[MrNick]

HELP!
I have a 98 escort with the 2.0L engine. My engine is running real crapy. My OSB read miss on cylinder 4. It first did this intermitedly about 10 15k miles ago. I installed new plug wires (since the plugs were fairly new) and every thing was OK for awhile. Some times it would still run a little rough but would strighten out. Now it's running worse. Again reads miss on cyl 4 (yes I cleared the OSB afterwords). I swaped plugs 3 & 4 just to make sure. Still reads miss on cyl 4 and runs crapy. I replaced the coil module. Same problem, miss on cyl 4. It idles rough, jerks at about 35 mph, and appears to have a loss of power. Any sugestions on what to check next?

 

[FordMan59]

Check the compression. #4 is the one that is worst for dropping valve seats.

 

[MrNick]

I just did a compression check.
#1 150 #2 170 #3 170 #4 60. When it just started to run crapy this last time I heard a loud ticking that went away. Could that have been a seat rattleing around? A few times in the past it would run rough and then clear up. I assumed that when the diagnostic meter said miss on #4 that that meant electrical. Looks like the head needs to come off. Thank you

Nick

 

[EscortLX97]

That low compression is the valve seat of death, mine had that problem years ago, thanks God it did not bust the piston.

Fix it with SS valve Seats. No problems since.