As Zack stated above, triage and focus is critical to maintaining sanity and budget.
No other input just sending moral support and good vibes.
No other input just sending moral support and good vibes.
First car, lx450! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter tug123
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- Thread starter
- #62
Just replaced the battery, nice to not have to jump it anymore. Noticed rear passenger side door doesn't lock/unlock (but works manually flipping they lock), guess I'll have to figure that out too.
Noticed these two foam blocks in the battery holder though - anyone have any idea what these are? Seems like PO madness to me but don't wanna take em out if they actually do something. Battery is locked in place, no movement, foam blocks lift out very easily.
Noticed these two foam blocks in the battery holder though - anyone have any idea what these are? Seems like PO madness to me but don't wanna take em out if they actually do something. Battery is locked in place, no movement, foam blocks lift out very easily.
The smaller piece might be padding for AC piping? I had some like that which just crumbled and I replaced it with some foam tube wrap.
- Thread starter
- #64
I'll try to look into it more, seems pretty shoddy maybe its just really old.
- Thread starter
- #65
Just finished up the compression tests (cold engine), a little bit confused:
#1: 171
#2: 165
#3: 165
#4: 140
#5: 162
#6: 160
One mechanic told me I had a misfire on #6, another told me I had 98% leak down on #1. I ran each cylinder like 3 times to make sure, but this isn't all that complicated to do. I did notice in the top of the spark plug holes some fluid in what appear to be the spark plug wire gasket or something (not sure what to call it). It's the brown stuff in the picture below, kind of hard to see. Also have pictures of the spark plugs, #1 is far left #6 is far right.
Only thing that concerned me was the gas spraying out as I was doing the compression tests. I was doing it by myself so pretty hard to tell where it was coming from, but I think mostly cylinder #4 and some of #2. I have a video but you have to look really closely to see it.
Not really sure where to go from here, the fuel injector route seems probably the most reasonable. Worth it to still do leak down? I kind of want to on cylinder #1 since one mechanic said they did it on that cylinder, but with 160psi it just seems dumb. My heater control valve does look grim, it has a bunch of crusty stuff leaking out of it, definitely need to replace that.
#1: 171
#2: 165
#3: 165
#4: 140
#5: 162
#6: 160
One mechanic told me I had a misfire on #6, another told me I had 98% leak down on #1. I ran each cylinder like 3 times to make sure, but this isn't all that complicated to do. I did notice in the top of the spark plug holes some fluid in what appear to be the spark plug wire gasket or something (not sure what to call it). It's the brown stuff in the picture below, kind of hard to see. Also have pictures of the spark plugs, #1 is far left #6 is far right.
Only thing that concerned me was the gas spraying out as I was doing the compression tests. I was doing it by myself so pretty hard to tell where it was coming from, but I think mostly cylinder #4 and some of #2. I have a video but you have to look really closely to see it.
Not really sure where to go from here, the fuel injector route seems probably the most reasonable. Worth it to still do leak down? I kind of want to on cylinder #1 since one mechanic said they did it on that cylinder, but with 160psi it just seems dumb. My heater control valve does look grim, it has a bunch of crusty stuff leaking out of it, definitely need to replace that.
sbman
Supporting Vendor
None of your spark plugs look steam cleaned so that may indicate the headgasket is sealing OK.
If there was a leak on an exhaust valve, I think you'd see that in the compression numbers.
Did you test the ECU coolant temp sensor with an OBD reader? It really could be that simple.
With those compression results, and if the ECU temp sensor checks out, I'd put some money into fuel injectors given you are trying to solve an excessive fuel in the tail pipe issue. You can have them cleaned and tested at various places, I've used RC engineering for mine. Keep in mind it is possible for them to fail at high mileage, I've had that happen as well, had mine cleaned at 220K and had one fail (not squirting at all) at 330K. I replaced all six at that point. It's not cheap to get identical replacements.
Getting the injectors out isn't all that bad IF you take the starter off the truck and have a bunch of extensions for your sockets to get to the bolts under the manifold to split it. With the starter on, it takes 2-3x longer. The FSM shows how to split the manifold and get to the injectors. It's not as bad as you might think, although I've done it 3 or 4 times so I've gotten better at it.
If there was a leak on an exhaust valve, I think you'd see that in the compression numbers.
Did you test the ECU coolant temp sensor with an OBD reader? It really could be that simple.
With those compression results, and if the ECU temp sensor checks out, I'd put some money into fuel injectors given you are trying to solve an excessive fuel in the tail pipe issue. You can have them cleaned and tested at various places, I've used RC engineering for mine. Keep in mind it is possible for them to fail at high mileage, I've had that happen as well, had mine cleaned at 220K and had one fail (not squirting at all) at 330K. I replaced all six at that point. It's not cheap to get identical replacements.
Getting the injectors out isn't all that bad IF you take the starter off the truck and have a bunch of extensions for your sockets to get to the bolts under the manifold to split it. With the starter on, it takes 2-3x longer. The FSM shows how to split the manifold and get to the injectors. It's not as bad as you might think, although I've done it 3 or 4 times so I've gotten better at it.
- Thread starter
- #67
My friend is saying do the compression test on a hot engine since I do have (alleged) 98% leak down numbers on cylinder #1. I was trying to avoid running the engine for 5-10min, but is there the possibility when it's hot and all the parts sit a little differently, that I could get drastically different numbers? And for cylinder #4, and 140 is a little low is that something that is probably the start of an issue? Or can just see >10% variance on 30yo engines?
