating wires and connections and discoversd a rat, about the size of my foot lying, dead, under my alternator.

Ok... It's kind of a long shot but maybe its possible this rat carcass fouled up my alternator so bad that it is causing battery drain and no spark.

*Replaced the alternator... nothing

I know I checked the fuses but what the heck I'll check them once more. I must have overlooked one because in the engine fusebox I found a 10amp fuse in the #12 position that was blown. I checked the manual and, sure enough, COPs!

*Replaced fuse... nothing... Blew new fuse.

Is it possible one or more of the old coils are shorting out this fuse?

I also checked for fuel during this whole process and it seemed weak.

I've always worked on my own cars and NEVER had one beat me before (but this one is close).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Could be a COP, or could be a rat is fond of wire insulation and happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time when starting.
 
yes. also this car does some weird things once the battery dies. I would replace the rest of the coils and see what happens after that.
 
Could have faulty coils out of the box. Just because they're new doesn't mean they work.
 
Before some members of this site have you putting in new dilithium crystals you could eliminate shorted COPs by pulling the connectors and see if the fuse still blows.

metal_dilithium2.jpg


Then you would know to start checking the wiring for any bite marks, or plugging in COPS until you find another blown fuse.
 
TooManyToys said:
Before some members of this site have you putting in new dilithium crystals you could eliminate shorted COPs by pulling the connectors and see if the fuse still blows.

metal_dilithium2.jpg


Then you would know to start checking the wiring for any bite marks, or plugging in COPS until you find another blown fuse.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I'd bet that the rodent chewed through the insulation of some of the wiring, and you're going to have to find the chewed places and repair them. You probably do need to replace the remaining coils, but they almost certainly are not why the fuse is blowing. Time to trace the wiring. Note that this fuse feeds more than just the COPs. I think it also feeds the fuel injectors and the MAF sensor, for example.
 
The fuel injector and MAF Sensor are on a different circuit, they are in position 5 in the fuse box. I know this because that was my issue a week ago. I didn't know why the fuel injector fuse was blowing. I didn't know at the time the MAF sensor was on the same circuit, so I had my mechanic look at it, and that's when he told me it was the MAF sensor.
 
Once you find and fix the cause of the #12 fuse blowing, It may run. If not, you may also have a bad fuel pump (is this a different fuse?) and/or clogged fuel filter? Get a gage on the rail's shrader valve and try starting.
 
jinx8402 said:
The fuel injector and MAF Sensor are on a different circuit, they are in position 5 in the fuse box. I know this because that was my issue a week ago. I didn't know why the fuel injector fuse was blowing. I didn't know at the time the MAF sensor was on the same circuit, so I had my mechanic look at it, and that's when he told me it was the MAF sensor.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't look up the gen I wiring.
 
Status update:

I decided to take the battery in,for a second time, to have it tested.

The first time they only tested to see if it was charged. This time I insisted they ran every test at their disposal. (it failed)

I bought a new battery, installed it and tried to start it. Once again it would not start but it now has spark in half of the coils. ( 1-2-4-5)

The firing order is: 1-5-4-2 6-3-7-8

So does this mean it is operating in "limp mode" and only firing the first four in sequence by design?

For the first time in three weeks the car now starts (with the aid of starting fluid). It immediatly stops once that is burnt out.

In my first post I mentioned weak fuel delivery so I think the fuel pump is my next step. I found it under the back seat and it seems simple enough. Can it be the cause of the limp mode? (possibly tricking the pcm with poor emissions).
 
Status update:

replaced:

-fuel pump
-fuel filter
-4" of fuel line after pressure regulator (that was so badly blocked no fuel was getting through).

put everything back together and it started right up.

The bad news is it's only firing four coils (1-2-4-5).

All 8 coils have been tested and rotated from cylinders that fire to ones that don't.

I ran the obd2 codes and got: p0353 p0356 p0357 p0358 also mass airflow sensor.

I need to know what is causing these coils to not to fire.

I mentioned before these are the last four in the firing order. Could this be a type of failsafe or limp mode?

I need an expert to advise me. Please help.

Do I need a new PCM?
 
so did you actually check the wiring to see if it was all chewed up like you were recommended to or are you just throwing parts at the car hoping to just get lucky?
because if you have coils that are good but wont fire only in certian locations, then fukced up wiring could definitely cause this, and no amount of parts thrown at the problem will fix anything.
 
Note the last number on each of the codes. Those are for your remaining cylinders misfiring. The codes are a primary curcuit malfunction, Coils. Where are you getting these coils from, and what kind are they? Get a set of Visteons. Can't go wrong. Try cleaning your MAF. First I would go looking for chewed up or pinched wires.
 
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