White smoke, gas smell, bad idle, loss of power in low RPMs???

[GoldenEye]

Could use some help. Thanks in advance.

Yesterday I was driving in the desert and stuck in traffic going about 5 mph. Car was running about middle of temp guage. Had the AC on full blast, and had a heavy load of luggage and 3 bodies in the car. I started to smell fuel and thought it was the car in front of me, and about that time my car started to miss really bad, and felt like it was loading up. Got to the side of road and popped hood, everything looked ok as far as no coolant on the dipstick, no oil in the radiator overflow but strange thing was I smelled gas really strong and right around the alternator area. Tried to start the car but it wouldn't so i popped the snorkel off the MAF and cranked it over and it started although it was running really aweful. So I hooked the snorkel up and proceeded to drive my car on the shoulder off the highway and noticed at higher speeds it stayed cleaner and had more power. Just it loads up at lower RPMs and then wants to die. Was blowing some white/grey smoke out of both pipes more so at idle. Had to leave the car at a freinds and rent a car to finish my travel. Not sure what to do now.

Couple of questions. I tried to dump the codes but can't remember if the 13. and 66 were pulled during the koeo or koer tests. Could this be a MAF, or idle air valve? I don't think it a head gasket but could be wrong. The strange thing for me was the heavy fuel smell. This was the first road trip I have taken the car on since I bought it about 3 weeks ago.

Thanks for any advise, much apreciated.

 

[jrichker]

Code 66 MAF below minimum test voltage.
Insufficient or no voltage from MAF. Dirty MAF element, bad MAF, bad MAF wiring, missing power to MAF. Check for missing +12 volts on this circuit. Check the two links for a wiring diagram to help you find the red wire for computer power relay switched +12 volts. Check for 12 volts between the red and black wires on the MAF heater (usually pins A & B). while the connector is plugged into the MAF. This may require the use of a couple of safety pins to probe the MAF connector from the back side of it.

There are three parts in a MAF: the heater, the sensor element and the amplifier. The heater heats the MAF sensor element causing the resistance to increase. The amplifier buffers the MAF output signal and has a resistor that is laser trimmed to provide an output range compatible with the computer's load tables.

The MAF output varies with RPM which causes the airflow to increase or decease. The increase of air across the MAF sensor element causes it to cool, allowing more voltage to pass and telling the computer to increase the fuel flow. A decrease in airflow causes the MAF sensor element to get warmer, decreasing the voltage and reducing the fuel flow. Measure the MAF output at pins C & D on the MAF connector (dark blue/orange and tan/light blue) or at pins 50 & 9 on the computer.

At idle = approximately .6 volt
20 MPH = approximately 1.10 volt
40 MPH = approximately 1.70 volt
60 MPH = approximately 2.10 volt

Check the resistance of the MAF signal wiring. Pin D on the MAF and pin 50 on the computer (dark blue/orange wire) should be less than 2 ohms. Pin C on the MAF and pin 9 on the computer (tan/light blue wire) should be less than 2 ohms.

There should be a minimum of 10K ohms between either pin C or D on the MAF and ground.

See the following website for some help from Tmoss (diagram designer) & Stang&2Birds (website host)

http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/fuel-alt-links-ign-ac.gif

http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/88-91eecPinout.gif

To clean the MAF, remove the MAF element and gently spray it with electrical contact cleaner. You can also use non-flammable brake parts cleaner (same chemical in a bigger can & cheaper too). Let it dry and put it back in.

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiB..._us/0900823d/80/19/59/5a/0900823d8019595a.jsp

 

[GoldenEye]

Thanks for the reply, I'll go through the MAF and test it out. I got back to the car today and started it, ran bad still even cold. Pulled a code 94 during koer test. Still smelled heavy raw fuel. What is a secondary air system? Also, could it be any of the following: intake leak, fuel pump, idle air valve, TFI, etc?? Stumped. At idle there was some vapor looking white smoke that quickly evaporated, and some greyish white rich smelling smoke that didn't disipate all that well. I guess most things point at head gasket, just baffled by the fuel smell in the engine compartment, and the clean oil/coolant.

