New(to me) 1991 Land Cruiser dead cylinders (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Aug 26, 2007
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18
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204
Location
Baton Rouge, LA
Okay I just bought this thing and it has a freshly rebuilt 3FE. The engine has been desmogged and and has had a miss. I checked the timing and for vacuum leaks and both are good. Now I decided to go old school. I got some rubberized gloves and started pulling spark plug wires with it running. Cylinders 2 and 5 have no effect on engine running with the plug wires removed. The rest cause the engine to sputter even worse. Now I checked the pugs and even swapped 1 and 2 and cranked it up. 1 still hit and 2 is still dead. I then checked the wires with a screwdriver in the spark plug boot and it definitely has spark. I then checked compression with just an old tester, not a leak down. I didnt write down any readings but both the dead cylinders had compression. Readings were around the 150 range like the others. I checked the firing order and it appears to be right so in my mind that only leaves the fuel injectors. Since I am new to these engines, could I get you guys to verify my logic?
 
I am also reading other threads. It seems the fuel injector wiring harness has to be spliced. That might be a problem to. The guy that sold me the LC said he had the fuel injectors cleaned and benched so maybe it is the wiring. I will work on checking that next. Thanks.
 
If you have a mechanics stethoscope check each injector to see if you can hear it making a clicking sound. If you don't have a mechanics stethoscope then you can use a screwdriver to check them.

Place one end of the screwdriver on each injector body, and the other end against your ear. If you don't hear it clicking, it's not injection fuel.

Now that doesn't mean the injector itself is bad, it could be a fault in the injector wiring harness, or the injector wiring harness plug, you should now test to see if the fault is a bad connection or a short using a Noid light tester.

Noid Lite/IAC Test Kit 11 Pc | OTC | 3054E
 
Yes I do have a mechanics stethoscope and will try it this evening. Thanks.
 
The 2 injectors that are on the 2 dead cylinders are clicking but I suspect they are clogged. Also the PO did not have the injectors cleaned and gone through. I must have misunderstood him. I all looking for a refurbished set. I would like to pull them and see if I can figure out how to test them for sure. Thanks.
 
The 2 injectors that are on the 2 dead cylinders are clicking but I suspect they are clogged. Also the PO did not have the injectors cleaned and gone through. I must have misunderstood him. I all looking for a refurbished set. I would like to pull them and see if I can figure out how to test them for sure. Thanks.

You can pull them and send off to www.witchhunter.com to have them rebuilt if you want to go that route. Relatively inexpensive and fast.
 
Swap a couple of injectors around and if the problem follws them = problem solved
 
I found a disconnected plug under the I take manifold. It is towards the rear of the fuel rail. It is not a fuel injector plug or the cold start injector plug. I took a pic but have to figure out how to post it.
 
I found a disconnected plug under the I take manifold. It is towards the rear of the fuel rail. It is not a fuel injector plug or the cold start injector plug. I took a pic but have to figure out how to post it.

That's for the EGR temp sensor in California emissions trucks.
 
Check the valve clearances?
He stated in his first post that he did a compression test, and all the cylinders were all around 150 PSI. If he had a burnt, bent, or open valve his compression wouldn't be anywhere near that high.
 
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I switched the injectors around and will button everything back up once I get the intake gasket. Accidentally tore it when I pulled the manifold off. Ordered 2 so if it is the injectors, I will have a spare for the injector replacement.
 
are the plug wires in the correct place? I did that on my chevelle on accident. it ran but like crap...
 
Yes I check plug wires three times. I am hoping the culprit is the injectors. I know how to fix that. The PO said that he "leak checked" the injectors didn't do anything else except for changing the fuel pump, filter and screen which I assume would be the in tank strainer thing.
 
Ok, this has been an experience. To give you an idea of what I was told the background of this vehicle was I can go on 2 basic sets of evidence. What I was told by the seller and what I see with the truck. Since the seller can say anything, I trust the truck more. The seller told me he purchased the truck from someone that had let the truck sit up somewhere close to 10 years. He got the truck started and drove it home. During the 2 hour drive the truck developed a knock and he pulled the engine and brought it to a local machine shop. The engine was not circulating oil due to 10 year old oil separating into solid and liquid. 5 months and several thousands of dollars later, the engine was put back into the truck. The PO did say that the guy he bought it from said that it wasnt running good when it was parked 10 years prior.

Fuel pump, strainer, and filter were changed and the tank was cleaned out. I was told in the ad that all the sensors in "the housing" was changed. Dont know what housing he was talking about but all the water sensors, timers, and senders appear to be original. I. changed the coolant temp sensor because the problems that the truck are possible symptoms. I was getting some odd resistance results on the AFM so I ordered one. I changed the plugs and noticed the plug wires are original wires with 1991, so I ordered them too. Oxygen sensors appear to have never been changed so they went in the cart too. The truck was desmogged and all new vacuum lines run. The 2 vacuum ports on the top of the throttle body are capped. Dont know if they should be capped, open, or hooked to something. It is hard to believe a truck has so many 27 year old electrical parts and still runs.

Is there anything else I should change just from old age? The original plug wires and o2 sensors really opened my eyes that there has been no maintenance done to this thing. Fuel pressure is good and the fuel pressure regulator seems to be functioning probably. A little below 40 with vacuum and a little above without. The in line filter is new so the PO might have been telling me the truth about the fuel pump and filters. I also changed the PC valve and grommet. I dont think there are any vacuum leaks but is there a diagram for a desmogged 3fe out there anywhere?

I am not usually one to just throw parts at a problem and I know 2 of the fuel injectors were clogged so I feel that was a good investment. The AFM was a guess but as rare as that thing is, I wont feel bad if I end up with 2 good ones. I just cant imagine the prior owner bolted all of these old parts on to a freshly rebuilt engine, which I think was done because I have found quite a few receipts as he paid as the work was done. I might go to the machine shop and see if they will tell me what all was done? Regardless, once I get the old stuff changed, I hope to have a good running 3fe. I mean who spends thousands of dollars on a rebuild and puts the 27 year old spark plug wires back on?
 
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Truck has 134,000 miles. Only a couple of hundred of that has been in the last 10 years.
 

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