Injectors loose, is this right?

nixter · 05-25-2005, 10:06 PM

Many of you know of my on-going gremlin issue but last week I got her back from the mechanic with more power than ever and things were good...until tonight.

Haven't driven since friday night. I started her up tonight and she sounded like she was not firing on all six and power was low.

I didn't have time to check much but I have better access to the injectors, (especially on the right side), now that the AC is gone. I noticed that the injectors wiggled A LOT. Should these not be screwed down tight? The 3 on the right were all quite loose as was 1 one the left. I was trying to turn them by hand but as they don't rotate freely on the fuel lines they are attatched to, they are hard to turn more than 1/4 or so.

I'm pleading ignorance here because I don't know much about injectors yet. Seems to me though they ought to be screwed tight, I mean these were really loose.

If they are supposed to be tight, how do I do this? There's plenty of rotational resistance from the fuel line.

Thoughts??

Thanks guys,

Nik

aigel · aigel's Garage

Nik:

These injectors go into plastic bungs with O-rings. There is no bolting. You need to replace those plastic bungs and the o-rings that hold everything in there. Air can leak past the injectos and create a lean mix on the affected cylinders.

You can unbolt the injectors from the fuel lines (I think your car has the hard lines already) for easy access.

Hope this helps,

George

nixter · 05-25-2005, 10:54 PM

thanks for the info. My mechanic has had my injectors in and out a few times in the last couple weeks so I'm sure he'd have noticed if anything needed replacing there. I just thought maybe they'd come loose some how.

Oh well, guess it's something else.

Nik

aigel · aigel's Garage

No, if they wobble significantly, the bungs and o-rings need replacing. If you don't do it, you will eventually have air leak past the injector and mess up your mixture (lean). Running lean is not good for your engine.

Hope this helps.

George

nixter · 05-26-2005, 10:58 AM

Talked to the mechanic. He said he's replaced the seals but the sleeves come out with the plugs now though and will have to be replaced at some point. This doesn't seem to be related to my problem though.

I'm not firing on all cylinders from startup and it doesn't get better for an entire 10 minute drive. I'm also smelling a bit of fuel after I shut off. This would lead me to believe that I'm not getting any spark and therefor should suspect electrics?? What I don't get is that it was perfect as of last friday. Then *something* happened while the car was just sitting there for a few days. what could happen while the car is not moving to cause this??? I'm trying not to get incredibly fustrated with this car but it's taking all my restraint.

It has to be electrics, what else could act so randomly and flaky?

You know, it did rain pretty hard when I drove it last friday. Hmmm

Nik

nixter · 05-26-2005, 01:10 PM

Is it possible that rain could have slipped past the loose injector sleeves and be causing the plugs not to fire?

Doesn't seem too likely I guess.

Nik

aigel · aigel's Garage

Not likely at all. A small amount of water would evaporate / burn out very quickly.

You may have gotten water into your ignition, e.g. under the cap, where it can lead to ignition problems. Check that your cap and rotor are reasonably new and the cap isn't cracked. Also make sure your wires are not beyond their serviceable age. All those components can make the car run rough when they are old (cracked) and get wet.

George

ruf-porsche · ruf-porsche's Garage

Buy yourself a pair of insulated spark plug wire plier and when the engine is not running on all of the cylinders, use the spark plug wire plier to take off one wire at a time from the distributor. Note which cylinder does not change rpm when the wire is removed. Once you have determine which cylinder is not firing, you can then determine if you have no spark to the plug or a clogged fuel injector.

Didn't you replace all the plugs? Did you replace the spark plug wire? Make sure the wire is seated on the plug if you are using Clewett wires.

If you are getting a spark, then you probably have a clogged or stuck injector. If you know which cylinder is not firing you can tap the injector with a rod and a hammer, sometime this will unstick a stuck injector.

nixter · 05-26-2005, 02:42 PM

ok, sounds good. I will try this later. Can you expand on the rod & hammer tap technique?

Thanks,

Nik.

nixter · 05-26-2005, 02:50 PM

Just talked to the wrench. Rather than pulling the pulling the plug wires (he said there's risk of shock) he sugested barely loosening the bolts on the fuel distributor one at a time. I guess this would have the same effect. Plus I won't need the plug plier.

I did have lots of rust in my fuel filter a while ago due to a rusted tank. even after it was fixed the fuel filter had to replaced twice in 2 weeks as there was still rust pouring out when checked. Maybe something got in and is messing up my distributor and injectors.

Nik

911mot · 911mot's Garage

check inside dizzy cap for condensation