Kingman Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Well, this is the third time this has happened. Story goes, came back from the store, parked my truck, went to leave about a half hour later, and the damn thing wouldn't start, well run right. It started sputtering immediately, black pouring from the exhaust and reeking of gas from the engine. The only way to even get it barely started is to floor it and crank till it starts sputtering, but it won't rev above 1500rpm, and running like total crap. The last 3 times this has happened (about 3 months apart) I've had to pull the plugs and dry them off (they are soaked with gas) and take a wire spindle to them to remove the fouling. This is the solution to the problem when it happens, because it starts up, sputters and then clears out and runs PERFECTLY fine again afterwords. It's not putting out any codes or anything. I think it's a sensor of some sort, because of how intermittent it is, and it's literally a black and white situation. It does it, or it doesn't do it. I just don't know which one it could possibly be. Now that I think about it, the second time it happened, I was actually driving down the road and it started kicking and puffing out black. I was able to nurse it home, clean out the plugs and keep driving till earlier tonight when it did it again. Repeat, now it's running fine. The ignition is good, perfect spark on all cylinders. I'm also wondering if my poor fuel mileage and this problem are related... I drive 26 miles a day to school, I need this problem solved ASAP. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Just a guess. Fuel pressure regulator? That would explain the fuel leak down after it has been sitting... B I forgot this was TBI land and figured all 6 injectors couldn't be failing... With 2 injectors, perhaps one is failing? Run the ECU codes to see if any codes are stored. Try some injector cleaner for good luck? B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 Just a guess. Fuel pressure regulator? That would explain the fuel leak down after it has been sitting... B I forgot this was TBI land and figured all 6 injectors couldn't be failing... With 2 injectors, perhaps one is failing? Run the ECU codes to see if any codes are stored. Try some injector cleaner for good luck? B It's not giving any codes at all, and I put a thing of Lucas in last time it happened Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhardison Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 This post really hit home with me. I rememer back in the day I had a new 92 300zx N/A. One morning when it was about 8 months old with 10,000 miles I came out to start the car and it wouldn't fire. I smelled raw gas so I held the accelerator to the floor and it tried to start but would only sputter and die. Not wanting to run the battery down I gave up, went back inside and called the dealer to send a rollback. The wrecker came about an hour later and the driver tried to start it. Guess what it fired perfectly, blew a little black smoke and ran fine. I canceled the wrecker and drove the car to the dealer but they couldn't find anything wrong, no codes, nothing. About six months later same senario and by the time the wrecker got there it started and ran fine. Trip to the dealer and of course they couldn't find anything. About six months later same thing again but this time I just went back inside, waited an hour and tried again. Of course it started and ran fine but this time I skipped the trip to the dealer. That Z did this about every 6 months for the whole 3 years I owned it. The only thing I learned was how to call wherever I was supposed to be and tell them I would be about an hour late lol. The only tie in between the 6 month thing was It always happened once during the weather transition from summer to fall and then once again from winter to spring. In spite of that I wish I had never gotten rid of it and I'll own another one some day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkorahil Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Well, this is the third time this has happened. Story goes, came back from the store, parked my truck, went to leave about a half hour later, and the damn thing wouldn't start, well run right. It started sputtering immediately, black pouring from the exhaust and reeking of gas from the engine. The only way to even get it barely started is to floor it and crank till it starts sputtering, but it won't rev above 1500rpm, and running like total crap. The last 3 times this has happened (about 3 months apart) I've had to pull the plugs and dry them off (they are soaked with gas) and take a wire spindle to them to remove the fouling. This is the solution to the problem when it happens, because it starts up, sputters and then clears out and runs PERFECTLY fine again afterwords. It's not putting out any codes or anything. I think it's a sensor of some sort, because of how intermittent it is, and it's literally a black and white situation. It does it, or it doesn't do it. I just don't know which one it could possibly be. Now that I think about it, the second time it happened, I was actually driving down the road and it started kicking and puffing out black. I was able to nurse it home, clean out the plugs and keep driving till earlier tonight when it did it again. Repeat, now it's running fine. The ignition is good, perfect spark on all cylinders. I'm also wondering if my poor fuel mileage and this problem are related... I drive 26 miles a day to school, I need this problem solved ASAP. Any ideas? Given that this is a 87 and the strong smell of gas from the engine makes me think to look at the throttle chamber or venturi. Some spring, valve or lever may be out of adjustment or become stuck or covered with grime and not opening or closing correctly untill it get warmed up or wet with fuel. It may be as simple as popping the air cleaner off and spraying it down with a can of carb cleaner while the engine is cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ennacac Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 That happened to my 87 Pathfinder and it was one of the injectors that would barf out gas for a while and then just quit and run just fine. I tried to clean it but to luck so I replaced it and all was good! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 you could also try unplugging your O2 sensor under the hood and see if it changes anything. Sometimes the o2 sensors fail without tripping the CEL. Just remember to only change one thing at a time when troubleshooting. That way you will be able to tell what makes the difference in performance when you adjust/clean/unlpug something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted October 16, 2008 Author Share Posted October 16, 2008 (edited) That happened to my 87 Pathfinder and it was one of the injectors that would barf out gas for a while and then just quit and run just fine. I tried to clean it but to luck so I replaced it and all was good! Tom how much was it to replace? and BTW...your bug thing made me flick my computer screen, and I got yelled at by the teacher LOL =P Edited October 16, 2008 by kingman92010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted October 16, 2008 Author Share Posted October 16, 2008 you could also try unplugging your O2 sensor under the hood and see if it changes anything. Sometimes the o2 sensors fail without tripping the CEL. Just remember to only change one thing at a time when troubleshooting. That way you will be able to tell what makes the difference in performance when you adjust/clean/unlpug something Yeah, I'll ive that a shot next time it acts up, not gonna mess with anything because its running perfectly fine at the moment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismojunky Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 you could also try unplugging your O2 sensor under the hood and see if it changes anything. Sometimes the o2 sensors fail without tripping the CEL. Just remember to only change one thing at a time when troubleshooting. That way you will be able to tell what makes the difference in performance when you adjust/clean/unlpug something wheres the o2 sensor under the hood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 O2 Sensor connectors on the RH fenderwell by the firewall. Follow the wires from the O2 under the truck (in main exhaust pipe just behind the crossever pipe) if you are not completely sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ennacac Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 I actually got the injector from a junk yard for $15 and it worked just fine although a new one is quite a bit more expensive I understand. Don't you just love the bug, it even makes me want to smack it every once and a while. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted October 29, 2008 Author Share Posted October 29, 2008 (edited) I got the truck back, they forgot to unhook the battery to re-set the ECU. That part is fine, BUT so much raw gas was being dumped into the exhaust that it totally messed up my catalytic converter, so it doesn't drive very well. It's just slow, very little power, sucks more gas, and just generally feels like I'm towing something and there's pressure on the engine. Can you believe this thing was sucking down 4.38 mpg since the sensor was bad? A half a tank of gas, and 46 miles. Good thing there's THIS to replace the stock CC! But I did get one thing done tonight, I buckled down and sprayed off my entire under carriage. I hoisted it up and took off all the wheels, put on some old shorts and goggles, climbed underneath and have 'er a whirl. By the time I was done, I was laying in a good 3 inches of mud. My whole side area next to my house was a mud slick. But the Pathy is spotless! Edited October 29, 2008 by kingman92010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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