Do I have an injector stuck open?

[BlackVert]

Do I have an injector stuck open?

If I put the key in and turn it to on, but not far enough to start the car, then go out and lift the hood, I can smell gas. It is not a strong smell, and there doesn't seem to be a leak anywhere, but I can smell it.

Also, when the car is warm, if I turn it off and let it sit a couple minutes, then start it up again, the idle goes up and down a few times and then it usually dies. Once I start driving it, the idle is fine again. When the car is cold, the idle is fine, no problems at all.

I did a search and found this, but this was the last post in the thread and there was no follow up:

I think I found the problem. This describes my problem to a tee courtesy of Autozone website: Common idications of Injector Problems: An injector that is stuck partially open causes loss of fuel pressure (most noticeably after the engine is stopped and restarted within a short time period) and flooding due to raw fuel dribbling into the engine.

 

[BlackVert]

anyone?

 

[Sleepy McNastee]

Uhhh...well I know the car keeps some fuel pressure after you turn it off. So it's possible that it could be stuck open and leaking. I'm not sure though.

Do you have an adjustable fuel pressure regulator? Mine was leaking and it always smelled. It's pretty scary to smell unburnt fuel coming from under your hood.

 

[fiveohh94gt]

ttt, i'd like to know more about this too, sounds like it could be a problem i'm having also

 

[Quick5pnt0]

It does sound like a leaky injector could be your problem but i'm not sure that you'd smell the fuel if it were dumping into the intake/cylinders. Are you sure none of the injector o-rings, fuel lines, pressure regulator are leaking. Sometimes the leaking fuel will evaporate before you can see it, but you can still smell it.

 

[The Hitman]

Get a fuel pressure gauge and see how it acts..

Also if you had an injector stuck OPEN, dumping fuel into the cylinder,
1.)the car would run like poo.
2.)the oil pan would have some, if not a decent amount, of fuel in with the oil. You'll know if you ever have one stuck open.

 

[HISSIN50]

if feeling industrious, you can pull the injectors. get new pintle caps and O-rings ahead of time. then, JRichker says it better than i can:
http://forums.stangnet.com/showpost.php?p=3981009&postcount=6

good luck.

 

[mo_dingo]

Good info.

If you smell fuel, you have a leak. Go to carquest/napa and ask for the flourescent dye additive. Put the whole bottle in the gas tank (use a paper cup for a funnel & make sure you let it drip for a bit to get every last drop) making sure you only have 2-3 gallons in the tank. Drive the car for a couple miles making lots of turns so the dye will mix evenly throughout the gas. Then get a blacklight, put the car in a completely enclosed garage (extremely dark), turn off all the lights and run the black light along the fuel lines and point into the injector rails. You don't want a black light that's really long (i.e. flourescent tube). You want something that can get into tiny places, like a regular bulb screwed into a shop light but remove the backing & grill to the shop light. Getting enough light under the upper intake will be fun.

The dye glows red/orange under the black light. You won't miss it.
Scott

 

[BlackVert]

Do you have an adjustable fuel pressure regulator? Mine was leaking and it always smelled. It's pretty scary to smell unburnt fuel coming from under your hood.

my mechanic says there is one behind the upper intake. it was there when i bought the car. i'll take a picture of it for you guys to verify that that is what it is.

i don't know much about this stuff yet, and i don't have much time or a place to open it up and take my engine apart, which is how i learn about this kind of stuff, so i'm kind of stuck; lol.

also, i don't know what the afpr it is set to.

 

[BlackVert]

It does sound like a leaky injector could be your problem but i'm not sure that you'd smell the fuel if it were dumping into the intake/cylinders. Are you sure none of the injector o-rings, fuel lines, pressure regulator are leaking. Sometimes the leaking fuel will evaporate before you can see it, but you can still smell it.

my mechanic used new o-rings when he reinstalled the injectors during the headswap, just 2 months ago, so i really doubt it is them. i'm guessing it must be small and evaorating, because the smell is faint and i haven't seen any pooled or on the driveway.

 

[Sleepy McNastee]

my mechanic says there is one behind the upper intake. it was there when i bought the car. i'll take a picture of it for you guys to verify that that is what it is.

i don't know much about this stuff yet, and i don't have much time or a place to open it up and take my engine apart, which is how i learn about this kind of stuff, so i'm kind of stuck; lol.

also, i don't know what the afpr it is set to.

Yeah thats an adjustable just by your description. It should be on the fuel rail on the passenger side. It takes a lot of pressure to make one fail(usually). I had an inline pump along with the 255 lph and have since took the inline out of the system. I couldn't get my fuel pressure below 60psi with the inline pump on there. But thats the type of pressure it usually takes to make a regulator fail.

If it is the regulator that is leaking, replace it with a Kirban piece. They are top quality. I would also recommend a fuel pressure gauge of some sort to give you a general idea of what you are working with. But IIRC you have children, and I know money for the car must have to trickle through other priorities.

 

[HISSIN50]

have you made sure that the charcoal cannister isnt cracked or doesnt have a bad line? a cracked line in the system can create some issues, as well.

also, for your FPR. pull the vac line off it and look for fuel in the vac line. if there is fuel, the diaphram likely went south. replace the FPR.

random thoughts. good luck.