ready to take the fuel rails off my 85'-opinion

[ltmark]

My 85' has been sitting for a year. It has 114,000 orig miles and was running well before we parked it in the garage. I'm ready to register it again (will need Ca. smog! &%^$%..s.it!)

Anyway, it runs (when it will start) as if it's completely out of time, smells rich, backfires, etc, etc. Getting it to idle is completely out of the question!

NO CODES! I've gone through the IAC procedure, TPS is at .54, New EGR Valve, New Fuel pump, vacuum hoses, etc. I have gone through the FSM from front to back, except I do not have a fuel pressure gauge! I've checked all the voltages/procedures re: cold start valve and injectors and just about everything else. I've completely cleaned the TPI and Plenum and it's all back together correctly and with no vacuum leaks. New Battery....no vacuum to the EGR when cold...etc. etc. I could go on and on!

I'm down to the point where I think that the year in the garage has put the whammy on the fuel rails and/or injectors. Like I said, it was running pretty good when I parked it and now it's as if I put the plug wires on the dist. in random order. It is NOT the timing or anything electrical...I'm sure!

My next move is to pull up the fuel rails and look for leaky injectors and /or non functioning/clogged injectors. I'm going to get a fuel pressure gauge and check that right before I take the to of the engine off, but I can't think of anything else?

Any thoughts?

 

[Paddywhack]

Fuel pressure gauge is pretty inexpensive at Harbor Freight right now. (14.99). I just bought one and it worked great. My 86 ran good when i parked it, changed the engine and it wouldnt start (See new engine, no start thread) come to find out, fuel pump went bad while parked! Good luck!

 

[KANE]

Any thoughts?

Don't want to come off the wrong way, but how about old gas- did you drain the old gas?

 

[msledge50]

water might have gotton in the gas from sitting

 

[toptechx6]

Don't want to come off the wrong way, but how about old gas- did you drain the old gas?

Good point, if you did not add fuel stabilizer that could be the entire problem, I would drain the tank dispose of the fuel, change the fuel filter and see what you have.

 

[Paddywhack]

I didnt drain the old gas...it was in a heated garage and I only stopped driving it in November, so I figured the gas couldn't be bad.

 

[toptechx6]

I didnt drain the old gas...it was in a heated garage and I only stopped driving it in November, so I figured the gas couldn't be bad.

My reply was to the OP who indicated his car has been "sitting for a year".

 

[MusclecarJohn]

ItMark, If you haven't drained the old gas, I think there's a product called "start your engines" that supposed to "decontaminate" old gas,
I've seen it at Pep Boys, you could try that

 

[ltmark]

OK...I bought the fuel gage and every reading according to FSM was good. It attained 36 PSI when the switch was "on" and held it with no drop, so I doubt one or more injectors are leaking. When it would start, it held a constant 38, even though it sounded like it was going to blow up. The only problem I identified was a cold start time switch (the one that's supposed to restrict the cold start valve to 8 sec. when cold) was bad, so I ordered a new one. However, it still runs like crud, when it will start. I'm fittin' to go out this morning and pull the fuel rails off and check all the injectors. As a reminder, it was running pretty well before I parked it in the garage for a year, so that altered some of the likely possibilities.

Just as an explanation, I didn't just arbitrarily neglect it in our garage for a year...my wife was going through Chemo and breast cancer treatment so we had other things on our mind! She's cancer-free now and she's hoping we can get it back on the road!

 

[Toms007]

lt1mark, sounds like you have your priorities straight. The best to your wife and yourself. Now lets get that Corvette back up and running. Have you checked spark? maybe you're getting a cross fire. The Distributor cap might be bad?

 

[Paddywhack]

Congrats to your wife, thats awesome news. Now I'm sure tackling to vette issue will be a piece of cake with the help of the guys in here.

 

[ltmark]

OK...Pulled the fuel rail off an then removed all the injectors. I fashioned a rig usinf cables (for power) and my air compressor with a 2 foot section of hosing. I hooked one end of the hose to the top of the injector and then filled the hose with cleaner. Then I attached the other end of the hose to the compressor (set to 40lbs) and pressed the air trigger to make sure that nothing flowed without the power signal. Then I appled the voltage (with the air still pressed) and 7 of them worked fine and had a nice spray. However, the eighth one let about half of the air flow through ALL THE TIME...voltage or not! I was actually happy to find something wrong.

I'm assuming that when running, this injector was dumping fuel in 100% of the time....which accounts for my problem!

Auto Zone has them fo $40.00, Napa for $115.00. Is there a reason I shouldn't buy the cheaper one?

Thanx for all the help!

 

[ltmark]

Follow-Up. * As a reminder, I did a fuel gauge check before I removed the fuel rails. It held at 34 lbs. and did not fall...indicating that there was no leaking injector or other pressure problem. However, I started thinking that (per the preceding comment) there should have been a fall in the pressure UNLESS it only leaked during the higher pressure of the engine running. In other words, I cheked the pressure via the "key on" but engine not running method. That showed the injectors were not leaking, but one of them was under the higher pressure of the engine running; which is approx. 39 lbs.

I got the $40.00 injector and all seems to be running fine....we'll see how long it lasts. I still have an occasional miss, but I can find that! If the injector doesn't hold up, I'll get the higher priced one! After doing this job, it wasn't that difficult, so doing it again isn't that big a deal! It Actuall gave me an opportunity to detail the top of the engine.

Thanx for all the input. Hope this helps someone out!