Ford Injectors... FUUUUUUUUUU

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
When I first got my orange truck with the 4 cylinder in it, I had a bad miss despite replacing all the plugs, wires, and a coil pack, and then after all of that, I found it had a sticking injector...

Now my green truck has had a slight miss since I got it, CEL confirmed it was Cyl1, so I replaced the plugs and wires, lucas in the gas tank, seafoamed the intake, cleaned all the connectors with Electrolite cleaner, and the MAF, and used di-electric grease all over that could use it, and the miss STILL exists... I've come to the conclusion now that it is another stuck/sticking injector since it got a SPEC better after the tuneup and seafoam, as well as the coilpack tested good.

Kinda an odd 'weak point' I suppose, anyone else have shitty ford injector experiences while trying to troubleshoot a miss?
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
noid light to check the harness, screwdriver to check the injector

Never heard of either of those test methods? I assume a volt meter would work too?

How can I check with a screwdriver?

Or, just swap it to a different cylinder, and see if the miss follows :dunno:

I don't like that idea, If I already have it apart, for the $40, I may as well just replace it to rule it 100% out since I can't think of anything that would impact a single piston Minus a dead/sticking/bent Valve, which I'd find VERY unlikely.
 

Intel

TCG Elite Member
Oct 28, 2009
5,889
3,357
Palatine

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
You put the scredriver up on the injector head and hear if it is firing.

Or on our nissans which have really tempermental injectors with all of that ethanol crap we ohm them out with a multimeter.

Seems like 10-16 ohms is what yours should spec at according to this. Seems like a wide margin
http://www.ehow.com/how_6524310_troubleshoot-fuel-injection-ford-ranger.html

OHHHH, I have a automotive stethoscope that I can use for this then.

ALOT of the ranger stuff has a REALLY wide margin of ohms... The coil packs are supposed to be between 13 and 17K, and the primary coil is supposed to be between .3 and 1.0 Ohms.........
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
Unfortunatly I hear the injector 'clicking away' on Cyl 1, so I suspect that something else is wrong.... Can the injector be 'stuck'/broken/leaking and still be clicking?

Some more info:

It had sat for about 3 months prior to me purchasing it with a bad wheel bearing, and a broken rear window.

When I first drove it after replacing the wheel bearing it drove fine, but quickly developed a slight miss. I assumed this was just bad gas in the tank, so I filled it with regular and drove it a bit more, until it became a continual miss with a CEL for Cyl1. I gave the truck new plugs/wires, new brake pads *Still need to replace the rotor that is trashed from the wheel bearing failure*, cleaned the MAF and IAT with MAF cleaner, tested the coil pack, and fed it a bottle of seafoam through the intake manifold, and put a bottle of injector cleaner in the tank.

The truck STILL has this miss (Below 2000RPM and at idle it is noticeable, above about 2000RPM I do not feel it, but it feels as though it is lacking power... granted the other ranger having a V-8 doesn't help this diagnosis)

I'm starting to lean toward that the cat is bad? Once I turn the truck off I can hear the passenger side cat Ping/crackle like crazy after, drastically more than the driver side one *Cylinder 1 is on the passenger side bank* Any way to confirm this aside from gutting the cat?
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
compression within spec?

Haven't checked that, honestly I'm just 'hoping' it has nothing to do with the compression, and I am HIGHLY doubtful... I know it would explain the problem with the misfire, but this engines are A) Not known for blowing headgaskets/compression issues, and B) I HIGHLY suspect this cat now...

Any other troubleshooting tips to confirm a bad converter?
 

machausta

Slow VW driver
Sep 18, 2009
1,020
2
Eastern Tennessee
Haven't checked that, honestly I'm just 'hoping' it has nothing to do with the compression, and I am HIGHLY doubtful... I know it would explain the problem with the misfire, but this engines are A) Not known for blowing headgaskets/compression issues, and B) I HIGHLY suspect this cat now...

Any other troubleshooting tips to confirm a bad converter?

You told me it had the 'rotten eggs' smell on the phone yesterday -- you have a bad cat, even if that isn't the issue causing the misfire condition.
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
Well, I think I've done all the reading I can, and everything points to the injector being clogged.

Step1 truck sat for 2-3months with crap gas in it and let the battery die

Step2 Tank nearly empty for the first 3 days of being driven after sitting, ran OK for the first day, then become suddenly and progressivilly worse (I was told it had a 'shudder' prior to me buying it, so I suspect it may have been clogged for a long time prior)

Step3 Injector clogged, Causing a full on CEL since OBD2 needs to 'see' the misfire 3 times/cycles to pitch a code to my understanding, and a constant mis at low RPM unless you are getting into it and/or over 2K RPM has developed.

Step4 ECU Being a newer truck, compensates for the mis by dumping more fuel into the other 5 cylinders causing a rich condition.

Step5 rich condition damages cats causing sulfur smell,

Step6 Removed cats, resolved sulfur smell, but still missing as the injector is still clogged

So I'm going to replace it asap and hollow out the cat and get it welded back on.
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
ive never heard of fuel being dumped to compensate a misfire. if anything the ecu would cut fuel..
most cat damage occurs from a cylinder not getting spark, pushing the unburned fuel into the exhaust.

I'd read it in 2 different articles about the 4.0 Ranger, so maybe its different, or they could just be stupid :dunno:

The sulfur smell of the cat is ALWAYS from fuel being dumped, correct?

The 5 sparkplugs that weren't 'missing' were a bit on the dark side on the area below the filiment *spelling*, while the one that was missing was rather 'clean' which would imply running lean correct?

*No sarcasm implied, I really just wanna learn this so I'm not misinformed by the interwebs*
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
20,919
1,321
Wheaton, IL
Well, I replaced the injector, replaced all of the o-rings and cleaned the hell out of them all for good measure, cleaned the rails and intake, new upper gaskets, etc, etc, etc...

Misfire is still there, it idles better, but it still has the miss especially bad between 1400-1700 under light load. I have not scanned the CEL since replacing the injector.

I've punched out the cat, and still need to get it re-installed. I'm going to do a vacuum and compression test tonight and pray for good results.
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 90 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant. Consider starting a new thread to get fresh replies.

Thread Info