you can remove that bracket to get to the fuel rail. No need to disconnect battery. You will get some fuel leak so be prepared.

You need to do it again. The injector was not pushed in properly. Wherever the leak is, it needs to seat further in.

I think this will all be clearer after a good night's sleep.... :-O

+1 it did not seat properly. Can you see where it is leaking from?

As far as the LM-1 yes you can use the O2S bung, but the LM-1 should have a sniffer attachment that sticks in to the tail pipe.

If you want to fine tine then you will use it after your repairs.

OK, much better now! I re-seated the injector, put it all back together, and the car DEFINITELY runs better now. Much better... no stumbling at low RPM. In fact I can drive around at 1500 RPM now , smoothly. I think this will help gas mileage and oil consumption, as I won't constantly be keeping the car over 3000 RPM. Awesome! This was a $30 injector off of Amazon. I bought 3 this week, just in case I needed them - and it turned out to be a stroke of genius.

..but, I still can't say for sure if it will pass inspection. I guess there is only one way to find out, on Monday morning...

Huge thanks to all the people on this forum, I wouldn't have been able to do this without you folks.

Couple of lingering questions I have:
1) Should I quit while I'm ahead, and just give it a go on Monday, or
2) Should I check idle mixture with LM-1? Doesn't look too hard to do. The O2 sensor is mounted just BEFORE the cat, so I could just remove it and put the LM-1 sensor right in the same bung
3) The idle seems low to me. It's idling pretty steady, but at about 650 RPM. Is that low?
4) Still a minor backfire (pop sound) at around 3000 RPM, after lifting off and gently coming back on the throttle. What's with that?
5) This is a cheapo cheeseball off brand injector I installed. Should I replace it with a better one, if it's working OK?
6) If cyl. #6 has been misfiring (for a long time, really), should I drive it a lot to clear anything out? Any benefit to flogging it mercilessly? (can you tell I'm looking for excuses to drive the car hard?)

Thanks everyone!!!
-Glenn

OK, hooked up LM-1... it shows --- for lambda, and 20.9% O2. According to the LM-1 manual, this means the lambda is greater than 6, and the % of Oxygen is 20.9%. That means, at least at idle, I guess it's VERY lean. Seems to be running very well, though, other than the low idle. Any ideas?

OK, got it working - and it's still running lean :-(. I got a lamba of 1.25 (average) at idle. Am I correct in saying, there may still be a vacuum leak somewhere?

Still have a low idle, too.

At high RPM (in garage, in neutral) the mixture gets closer to stoich, but still lean. 1.10ish

Thanks all
-Glenn

Well, you are not much better than when you started. You had 1.4 Lambda based on your tailpipe emissions. I know you said the injector made it run better but is it still running better or was it just an initial after repair placebo effect?

Sounds like a vacuum leak(s). Especially since you say it smooths out and the A/F ratio falls in line when you open the throttle. Did you ever finding the vacuum leaks with propane like I recommended in post # 12? We're on #47 now:))

Just don't throw parts at it. That can get expensive and frustrating.

I used carb cleaner... And did find a couple. My mechanic replaced a couple of lines. It is definitely possible there are still some leaks though, I just can't find any.

It is definitely running better, especially right off idle. The car is much more driveable now. But I have my eyes on the prize, hoping to pass the smog test on Monday.

I will check again for leaks. Propane scares me though :-O

If the car is running as designed, it will be able to pass smog with a cat. Good luck, we are all counting on you!

Thanks folks. I am going to stay away from the car till tomorrow.... Think a little more clearly.

But one more question for the night...

With the LM-1 hooked up, I let the car warm up. And suddenly the number jumped to the 3.95-4.10 range. I presume the engine reached a certain temp And the programing leaned it out either. What does this mean? That is REALLY lean.
My mechanic felt he got the vacuum leaks (but admitted there could be one out more he missed).

Thanks

If you get the fuel balanced and you may pass. In fact, a CAT works best when the fuel mix is perfect. Some other thinks to consider if the lean condition gets corrected and it still fails.

You have 10k on the spark plugs. I would replace them and "read" them to determine how oil fouled they are. With a qt. of oil every 600 miles, its not a matter of if they are fouled but how bad. If one are more are occasionally misfiring due to fouling, HC would increase. You may also want to check the plug wires for resistance with an OHM meter.

Here is an NGK spark plug chart. Scroll down.
» Spark Plugs NGK

and instructions on how to check plug wires. How to Check Plug Wires With a Multimeter (3 Steps) | eHow.

Also get a spray bottle and spray/mist the plug wires and distributor cap while the engine is running. If the engine stumbles or the wires arc replace the plug wires.

These are all cheap and good fixes. Replacing plugs on oil burners usually reduces HC

Folks, I just wanted to close the loop on this issue. It is resolved and the car is running GREAT! The problem was a bad intake manifold gasket. I went through a whole bunch of diagnostics (thanks, DRACO A50G for walking me through all that by phone!) and even smoked it out a couple of times, finding a few small vacuum leaks. But it turned out my homemade smoke tester wasn't effective enough, and after bringing into a local shop, they smoked it again and found the bad gasket.

I was able to watch the whole process and I learned a bunch through this. I have no regrets about attempting the diagnosis/repair myself, even if ultimately I had to pay someone else to fix it. Awesome learning experience, and I know much more about my car now. Great stuff. Thanks to all on this forum who helped out!

Thanks
-Glenn

Congrats Brother Glenn!

Indeed, a win for your knowledge base :D Now go enjoy your baby and your great family!

RSD,

Jim