Hi,
again it's fall, 8th cylinder causing a misfire, ran very nice until last week,
now engine light is blinking or solid on, keeps doing either or, until i restart, then it does the same thing after a minute, replaced most of the stuff the past 5,000 miles, don't really put on that many miles, but haven't replaced the ignition coil yet, think it's still original, will try replacing that, 1996 E350 with 220,000 miles,
any thoughts what else it could be? van isn't loosing coolant or oil.

 

Consider trying this;
Switch the #8 plug with a different cyl, just not the cyl next to #8.
Depending on if the misfire moves or stays with the same cyl may help determine if the plug is defective or something else. It is an easy test to do and might save you some $$$.

 

good advice, so just switch the wires on the distributer cap?
i checked the spark last year, with these pen type testers where u hold against the wire to check spark and i noticed it looked weak.

 

just replaced the ignition coil, engine doesn't misfire anymore, had the scanner on it, seems it's it's idling perfect, but now it takes a little more cranking to get it started, also it's really cutting out when i'm throttling it, does that mean i need to drive it to learn the engine again, or is there something wrong with the coil?

 

Not saying it is not possible, but it's the first time I have ever heard of a coil cutting out just one cyl.
Might be a good idea to look a little closer at the distributor.

 

Hi,
replaced the ignition coil with a new Napa economy line, van didn't start anymore, ran a little, but parked overnight this morning it didn't start, plugged in my old one and it fired right up, but had a misfire cylinder number 3 now,
cleared error and ordered a higher end igniter from napa, will try that one.
PS: PCV valve is buzzing like crazy, grommet was loose and splitted on it, will replace all that and try installing a new PCV valve as well, hopefully that will quiet down that loud buzz. let me know if that is normal on this video, just took it.

 

The pcv valve may have a broken spring inside .
There could be a loose connection that responds to temp changes where the plug connects onto the ign module on the side of the dist and when you change coils that connection is moved. Look carefully at the contacts inside the plug for being loose or not locked in all the way.

 

thanks, ordered a new elbow, grommet and valve, should have it tomorrow,
notice how smooth the engine is running! ,

 

wow, that really quieted down the whole van, that was one annoying buzz, good thing i drove around with the cover off, up till now i figured it's just normal engine noise. also switched out the ignition coil, seems to be running better then ever,