 

[GoldenEye]

ttt

 

[shttygtstang]

before doing that ide do a compression test and look at your plugs see what going on in there you might have a blown head gasket or worse if that all checks out the just start cleaning and ect.

 

[shttygtstang]

also check your fuel regulator they break down through time and it could be pissing through the vaccume side into the intake manfold

 

[BlackGT89]

Pull the vaccum line off of the fuel pressure regulator and make sure it's not sucking gas through the vacuum line. If it is you need a new regulator.

 

[87'GTstang]

My guess as well would be blown head gasket. Think about it, white smoke because the water jackets are being exposed to the cylinder(s) and burning with the combustion cycle (also check for coolant loss), loss of power because that cylinder isn't making much power, poor idle becuase of what I just previously said and the fact that you would have a vaccum leak (so do a vaccum test as well), and a fuel smell because fuel vapor/exhaust should be coming out slightly at the point where the head gasket blew. Also you should exhibit (on a healthy engine) good overall compression and very poor compression on the cylinder(s) that turns out to be the culprit. It can still be something else, but everything points perfectly to it. Run plenty of tests on it to make sure it checks all out though.

There's plenty of other things it could be, but the white smoke is none other than coolant burning off, sure it isn't a bluish tint (oil)???

 

[GoldenEye]

Yeah, I'm not sure if it's really white vs. blue tint but will study it. It doesn't smell like coolant, rather like rich fuel condition. I'll run a compression test, and vaccum test tonight. I'll also check the FPR and take the vaccum hose off it and make sure there's no gas in there. Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I'm compiling a list of stuff to check :coolant/oil condition, compression, vaccum, FPR, ACT/IAT, hoses and evap canister, distributor pick up, and MAF.

 

[GoldenEye]

So I'm still not sure what it is. I am thinking of paying $85 at Ford to have them diagnose it. Would that be a good idea? I would rather spend my money on some add ons but need to get this fixed and figured out as my other car is for sale and this will be my daily driver. I'll just pay them to tell me what's wronf then fix it myself.

 

[Cue-Ball]

Do the compression test to make sure it's not a head gasket first. You can buy a compression tester really cheap or rent one from the local auto parts store. Make sure to get the threaded kind since they seal better and don't require two people to use them correctly.

No sense paying $85/hour for a tech to troubleshoot the problem when you can do it yourself for $20 and 2 hours time.

 

[GoldenEye]

Turned out to be a wiring short behind the intake. That leads me to another question: the wires that are around the intake, and fuel rails are always heated up, and the looms, tape are all cracked. What do you all do to protect these? Thinking about buying a few rolls of black tape and loom and going through everything and retaping stuff.

 

[BlackGT89]

Turned out to be a wiring short behind the intake. That leads me to another question: the wires that are around the intake, and fuel rails are always heated up, and the looms, tape are all cracked. What do you all do to protect these? Thinking about buying a few rolls of black tape and loom and going through everything and retaping stuff.

Woh ! A wiring short and a strong smell of gas makes me think "kaboom !" . Do you still have the strong smell of gas ? I'd certainly check into that. Are you refering to the wires going to the fuel injectors in the intake being all cracked and heating up ? None of the wires should heat up on their own. Yes I would certainly tape up any cracked or exposed wiring or buy the split sleeves that go around the wires (even Walmart has them).

 

[GoldenEye]

Yeah, I'm going to wrap them really soon. Yes, the wires going to the intake. I think they were heating up from the engine heat and over time got crispy. I need to take the intake off and replace some of them. I assume the strong smell of gas was caused by the exsessive amount of gas flooding the engine, and traveling through to the vacuum canister. Car runs so good now, it's awesome. Just have to wrap those wires up.