A 3 cylinder adventure

[Ian Curtis]

Hi All,

I recently went on a 100 mileday trip from Snohomish WA to Camas Beach State Park. Enroute, I noticed that my truck seemed underpowered, with a top speed of 43 mph on level ground if the speed detector signs are to be believed (speed-o-meter was in that range too). With rapidly fading daylight, I did a quick check, noticed nothing obviously wrong and headed home on the highway, where traffic was doing 45 so I wasn't too much of a drag.

A few days later, I started it and could here a sharp occasional "tick". I pulled open the hood, and noticed something VERY obviously wrong... the spark wire on #2 was gone! I guess the vibration cracked it at the base of the spark plug, because the part with a hole in it was still on the spark plug.

After replacing the spark wire (thanks to a local club member with a spare!), I let it run for a a minute while I grabbed my camera to take a video, and when I came back out the noise was gone. Went for a short drive & my power is back and the noise stayed gone, so it may have been this way the entire drive. Other than the very obvious damage to my ego, is there any potential engine damage by missing on one cylinder for a hundred miles?