Hi. I have a '96 Eclipse RS 2.0 5 speed with 180,000 miles on it. It has been a great car (we've owned it since 80,000 miles).

I know this is a long msg, so I'll sum it up at the end for those who don't care for bloated posts :)

Recently it developed a slight misfire. This would usually only happen when trying to accelerate in a relatively high gear. It would run fine if accelerating hard, or downshifting into a lower gear. (the closer you were to "lugging" the more likely to misfire)

Anyway, it tripped the Check Engine light and we had Autozone hook it up and they said it was indeed a misfire issue. We figured it was probably just due for plugs so I changed them out. The car ran perfectly right after that, but I noticed oil on the plugs when I took them out. I had a friend suggest that it was likely the spark plug seals on the valve cover gasket. Anyway, after about a week the car started acting up again, so I figured it was indeed the valve cover gasket, so I changed that as well.

The plugs were virtually still new, so I just cleaned them off and put them back in but the car did not run better this time.

Also, there was miscommunication between me and my friend who suggested the valve cover gasket. He was under the impression that the oil was on top of the plug (where the wire connects) but it was in fact on the threaded end (the part that actually sits in the engine)

The strange thing is that (before I found out that the valve cover gasket would not be the cause of the oil on the bottom of the plug) I just assumed that it was residual oil in the combustion chamber causing the misfire and it would burn off/go away after a little driving.. So, I took it for a drive, and although it never got better, when I checked the plugs again, there is no oil on the bottom of them.

So for the summary :)
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I have new spark plugs which cured my misfire for about a week (I did not change the wires at the time since the plugs alone made it run great)

I have a new valve cover gasket and no oil on the top or bottom of the plugs.

I guess the obvious thing might be change the wires as well, but it just seems too coincidental that they would fail separately a week after the plugs.

Anyway, Thanks to anyone who bothered to read this novel.

-Jon

Hey... same issue here... check to see if your burning any oil... i believe that my problem is related to my valves... typically our valves need to be redone at around 130,000 so i have heard... the valve seals will leak (hence the burning oil) and the valves will not seat right thus causing the loss of compression equalling the misfire.. comprendae?

Maybe try to replace the wires, have you checked the o2 sensor? You could be running rich, and fouling the plugs.

Hey, thanks for the suggestions.

I don't think it is burning oil, we rarely have to add any (maybe one quart between oil changes). I don't think it is a compression issue since it got better for a week after the spark plug change, but then again, I certainly don't know.

I haven't checked the o2 sensor. Would it throw a particular code if it was an o2 sensor? When it was checked by Autozone they just said it was a code for a cylinder not firing properly and thus prob the plugs and/or wires. Is there a certain test for the o2?

Would there be other tell-tale signs if it's running rich?

I know it's not much $ for some wires, but, I just hate to spend any cash if it's not needed. (they look fine for whatever that's worth). But, if that's one of the simplest, cheapest, and fairly likely culprits I'll give it a go.


Anyway, once again, thanks for the help!

any time you replace plugs in these cars you should replace wires as well :thumbsup:

when you pull your plugs, they will be um... "blacker" than normal if its runnin rich..
I personally don't believe that you need to get new plugs...

you can test your wires with this,: if you know which cylindar it was that was misfiring, switch the cable from a different cylindar...

Ex: cyl. 4 misfires, switch the wire from cyl. 3 to it.. make sure to change if in accordance at the coil end also otherwise you will have major issues... if cylindar 3 then misfires next you know you have a bad wire... make sure to change them back when done.. :thumbsup:

One other thing: i burn a quart between changes to, and i do have a slight oil leak besides the burning... try this, leave your car idle for a while with the air on... 5 min will do, have someone watch your exhaust pipe... step on the gas to back up and see if you have anything come puffin out... I don't have a cat.. so if you do it would be harder to tell... thus the reason possibly for a bad o2...

Yeah :) I guess I have to quit being such a cheapo and get the wires. I did come across another thread where someone had a very similar problem..
http://www.mitsubishi-forums.com/index.php...topic=25156&hl=

It was interesting that his answer was the plugs, and also 'CodyRocks' had a similar problem and...

"i changed, my coil pack, spark plugs, fuel filter, cleaned throttle body, all kinds of crap. the only thing i didnt change was my spark plugs wires because i had changed them out about 15000 mi before. as a last resort, i bought some new ones, a little thicker gauge (8mm versus the 7mm stock) and it fixed my problem."

Hmm, sounds strikingly similar to my problem. I'm assuming it's not my wires because they shouldn't be due for a change, and don't look bad, buuuuutttt.... That sounds more and more likely. I'll be sure to follow up with the results.

:liebe011:

Hopefully, I can get this behind me and get the car running better so I can start having fun looking for advice with a few mods. I can't believe I didn't find this forum earlier in the 6 years I've had the car.

btw- what's the deal with the banana?? :banana: :grin:

its the peanutbutter jelly time banana.. pahh duh!

dancing banana

Ohhhhhh.. Well, in that case, it is indeed :banana: Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

I put some new plug wires on and it runs like a champ!

Thanks!

glad we could help! (even though I really didnt do anything aside from the dancing banana. lol XD)

(IMG:http://mitsuoama.com/board/images/smilies/soapbox.gif)

Well, i wonder if that could be my problem to??
What is good set of plug wires to go with? input and opinions welcome..everyone always has their own recomendations... which did you go with ziprhead?

The Autozone I went to had three options, "Valucraft for 24.99", "Duralast" for $27.99 (with Lifetime warranty for whatever that's worth) and another that was much more expensive ($40 or $50)

I went with the Duralast for he very (un)scientific reason that valucraft sounded too cheap and there wasn't much dif in price for the Duralast.

Time will tell!

Good luck with yours! It's always nice when it's a cheapy fix.

Thanks for letting us know you got the problem fixed and how you did it :beer: