308 qv low idle

So I changed all the sparkplug extenders. One was all white and chalky on the inside. After the frist try I realized that a cylinder was not firing. I double checked the plugs and wires and get them all to fire but now it will not hold an idle. The warm up is fine but once the car is warm idles about 500 - 700 and sounds like a top fuel dragster. Before I changed the plug extenders, it had an indicated idle of 1100.

Did I miss something? I have pulled and verified the wire to the extender, extender to the plug at least 3 or 4 times.

ANY help is appreciated.

I thought it was just a simple swap out.

Check that you did not inadvertantly knock a vacuum hose adrift, it sounds like a lean idle condition. Recheck all connections, sometimes hard to be sure the extender is on with those red covering and fill plugs.

Brian

Did you change brands or model of plug? I have noticed this phenomenon before. It may be as simple as turning the idle adjustment screw up a bit.

It is possible the new extenders are the wrong (or just different) resistance. Compare them with an Ohm meter.

I had a Nissan Maxima, when I changed out the stock NGK's to Autolite platinums, the idle went up...on the next change out, I switched to Bosch platinums and the idle went down.....strange.

I think I found the problem.

The car is not starting now.

There is oil...a lot of it, coming from the distb cap on the 5-8.

All the extenders are new FNA parts.

On Sunday night the car ran fine but the engine did stumbble a bit. Being I had a bad extender a few days ago I just thought I would change them all out.

I went to work and bought all new ones from Ferrari on my way home. I had not started the car at this point.

I changed all the extenders and in the process I noticed more oil then usual under the car.

I fired it up and it was rough. I checked the plugs again and it kept getting worse. After a couple of hours I walked a away from the car when back to it later that night. I notced on the 1-4 I had reversed the 2 and 3 plugs. I fixed that (my boo boo) and it still was idling bad. I went back to it in an hour, and the car would not start.

I checked the oil leak again and there was a lot of oil coming from the cap.

Thoughts?

Brian, Funny you should mention that, I had knocked one off.

Dave, I did not change the plugs. When I bought the extenders, some were gold tipped and some were silver tipped. Bith kinds had the same FNA part number and the parts department said they were the same.

I am assuming that the issue is the oil in the cap.

I think you found your problem...you need to replace the seal. I would still be curious to know the ohm reading on the old extender, the new silver tipped one, and the gold tipped one...

Dave,

I will get an OHM reader today and get those readings for you.

Sam

Don't go to any trouble..I just curious on it, as we had a long thread on the subject a couple years ago...and found at least two different types being used on 328's..one resistive, one not.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/discus/me...20/134699.html

The "extender" thread

Dave,

I borrowed my neighbor's and they all read Zero.

I thought it was broken until i read the thread you posted so I guess they were all normal.

Old ones all were Zero
New Silver ones were Zero
New Gold ones were Zero.

Ferrari of UK and Ferrari of Beverly Hills both quote Part Number 115647

Must be the oil in the Distrib.

Car is still under warranty from the Ferrari Dealer. It had some head work done a couple of months ago. They are going to fix it next week.

One other possibility--if you ran the car for very long with a bad extender, the spark plug could have glazed over and became non-functional. Whenever you have identified a bad extender, also replace the plug that it was attached to just to be sure.