Multiple misfire after fill up - coincidence?

I found that just sticking my air blower attachment in the spark plug hole was enough to get the valve to lift.
The keepers were still in place and I think is the only reason it didn't actually swallow the valve.
If the thread size is 14mm, I wonder why I couldn't get my compression test kit fitting to thread. It has an attachment labeled "M14" so I assumed that was a 14mm. The thread pitch looked the same as the spark plug, too. I could just user error and I wasn't getting the threads lined up right to start.

Today is the big day I found out if this was indeed the only issue. Spring compression tool should be here by this afternoon. I couldn't figure out a way to get a regular spring compressor tool to work without removing the cam, so I just decided to wait a few days until the ford-specific tool came in the mail

Was the vehicle running during fill? I as because I have been told that the system will suck air if running at low tank during refill requiring complete system purge of injectors...can't prove it....and rubbing alcohol will absorb water...try a bottle in the tank.

WesT said:

Was the vehicle running during fill? I as because I have been told that the system will suck air if running at low tank during refill requiring complete system purge of injectors...can't prove it....and rubbing alcohol will absorb water...try a bottle in the tank.

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Rubbing alcohol isn't going to fix my valve spring

Wes is a little late to the party. Matticus just compare the spark plug to the hose adapter. Both should be the same 14mm diameter, and same thread pitch 1.25 mm. You probably had hose with threads cocked a little. Toby's idea will also work, but theirs the risk of part of the rope getting broken off in there. If you try to use anything but the screw in hose it will be a struggle. The small engine valve spring tools are easiest to do this job. It's a ton of work to pull that head and use a traditional C shaped valve spring compressor.

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Now I still have a few questions about why it was running the way it was running. If the valve spring was broken on an intake valve that means it would have been easier to press unless it has somehow gotten off of her up above the retainer. But then again, you didn't actually see the compression gauge do the negative impression he was talking about and sucked back in. This is the way you check for mechanical valve train issues. You either cut your finger in the hall if you can reach it put you can't on the A's are use the handle of a screwdriver or some other sort of plug to block the spark plug hole. Then you have someone crank the engine over and it should be blow blow blow blow. It should never ever suck your finger hard into the spark plug threads.
Since we can't trust the mechanic, or most of them, we really don't know what it was doing. But all that should have done was cause a miss and possibly a pop because the valve wasn't shutting quickly enough or firmly seating.
Once it's back together and after I fully inspected the roller rocker and the lifter, I would crank it over a few times while watching the valves move up and down. Then I would even start it and let it run for a few seconds to make sure all the valve train looks good.

Just a note as to how spoiled, lazy, and close minded the dealer techs are today... I know someone who took a very low mile Mint Condition Town Car to the dealer 4 a slight Miss and shake at idle. It wasn't enough to trigger a check engine light or a code and you could only feel it in drive or reverse. It kind of felt like a quarter to half of a miss and not a full Miss. When you canceled out cylinders they all made a noticeable difference that was very hard to diagnose.

Instead of doing a compression test, they did a cylinder balance test and came back with two of the cylinders having a lower than perfect result. They didn't fix it and didn't really have a good recommendation other than spending tons of money doing exploratory surgery. I don't know if the car was ever fix since I think you just sold it. When you have an issue that you can't boil down to lack of fuel or spark the first thing you do is a compression test and a vacuum gauge test. Yet these techs only know how to plug in a computer and read the screen.

Also had a Mazda dealership who claimed they had a professional Mazda Master Tech with 25 years experience check out and RX-7 second gen. It would start and run but soon as you drop into gear and die. The owner had put a new fuel pump in it with no change. It was towed to the dealership and they came back and told him they wanted $923 to replace the torque converter. This was around 2000-2001. My buddy told me this and I called the dealership and spoke to them. I asked if they had done a compression test and they said no. I asked them if they would please do one. They call back about an hour and a half later and said oh, the engine is shot it has no compression in 2 spark plug holes and has blown Apex seals. Duh. And they have someone with experience with Mazda rotary engines working there??

Until a scanner company can come up with an app that can actually read compression, the shops are guessing at best. All their looking at is balance between cylinders. Sometimes it works, but in your buddy's case, not even close.

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1955moose said:

Until a scanner company can come up with an app that can actually read compression, the shops are guessing at best. All their looking at is balance between cylinders. Sometimes it works, but in your buddy's case, not even close.

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Yes, and most have lost the ability to perform basic thorough diagnostic procedures.

See, consumer affairs and other agencies, have given the dealers and shops too much lattitude, and not make the shop responsible for a bad diagnostic. Why customer's put up with paying for a misdiagnosis and parts repair is beyond me. Can you imagine going to your doctor, he/she talks you into a surgery to fix your pain, then after the surgery, and healing time, they said sorry we didn't fix it. Please pay the hospital and me anyway. You'd be on the phone with your attorney before the first bandage change. Doctors have to be 95 percent right first time, why not mechanics. I've been lucky at shops that I ran, my techs we're good. But even as good as they were, I'd tell them, please get your diagnostic right the first time. I'd tell them, when I nailed down the coffin lid on a customer pay ticket, I don't want to pull the nails off, and reopen it! You lose all credibility with a customer when your wrong. It sometimes takes a little longer on diagnostic, but the end result is less comebacks.

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TobyU said:

^ this. You can feed some rope into the cyl and gently turn engine by hand until piston pushes rope against valve to hold it closed. If it moves down at all you won't be able to push valve spring in enough to get keepers in as Moose said.
Definitely want to get those keepers out if you didn't find them laying right there.
You were lucky it didn't drop a valve. That would have been head off at minimum if not hole in piston.

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My sister dropped a valve in #1 cylinder on the 302 in her 1977 Mustang. Destroyed the crank, block, #1 piston and rod, and that head. Snapped the head off the valve, drove it sideways into the head, bent the end of the rod sideways and put four evenly spaced lengthwise splits in the cylinder wall. She had a bit of a reputation for a lead foot, especially since we'd put a 1969 302 (not a 289!) 4bbl intake and carb on it. Dad asked her "Did you win?". It had a ticking noise so dad and I were wanting to dig into the engine that day, but she *had* to go to a friend's wedding. Dad told her to only go to the wedding then right back home. To her friend's house, to the wedding, here, there... Had to rebuild a 302 we'd been saving for another car.

Here's a dealer horror story I'll throw in. A friend of mine took his '12 Expy to the dealer because it would not crank over. The dealer told him engine was seized and quoted to replace it. He had it towed to an independent shop who found bad wiring harness behind the engine.....