MIL Flashing, P0087, P0301, rough idle, hesitation, fuel smell.

[Deebeaux]

Well, I really hope it's the injector. If it's not, it's probably bottom end, which I'm really not in the mood for.

I'll snap some good pics and post them up when done.

Cylinder #1 is in the bank closet to the firewall closed to the passenger side, correct? (I've confirmed that a few times, but want to make sure before I do something really stupid. Lol.

If I decide to run a compression test, what's the best way to prevent the car from firing when starting? Unplugging all the coils?

 

[SHOdded]

correct.3 would be opposite/driver side on rear bank.

On most cars, pulling the fuel pump fuse/relay prevents starting the engine.  Let me check.

 

[sholxgt]

I think you can floor the throttle and push the start button and it will just crank. Will turn over as long as you push start button. Just release start button prior to letting off throttle.

Best to let SHOdded confirm

 

[SHOdded]

I know polskifacet did a compression test recently, maybe you should PM him?  But sholxgt's method is kind of the same.  Per the manual, you should definitely remove the spark plugs though.  Flooring the accelerator will cut off the fuel injectors while cranking, but I do prefer pulling the fuel pump fuse for safety reasons.  Can't verify if fuse pulling works here though.

 

[Deebeaux]

Here's the "official" Ford procedure...

Compression Test
[list type=decimal]
[*]Make sure the oil in the crankcase is of the correct viscosity and at the correct level and that the battery is correctly charged.
[*]Operate the vehicle until the engine is at normal operating temperature.
[*]Turn the ignition switch to the OFF position, then remove all the spark plugs.
[*]Set the throttle plates in the wide-open position.
[*]Install a compression gauge in the No. 1 cylinder.
[*]Install an auxiliary starter switch in the starting circuit. With the ignition switch in the OFF position, and using the auxiliary starter switch, crank the engine a minimum of 5 compression strokes and record the highest reading. Note the approximate number of compression strokes necessary to obtain the highest reading.
[*]Repeat the test on each cylinder, cranking the engine approximately the same number of compression strokes.
[/list]

I'll pull fuse and FPCM plug as well, just to be safe. I don't have an auxiliary switch hanging around so I'll have to have a buddy toggle the start button.

 

[ZSHO]

Has anyone tried to activate the fuel cut off switch!!!!From owner's manual.  FUEL CUTOFF SWITCH WARNING: Failure to inspect and if necessary repair fuel leaks
after a collision may increase the risk of fire and serious injury.
Ford Motor Company recommends that the fuel system be inspected by
an authorized dealer after any collision.
In the event of a moderate to severe collision, this vehicle is equipped
with a fuel pump shut-off feature that stops the flow of fuel to the
engine. Not every impact will cause a shut-off.
Should your vehicle shut off after a collision, you may restart your
vehicle by doing the following:
1. Turn the ignition off.
2. Turn the ignition on.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to re-enable fuel pump.
Note: If your vehicle has the push button start system, press the
stop/start button twice to reactivate the fuel system.  Z

 

[Deebeaux]

Well, I opted to do the compression test first since the issue was originally caused by a full throttle pull on the Interstate. With my usual luck this typically means something catastrophic happened.

I'll say this first. Getting this car NOT to fire up is quite the challenge. I idled the car (roughly I might add) until it got to normal operating temp. Then I removed the fuel pump/fuel injector fuse (according to my manual) and she still fired up and idled for longer than I'd suspect was just "fuel in the lines." After disconnecting nearly one by one the "fuel pump ultra relay," FPCM, LPFP, and HPFP it would still fire and idle for a second or so and then die. After getting it to that point I felt that was good enough to not have fuel messing with my compression results...

After all that, I wasn't able to locate my compression tester which necessitated a trip to the store to buy a new one. Without further adieu, the results are...

#1 180psi
#2 182psi
#3 182psi
#4 180psi
#5 178psi
#6 179psi

All these results were obtained with an engine as close to normal operating temps as possible, about 5-6 seconds of cranking per cylinder, and on presumably dry cylinders. So, the good news is, it doesn't look like my bottom end is knackered (or top end either I suppose.) Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to take a half day and get started on the fuel injector swap. I'll be sure to take pics and document the best I can and post up.

