2004 Escape miss - solved using ScannerDanner method! [SOLVED]

OK, so this was not really too difficult. My daughters 2004 Escape starting running like crap yesterday. it has been raining cats and dogs for days and is very humid so I suspected an ignition problem. Put a scan tool on it yesterday (laptop with FORScan) and just got some misfire PIDs, nothing overly helpful. It finally stopped raining this afternoon so I decided to do a cylinder drop test and started at the front since you can actually reach those coil packs easily. All three cylinders on the front bank were contributing but I could defiantly hear a HV ignition pop/crackle sound. When checking the middle coil pack by unplugging the low voltage connector I got shocked. I tried it a few more times and realized I was only getting shocked when my finger brushed the left most coil. Sure enough if I put my finger along the side of the coil and touched the mounting screw I got shocked.

I pulled the coil off and when tipped at the right angle a crack in the epoxy on top of the coil was evident. Interestingly the other two coils on the front look like they have been replaced at some point, the only one I could see on the back bank looked original. She has the complete service history somewhere (nice of PO to provide that) so I'll try to find out if any of the rear bank coil packs were replaced. Getting to the rear bank does not look horrible, just pull off the intake enough to get to them.

So, using the patented ScannerDanner shock yourself test I was able to diagnose the problem in less than 15 minutes. (The recent video of Paul shocking himself was the first thing that came to mind! I mean 'I' have never shocked myself before )

LOL, that's great!
I've diagnosed more than one secondary insulation problem using that technique myself

How was your first 'shocking' experience? I always thought it was just unpleasant enough to make me respect plug wires, but not bad enough that I won't do a power balance check with a test light. :lol:

What are your thoughts on FORScan? Other members have mentioned using it, but I've never tried myself.

The shock from the crack in insulation was not as bad as getting a hold of a spark plug wire. It was surprising getting a shock that way though. I was able to peek at the three rear coils with a light and mirror and at least on of them was cracked and all three looked original. I pulled a front plug and those looked original too so we ordered four coils, six plugs and the intake gasket set. As a test I sprayed the cracked front coil with brake clean to dry it out and then packed the crack with silicone grease. This stopped it from shocking me and improved the miss condition. Thought this might be a good trick if you were stuck somewhere and needed to get the car home.

As for FORScan I like it. It works with my standard laptop (Windows Surface tablet actually) and a $30 USB OBDII interface. I know it is not as powerful as other tools but it serves my DIY needs and even let me program new keys into the PATS system on a couple of cars.

JeffBirt wrote: As for FORScan I like it. It works with my standard laptop (Windows Surface tablet actually) and a $30 USB OBDII interface. I know it is not as powerful as other tools but it serves my DIY needs and even let me program new keys into the PATS system on a couple of cars.

I think we talked about the PATS functions in another thread - definitely caught my eye since the Snap-On scanner doesn't do that terribly well.

Swapped out all six plugs and the four original coils with Denso parts yesterday. All four original coils were cracked on top. The Escape now runs properly.