1992 Camry DX 326XXX 2 Dead Cylinders

[brian.taylor]

So my ol' camry decided it wanted to be a 2 cyl on my way home today. Cylinders (sp?) 1 and 4 are firing, cyl 2 and 3 (the middle 2) are not.

I just replaced the spark plugs last week, but the wires are about three months old (there the cheapo crap from autozone). The thing is, when I pulled the middle two wires, they were sending spark, so I don't know if that's the problem. I also noticed that the old plug in cyl 2 was carbon fouled, and the end of the wire looked kinda funny, but it seated fine, so I figured no big deal.

I did have a compression test done a few weeks ago, and the results were:

Cyl 1: 165
Cyl 2: 146
Cyl 3: 146
Cyl 4: 165

I really hope this is not a compression issue, but its looking that way.

Ideas?

Thanks!

[eurohazard]

I'm not sure that is enough of a compression loss to make the #2 and #3 plugs not "fire".

[chronoti]

test was done weeks ago, bhg between 2 & 3. or valves around there really aren't sealing, sea foaming might help but sounds lil too far gone.

[brian.taylor]

It was the plug wires.

I swapped the number two wire with the number one, and cyl 2 started firing.

It amazes me that this engine would run - AND DRIVE - (albeit slowly) with only two cylinders.

I love this car. Thanks for the replies.

[eurohazard]

Good news! What brand wires were they? So I know not to buy those!

[brian.taylor]

Originally Posted by eurohazard

Good news! What brand wires were they? So I know not to buy those!

I'm fairly certain they were Duralast wires. They were the cheapest ones from Autozone. I remember they only had a three month warranty - and that made me nervous from the outset, but I thought "What the hell?"

Serves me right!