Waiting for OBD reader from Amazon, takes awhile out here. Cheapest Harbor Freight had was like $100, would rather wait on the Amazon one.
I was wondering since this engine does have 177k miles on it and probably have never changed the injectors (definitely not PO, past 5 years), I may as well just replace them all for peace of mind (if that really is the main issue here). But yeah looks like $150/per on partsouq. Really want to confirm these compression/leak down numbers so I know it's not that, if engine is solid I'll feel a little better springing for new ones.
I do have way too many extensions but still am not particularly excited about doing it haha, feels like it will take me the whole day. Starter is a good idea though have not heard that anywhere yet, I can imagine it'd simplify the process. I don't have a garage though, as long as I block off the bottom half of the intake manifold cylinders, it's probably fine to leave the top half off for a week or so?
Compression is decent. That won’t cause the misfire.
Injectors are a common problem for misfire.
Injectors are a common problem for misfire.
- Thread starter
- #69
Yeah definitely feeling like this is injectors, which is awesome engine seems fine. Would that cause the white smoke out of the tailpipe too?
Constant spray from injector stuck open can cause exhaust fogging. I have seen it before. A mechanic stethoscope can be used to listen to the injectors for clicking. No click. Replace ALL injectors so you have good power balance..
But have you done a coolant system psi test? What about a radiator combustion gas test?
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- #71
Makes sense, leaning towards replacing all makes sense but will check for clicking. Haven't run either, didn't know about either, but will add them to the list that's great.
It’s the HF combustion leak detector with the blue fluid
Etc sensor is a pretty easy replacement. Hope you find the culprit soon. It’s fun when you get one of these trucks running smooth.
- Thread starter
- #74
Yep was just driving in the mountains today and really wanted my car haha. Think by the end of this week I should know the culprit, leak is definitely coming from heater control valve so pretty simple (maybe more tho).
Fj80oregon
GOLD Star
Just have your injectors serviced most places will test and clean for $30 an injector. These injectors are not known for going bad.
- Thread starter
- #76
Have been going back and forth on this, dont wanna drop 1k on new injectors. Even if the heater control valve has most likely been leaking on the injector? Seems like not "natural failure".
Your knuckles are dry. You need to add moly grease to the knuckle balls.
Odds are this engine issue is a bad injector wire or plug, not the injector itself. If a bad wire grounds out, it will hold the injector open.
You were supposed to pull the fuel pump fuse prior to doing the compression test so the injectors wouldn't have fuel pressure.
Inspect the wire harness near the EGR valve for burns or crispiness. This is a common area for wire failure and injectors to fail because of it.
With 171 psi on cylinder #1, you do not have 98% leak down on that cylinder. Again, that mechanic is an idiot.
Odds are this engine issue is a bad injector wire or plug, not the injector itself. If a bad wire grounds out, it will hold the injector open.
You were supposed to pull the fuel pump fuse prior to doing the compression test so the injectors wouldn't have fuel pressure.
Inspect the wire harness near the EGR valve for burns or crispiness. This is a common area for wire failure and injectors to fail because of it.
With 171 psi on cylinder #1, you do not have 98% leak down on that cylinder. Again, that mechanic is an idiot.
- Thread starter
- #78
Thank you on the knuckles, good to know - will definitely add that to the list. Glad to hear about injector as well, all signs really seem to be pointing to that - will get a stethoscope just to make sure before I pull the intake manifold, and check OBD this week.
I figured out I needed to pull the EFI relay a little late
, surprised it wasn't in the FSM though. Re-ran the compression tests with a hot engine though (and pulled EFI relay) and got 160-174 on all cylinders. No gas spewing this time. Agreed on leak down, is it even worth it at this point to run leak down on this? My understanding is leak down is helpful for low compression cylinders, but not sure if there is value on cylinders with solid compression. Would prefer not to spend a couple hours finding TDC on all cylinders.
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Probably not.Thank you on the knuckles, good to know - will definitely add that to the list. Glad to hear about injector as well, all signs really seem to be pointing to that - will get a stethoscope just to make sure before I pull the intake manifold, and check OBD this week.
I figured out I needed to pull the EFI relay a little late
- Thread starter
- #80
Just ran OBD - coolant sensor is reading 130 degrees Fahrenheit, seems like what it should be. It is throwing P0306, cylinder #6 misfire, which is probably why all these mechanics were saying engine needs to be replaced. Nothing remarkable otherwise about OBD data.
Tried using the stethoscope on fuel injectors, 4-6 are really hard to get to though wasn't able to get any of those. Will try that again later.
Kind of annoying that anytime I run it, it drops to about ~500RPM after a minute or so and poops out. Makes testing a lot more annoying. I think its probably the air intake hose, just gonna replace it, wasn't happening before I pulled the spark plugs and it's super brittle/hard to take off, guessing it got cracked or something.
Tried using the stethoscope on fuel injectors, 4-6 are really hard to get to though wasn't able to get any of those. Will try that again later.
Kind of annoying that anytime I run it, it drops to about ~500RPM after a minute or so and poops out. Makes testing a lot more annoying. I think its probably the air intake hose, just gonna replace it, wasn't happening before I pulled the spark plugs and it's super brittle/hard to take off, guessing it got cracked or something.