Another curious finding. The "fuel pump ultra relay" had a chip/ding missing out of it. I couldn't tell if it was because someone removed it previously or if it was damaged heat wise. Because of this I replaced my FPCM anyway in case there was some voltage drop or similar in the original one causing an over current condition on this relay. Hopefully the dealer stocks those guys and I can pick one up tomorrow. (I need to go by for some orange coolant anyway.) Thankfully the A/C Clutch relay is the same part and I was able to swap it in for testing. Replacing it alone didn't alleviate my issue (which I tried before the compression test.)

Stay tuned for the next chapter...

 

[SHOdded]

Nice work!  Big load off

Do you have pics of the ultra relay as it was before you swapped it, and/or closeups of the ultra relay itself?  This is #15 in the power distribution/BJB right?  And the AC relay you swapped with is #98?

 

[Deebeaux]

Yes, the ultra relay was #15 and I swapped with #98 temporarily. I don't have any pics from before I pulled it, but I did note that the words were upright as if the passenger side of the car was the "bottom." If that makes sense. The "FoMoCo" was closest to the driver's side of the car.

Attached is a pic after I removed it. The plastic casing was additionally damaged in the removal, but the part that was already visibly damaged was the notch just below and to the slight left of the "J" in "Japan." The cracks that extend to the edges of the casing were created upon removal. I'll try to dissect it later for a postmortem if I can. , but I suspect it's solid state and not mechanical so it's probably full of goop to prevent vibration damage. UPDATE: It's not solid state, it's mechanical. I'll take it the rest of the way apart and post pics after I get a replacement (hopefully today.)

Seeing excellent compression was a huge load off. I can tackle this with much greater optimism now. In hindsight I should've just tackled the injector, but the whole time I'd be thinking about a cracked piston/ringland in #1 and I'd be angry if I did the injector job and was still fighting the same issue because of serious mechanical failure.

It looks like I need some more bits before I can tackle the injector. I need an intake manifold gasket, a coolant crossover gasket, and a thermostat housing gasket. I'm going to see what the dealers here have in stock today and pickup what I can. Being the car is low mileage-ish those gaskets are probably in good nick and reusable, but they're probably not expensive to replace and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

If all this ends well I may treat myself to some Livernois treatment. It's about time she went on a 93 tune.

Nice work!  Big load off

Do you have pics of the ultra relay as it was before you swapped it, and/or closeups of the ultra relay itself?  This is #15 in the power distribution/BJB right?  And the AC relay you swapped with is #98?

 

[SHOdded]

Sounds like a plan!

 

[Deebeaux]

Well, it's been nearly two days of work, but she's back together, I fired her up briefly, and once the rails primed she idled smoothly. Was a slight puff of smoke, but I am guessing that was due to the unprimed rails. I couldn't leave it running as I haven't refilled the coolant yet.

I need to refill with coolant for more testing. I'm confident the problem was the injector, but I'm not 100% sure it's 100% fixed yet. The procedure for replacement calls for a few special tools that I did my best without and the fuel rail hasn't been tested to full pressure yet. 300-400psi at idle pales in comparison of what the Teflon seal on the injector body will experience under full load.

I took a variety of videos throughout, which I will edit and post up later, that basically just offer tips I experienced when deviating from the "Ford official" instructions.

Some notes, this job sucks. I guess in the grand scheme of things, I've done much worse and if I had to do it again, I could do it in a third of the time at least. It's hard learning as you go. The injectors are "pressed" into the cylinder head via the bolts on the fuel rail. There are Teflon seals on the shaft of the injector that are one-time use. I got lucky when pulling my rail that the two injectors I didn't need to touch stayed in the head. These seals require a special "arbor" from Ford/Rotunda to stretch and place them onto the injector body. Thankfully new injectors come with them. TBH, if another injector fails, I am just going to change all 6. The reassembly procedure wants you to pull all the injectors and install them into the fuel rail and install that into the cylinder head as one piece. In order to preserve the two seals on #2 and #3 in my case, I didn't reinstall in this manner. Whether that was a good idea or not remains to be seen.

Rain just started and I need to go pickup outside, but I'll report more later. Thanks everyone for their insight.

 

[sholxgt]

Hope you got it fixed and THANKS for sharing with the community!

 

[Deebeaux]

I really hope so too, but I'm fully expecting some sort of fuel leak or coolant leak before this is all over. Here's to hoping there isn't! Haha.

