Shaking in engine, attempted to solve myself and have ruled out a large number of possibilities

Tiny
SWALTER
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 FORD TAURUS
  • 120,000 MILES
I have a 2003 Ford Taurus SE with the Vulcan 3.0L EFI 6 cylinder engine. I have recently made many repairs on the car as it's somewhat old and sitting at 120k miles.

I ran into some flood water about 4-6 inches and drove slowly through. Minutes later I had a flashing check engine light. I knew this probably meant a misfire. It was, I had a code for a misfire on cylinder 3 and also one for the crankshaft position sensor. I replaced the spark plugs, coil pack, and wires and the engine seemed to shake less, but upon viewing the engine I noticed a LOT of movement when shifting gears. So I replaced the upper engine mount (dogbone).

With this I am currently confused. The misfire seems to be gone, but the shaking is still VERY bad. The engine feels weak and like it's struggling. There is visible vibration in the steering wheel. I don't feel like the crankshaft position sensor could cause all this could it? And that's really all I needed to replace the whole time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Friday, October 25th, 2013 AT 1:44 PM

7 Replies

Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Scan for codes and check fuel pressure with a gauge first. Auto parts rent them
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Friday, October 25th, 2013 AT 4:50 PM
Tiny
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I scanned for codes originally and received a P0303 and a P0316. So a misfire in cylinder 3 and a crankshaft position sensor error.

Could fuel pressure irregularity really be the cause of all of this? I thought maybe some water might've gotten into the gas so I used dry gas on it when the problem first arose.
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Friday, October 25th, 2013 AT 10:05 PM
Tiny
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Have a pro diagnose for the misfire as it's extrememly hard to find the reason other than a known bad wire, spark plug, or coil or bad compression. Also have you checked the crank sensor or connection? It can be either.
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Saturday, October 26th, 2013 AT 5:43 AM
Tiny
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Well that's mainly why I'm asking. I've replaced all the good stuff. The only thing left would be the crank sensor. Could the crank sensor really be causing that much shake though?
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Saturday, October 26th, 2013 AT 6:46 AM
Tiny
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A crank sensor either works or not and shouldn't cause a shake, a shake is normally a misfire or weak cylinder. Which is your 303 code. It probably hasn't been fixed and is still doing it. That I s why I said to have a pro diagnose it because he can use his scanner that will pick up stuff that yours can't and can activate or eliminate stuff that yours can't. These can really be a pain in the butt to fix.
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Saturday, October 26th, 2013 AT 10:15 AM
Tiny
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Well that's the reason I'm asking. I mean how many more things can it be than the plug, wires, or coil?

I'd rather fix this myself as I don't really have the option to bring it to a shop during the hours that they're open and I don't have extra money to spend for a mechanic to look at the car for $80/hr.
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Sunday, October 27th, 2013 AT 6:03 PM
Tiny
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Like I've said before, misfires are extremely hard to diagnose has the compression been checked? Vacuum leaksK? This is hard to do even for a pro so if youwan tto keep dumping money intoyour car then go ahead but let a pro try he may be cheaper.
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Monday, October 28th, 2013 AT 7:20 AM

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