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HELP!!!Car is running poorly

  • Thread starter Thread starter krafty
  • Start date Start date Mar 30, 2004
K

krafty

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Dec 19, 2003
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North Dakota
Mar 30, 2004
#1
  • Mar 30, 2004
  • #1
I hooked up a code reader. With the car running it showed both 02 sensors stay in lean mode, I believe it was code 41 & 92. When I start the car at first it dies until about three tries it stays running. Fuel pressure and spark are there. It idles very poor and the exhaust is white with a very flooded gas smell to it. Once it warms up it idles a little better but still seems to hesitate and the exhaust is still the same. I checked the vacuum pressure and it is in the 14-16 in. range depending on how bad it idles.
ANY IDEAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
J

jerry beach

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May 20, 2002
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Ocala,FL
Mar 30, 2004
#2
  • Mar 30, 2004
  • #2
Check you oil for coolant and your coolant for oil. They start to look like milk if they mix together. A lot of water vapor coming out of the exhaust can indicate a blown head gasket or worse. Is it water vapor that dissipates quickly, or smoke that lingers?
 
K

krafty

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Mar 30, 2004
#3
  • Mar 30, 2004
  • #3
The vapor disappears quickly
 

jrichker

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Mar 30, 2004
#4
  • Mar 30, 2004
  • #4
Code 41 or 91 - O2 indicates system lean. Look for a vacuum leak or failing O2 sensor.

The computer sees a lean mixture signal coming from the O2 sensors and tries to compensate by adding more fuel.

Measuring the O2 sensor voltage at the computer will give you a good idea of how well they are working. The computer pins are 29 (LH O2 with a dark green/pink wire) and 43 (RH O2 with a dark blue/pink wire). Use the ground next to the computer to ground the voltmeter.
The O2 sensor ground is in the wiring harness for the fuel injection wiring. I grounded mine to one of the intake manifold bolts

"When the mixture is lean, the exhaust gas has oxygen, about the same amount as the ambient air. So the sensor will generate less than 400 Millivolts. Remember lean = less voltage.

" When the mixture is rich, there's less oxygen in the exhaust than in the ambient air , so voltage is generated between the two sides of the tip. The voltage is greater than 600 millivolts. Remember rich = more voltage.

Here's a tip: the newer the sensor, the more the voltage changes, swinging from as low as 0.1 volt to as much as 0.9 volt. As an oxygen sensor ages, the voltage changes get smaller and slower - the voltage change lags behind the change in exhaust gas oxygen.

Because the oxygen sensor generates its own voltage, never apply voltage and never measure resistance of the sensor circuit. To measure voltage signals, use an analog voltmeter with a high input impedance, at least 10 megohms. Remember, a digital voltmeter will average a changing voltage."
Charles O. Probst, Ford fuel Injection & Electronic Engine control
 
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