He guys:

Life has thrown a wrench into my gears. Let's just say that I had no fun for a few days and it looks like mystresses will continue for a while. None the less trying ti help a fellow Fordian back on the road may just help myself to recreate a sense of normalcy. Enough of that.

I think you guys did well looking at compression. It does give a bunch clues.
Let me recap. After getting the last plug changed and that pesky vacuum tube connected it ran like champ only to develop a new miss firing on 2 individual cylinders.
Take the new plugs out for an inspection. Keep track of which cylinder they came of so you may see s difference between the ones that had the misfire and the ones that did not. While you do that see if there is any oil on the outside of the plugs. It is not typical for these en
gines but if there is oil it could cause misfires.

I am starting to think that the PCM itself may be to blame. I'll do a little research and come back on that.

BTW is there anything going on in the coolant department?

 

I guess I'm gonna go try some more tomorrow. I'm gonna start at vacuum and see what's leaking, if anything. Maybe ill check the crank sensor, maf, tps, iac, and oat sensors and make sure they're ok. I'm also gonna double check the wires n make sure whoever replaced the coil didn't mix em up and none are loose or anything. Anything else I shouldn't miss while I'm under there?

 

worth checking!

 

The coolant needs changed, but doesn't leak or overheat. Its on my list of things I know it needs along with tie rod ends and a better suspension inspection. I'll pull the plugs while I'm at it to see what I can with them.

 

I'm gonna check that pcm too since its right there. Hope both of us have a better time soon, blue. Thanks to all of yo for your suggestions too. I really need the help

 

another thing we have not covered yest is the EGR system Haynes manual 6-14.
It involves vacuum regulator, several sensors for the computer to decide when to opne and how far to open the valve. That thing could be the cause of the new misfires.

I would take a look at the valve itself. Remove, clean and mount it again with a new gasket.
When you had the intake apart did you clean out the EGR ports?

 

I think that can wait until the engine is running right. After all you don't have an obvious problem there.

 

I've never actually inspected an egr valve before. What should I know? Does it give me a run down in the Haynes? I did not do much to the egr when I replaced the manifold gaskets. Though, in hindsight, I probably should have. I'm most familiar with carburetors and never really did understand all this emissions stuff. I was glad when we quit the e-check around here. I know, the environment... But I'm poor, and e-check was an extra $100- $1000 a year depending on what the mechanic said was wrong with my car, usually the catalytic converter.... There was ALWAYS something wrong with my car... anyway. I digress... I may just drain the coolant and take the manifold back down to the heads, if its still leaking. Could the little plastic vacuum doohickey on the back of the manifold that seems to have the egr vacuum line coming out of it be messed up? Any idea what it does? I can take a pic and post it tomorrow if you aren't sure what I'm talking about. It's about the size of a "d" battery, mounted vertically on the back of the intake just left of center, between the intake and the coil. It has 2 vacuum lines coming out of the bottom. 1 goes to the top of the egr. I think the other went to the firewall, I don't remember. Its a though. I'll check the plugs, vacuum, pcm, and if I still haven't found anything, i'll drain the coolant and take the intake back down to the heads so I can do something with the egr and triple check the torque on those bolts again. That's probably the one thing I dislike the most about plastic engine parts, the delicate nature. 7 ft lbs just doesn't seem like enough to hold out all that pressure, but that's about the spec. according to the Haynes... Plastic....

 

James, don't tear everything apart yet. Lets go to the accessible pieces first. I think what you identified was the vacuum regulator for the EGR.
The EGR is used to limit the combustion temperature in order to keep it below the point where Nitrous Oxides are formed. The exhaust fumes are poor in oxigen and work like inert gas inside the combustion chamber.
The EGR valve has a line in, a pindle and a line out to the intake manifold. The hot exhaust gases contain soot particles that deposit themselvs at some prime spots. They may line the passages and may collect at the port openings inside the manifold. The valve itself sit outside the manifold. It is mounted there with 2 bolts. It come right off. You can look inside the passages and see the pindle. Clean it all up, make sure the pindle moves and put it back on.
I have no experience with the EGR vacuum regulator. I would use the Haynes manual to check the function and again make sure the vacuum lines are o.k: Not leaking and not obstructed.

This is a process of elimination. We are bound to find it. I am very encouraged that the engine ran perfectly for a short time. That to me means the compression is fine.

 

That makes me feel better that compression probably isn't the issue. I'm about to go out there now and start looking. I'll pull the egr first since I know where it is, how to take it off, and it's easily accessible. I'll pull it, clean it, and replace the gasket, then I'll try running it again. If it's still got problems, I'll move on to vacuum and the plugs. Last resort, I may permatex all the intake gaskets, but only if I find a leak on the manifold. I don't want to, but I suspect they're still leaking. I'll let you know what happens as soon as I'm done. Thanks!