QuestionHello
I own a 96 Sebring 2.5 coupe with 89k miles on it. I live in michigan and a week ago on a very rainy day the car was running rouph, and as i was letting it warm up check engine light came on. A local mechanic said the code was miss fire cylinder 1 and recommended a tune up. Gave me an estimate of about 500. He cleared the code and car runs fine while try or after it warms up but on the next rainy day, engine ran very rough and check engine light came on, i assume its the same problem. i'd like to do the tune up myself, plugs, wires,cap,rotor, but i am hesitant to do so since i have heard it is very labor intensive on these engines and i have to remove intake manifold.
What would you recommend in this situation, and if it is possible to do the tune up in my garage, what gasquets and miscellaneous parts do i need, and any advice on how to do the work.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this
Sincerely,
Luka
AnswerHi Luka,
It is indeed a bit of a challenge to change the rear plugs on this engine and to some extent the distributor cap and rotor. However, it may just be that your spark plug wires if original are deteriorated and arcing when there is high humidity. You could look under the hood when it is dark and humid and the engine is missing and probably you will see a "light show" dancing around the wires.
I would recommend looking for a used Chrysler service manual for your car on eBay or a Haynes manual at an autoparts store. Those are the best references. But be aware that the coupe is an entirely different car than the convertible so don't get the convertible manual. The part about the engine will be the same, but not the wiring diagrams, etc.
Here is the procedure for changing the spark plugs on the rear cylinder bank, which are the hard ones to do. By the way the spark plugs are designed to run 100,000 miles so unless they have never been changeD you may not need to touch those. But some of these steps are the same as needed to get to the distributor to change the cap, rotor, and wires:
Here are the steps for removing and replacing the plugs on cyl 1,3,and 5 of the 2.5L V-6:
Disconnect negative cable from auxiliary jumper terminal (I believe this is the ground wire tied to the strut tower on the driver's (left) side of the car).
Unplug the connectors from the MAP sensor and (just to its front) the intake air temp sensor.
Remove the plenum support bracket bolt located rearward of the MAP sensor
Remove the bolt holding the air inlet resonator (the thing with words "multi-point injection") to the intake plenum.
Loosen throttle body air inlet hose clamp
Release snaps holding air cleaner housing cover housing
Remove air cleaner cover and inlet hoses from the engine
Unplug throttle position sensor and idle air control motor connectors.
Pry retainer tab back on throttle cable and slide cable out of bracket. Remove cable from throttle lever.
Slide Speed control cable out of bracker, if equipped. Remove cable from throttle lever.
Remove EGR tube from intake plenum.
Remove plenum support bracket bolt located rearward of EGR tube
Remove bolts holding upper intake plenum and remove plenum
Always remove the ignition cable by grasping at the spark plug boot turning the boot 1/2 turn and pulling straight back in a steady motion
Prior to removing the spark plug spray compressed air around the spark plug hole and the area around the spark plug
Remove the spark plug using a quality spark plug socket with a rubber foam insert
Inspect spark plug condition.
To avoid cross-threading start the plug into the cylinder head by hand
Tighten the spark plugs to 20 ft-lbs (28 N-m)
Install ignition cables over spark plugs
Install new gasket and position upper intake plenum. Tighten blots to 13 ft-lbs (18 N-m)
Install bolts at plenum support brackets (Same torque as above)
Install EGR tube at plenum. Tighten EGR tube to intake manifold plenum screws to 8 ft-lbs (11 N-m)
Install throttle and speed control (if equipped) cables
Attach electrical connectors to sensors.
Install air inlet tube clamp to to 25+/- 5 inch pounds (3 +/- 1 N-m)
Connect negative terminal to auxiliary jumper terminal.
There are some figures that show the parts which might be helpful but I don't have a document scanner. If you want the xerox copy of the pages let me know along with a postal address and I'll mail them to you. If after you receive them you would like to reimburse me, just send unused postal stamps covering my copy costs (8 cents per side, plus whatever I spent on postage).
Best of luck with the project.
Roland
