Editors note: this was written in the future when I rediscovered the attached photo…
Been having some weird issues with my white S-10. Runs fine majority of the time but just randomly misfires with no codes. I can definitely feel somethings wrong. I was driving to Ionia the other day and kept having half-second loss of power every 10 minutes or so. Reminds me of when my ’88 S-10 had a cracked distributor cap. They didn’t use distributors on this early-2000s engine, but it still feels like an issue in the ‘spark’ portion of the old adage, “spark, air, fuel, compression”.
My cheap-o code reader doesn’t give me good real-time data so I checked all the plugs and they look fine. With no resort left, I’m guessing it must be related to the coil packs which are inconveniently mounted along the passenger side of the engine and only accessible through that wheel well.
Cool aside: when I was checking the plugs late in the evening, I finally got a glimpse of that feint blue magnetic plasma glow I’ve read about. No photos but it’s magical to see.
Anyway, we were visiting the in-laws for a weekend trip so I bought the coil packs and wires from RockAuto and I convinced wife to let me bring the truck and tools along. They have a paved driveway and it’s so much nicer to work there than on our gravel drive.
So, after a ton of wrenching through a rubber cover in the wheel well and a bit of re-engineering (the plug wires now go through the intake manifold… That’s a problem for future me… -_- ), I was able to get the coil packs replaced and immediately discovered that my gut was correct and the coil pack was cracked open, rusted, and UGLY. Check out this awesome photo!