Hope you got it fixed and THANKS for sharing with the community!

 

[FoMoCoSHO]

How did you figure out which injector was causing the issue?

 

[Deebeaux]

P0301. Cylinder #1 misfire. I presumed it was that cylinder. Didn't have anything else to go on, went with best semi-educated guess.

How did you figure out which injector was causing the issue?

 

[glock-coma]

Good luck, hopefully she'll be back up and running to full strength soon.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[SHOdded]

Good luck, hope the repair holds up!  Field tested field approved LOL

 

[Deebeaux]

Initially she fired up and idled without much to talk about, but then it started to smoke pretty bad, but then it cleared up nearly 100%, but not quite.

I hear a hissing, something like an air/vacuum leak around PCV/AOS EVAP purge the PCV valve inlet on the AOS attached to the rear valve cover on the passenger side. The leak seems to be coming from the quick disconnect on the AOS EVAP purge PCV valve side coming from the intake manifold. (I had to find this by shoving a vacuum hose in my ear and probing around.)

I've also got a fault of P2198 (O2 Stuck Rich B2S1) and a pending fault of P2196 of O2 stuck rich B1S1. Sounds like she had more than one problem before all this started. Going to see if I can overcome this AOS EVAP purge PCV valve leak first, but not sure if it's enough of a leak to get things stuck rich. If it helps, I heard this hissing on the side of the road when the initial problem occurred, I just didn't have anything with me to MacGyver up a stethoscope on the side of the highway.

I've got some videos that are uploading now and I'll make a follow up post when they do. I also wonder if I've also got some bad gas that may have assisted in the demise of an already ill injector. I'll probably find the best way to pump all this out and set fire to it while celebrating my independence today. (In a safe, controlled manner, of course.)

I will say the problem is MUCH better as the car idles and revs smooth, but it's not 100% yet.

EDIT: Also, the super rich fuel smell is gone. Before the smell of raw fuel was so bad you'd cough/choke on it. Now it just smells a little rich.

EDIT2: I incorrectly identified a part as some sort of AOS, but I it appers it's really part of the EVAP system as I discovered here. I'm hoping this could be part of my rich codes. I've updated my original post accordingly.

EDIT3: Seems like it really is a PCV valve and AOS combo. At least according to #9 and #10 on TASCA's page. I'm going to replace the valve and the hose going to it, which can be found on the same page above, it's #11.

Videos forthcoming.

 

[SHOdded]

AOS being Air Oil Separator?  Is there any grime or oily mess built up in the area around the PCV valve? 

You may have to clear the codes and try again next time you restart (after the PCV valve replacement).  Then check the EVAP purge cycle and fuel trims.

 

[Deebeaux]

Videos as promised..

First video.

• I shot a couple videos before this of more of the smoke, but that's mostly gone now and they likely don't provide any useful info. I presume the smoke could have been excess condensate in the exhaust, maybe fuel in the catalysts from the leaky injector previously? This has some torque info in it.
• I was unaware there were any pending faults when I started this video. The P2196 turned into a current fault shortly after taking this video while idling the car to find the sound of the vacuum leam.
• I say "bank 1 and bank 2 both sensors" in the video, but I meant both front sensors/sensor #1s, not all (pre and post) sensors.
• I refer to seeing oil around the turbocharger outlet on the rear turbo. There was a small layer of oil reside and dirt in it on the exterior of the pipe around the hose clamp and the joint between the plastic and flexible rubber section. Almost as if oil seeps out of that seam and coats the pipe and then dirt/dust/etc... sticks to it. I doubt the pipe is leaking under vacuum, it might under boost, I'll keep an eye on it and replace otherwise.
• There's a pile of historic codes in the video, as I say in the video, I had to unplug nearly every fuel system module to try and crank the car without it spaying fuel to do the compression test. These are likely as a result of that and has not reappeared.
• I didn't mention in the video, but the car starts nearly instantly when asking it to now. Before changing the injector it was a struggle to start.

Second video.

• I cleared codes before starting and before filming this video, fuel trims appear different than first video.
• I say leaking, by that I mean vacuum leak, hissing noise.
• In terms of appropriate parts, I plan on just changing the valve and the hose, not the AOS itself.