Why am I so completely luckless with this car?

I am all kinds of screwed up now. I am pretty sure I am on 3 cylinders.

Took the car for a ride before a long trip in the Infiniti on Friday. As I pulled into the garage, it started missing. Talk about strange. 3 feet from the garage? No lie, it did get me home. I shut it off and figured that I should order new wires. I did and all I could find for myself was the new Beru's from Pelican, who I really do think are a great local resource in SoCal.

Got them in the mail while I was away. They are not the same as Bosch, but I did succeed in putting the old tips back on the plugs.

I installed new Beru wires and started the car. Can't complain about this thing starting, but I think I now have a bad injector.

(I did have a bad rusty tank but none of it reached even the fuel pump. I would be really surprised by junk reaching the injectors, but maybe I still have enough skill and gumption to test or at least inspect them?)

Can someone prevent me from death by 1,000 cuts by a 914?

1. Are the injectors easily removable and how hard is it to test them?
2. Is there any reliable source for used 2.0L green ones?
3. Is there anything less than a rapist price on new green ones?
4. Am I barking up the wrong tree?

The car starts without any trouble, and for a second seems to run on all 4, but immediately goes to 3 cylinders. There is a NOS set of trigger points in the dizzy.

I do have the old trigger points, and they were just as nice as the ones I put in.

Can I test the injectors with just me, or is it just too dangerous in a small garage?

I am totally embarrassed, but with a few hours now passed, I at least have sublimated my pride and come hat in hand for help to the only crew I know that may save me from tears and sadness that I should never have tried and failed to do some things so completely miserably by myself.

I am in a bad way, with this car staring at me like I am a total jerkoff for thinking I could get it in better shape.

If this is too risky, I will have to spend big bucks towing the car, but as of yet, I have no local to Yorba Linda 914 tuner. Seems like they are all far away from my location on the 91 at about the Toll Road. Runs too rough to drive it at this point.

HELP!

Thanks!

John
avidfanjpl - Embarrassed nearly to death.....................

IMHO, the worst thing you can do is start throwing money at guesses. You can test the injectors by pulling them out and triggering them by turning the key on, then opening the throttle. Check the spray pattern. It should be a nice even cone.

Be careful. You can easily set things on fire, but if you use your brain, you'll be fine.

The injectors are held in by a single 6mm nut on the intake runners.

Good news for you, I hope. The injectors come right out. Piece of bratwurst. A lot of guys here send them to witchunter? for rebuild. You can test them on the bench if you want to go that route. Just pull the battery cable, pull the fuel lines. Undo the clamps (think its a 10mm socket) on each injector and yank them out. You will want new O-ring seals when you put them back in. My FLAPS carried them in stock.

Thanks, guys.

No, I won't throw any money at the car, but I did think of something and checked.

I had calibrated one of the two fuel pressure regulators, and sure as shit, I put the uncalibrated one in. They are matching numbers, but there is a ding on the one I calibrated, UNDER the bottom, and I forgot to check for it. I know that the dinged one is putting out 29.5psig. I went to a lot of trouble to check it last March, and had 2 of them side by side for cleaning and screwed up.

The one I put in the car was never calibrated, and who knows what it is doing?

So, I clamped the fuel lines and put the calibrated one back in. At the same time, I pulled the plugs and they were nearly (and black) wet with fuel. A sure sign of overpressure, I am told by some that know better than me.

New W7CC Boschs gapped correctly were installed tonight and tomorrow I will turn it over.

I am very careful with fuel, but I make dumbass mistakes with parts, for sure. After all that work to calibrate, I put the wrong 001 FPS in. I know I have the wrong CHTS in there (012) but this was just way too much pressure. I don't think I blew out the injectors, as I only put 100 miles on it, and only at the end when it was 100 out did it behave just a bit badly.

Well, the thing is put back together, and there was so much fuel passing through the engine that I will change the oil first thing tomorrow BEFORE turning it over to fill it with new 20-50W, or possibly just throw 30W in like I did 2 months ago.

I hope to be writing back that I caught my own stupidity.

And what does FLAPS mean? I think the last two words are Parts Store, but what are the first 3 words?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

John

Hey John,

Best to you as you sort through the issues. Take one step at a time and go through everything systematically and check it off the list.

The fuel pressure regulator is not really 'calibrated', its merely adjusted to the correct pressure while it installed into your system - your fuel pump, your injectors etc. A fuel pressure gauge is essential equipment for maintaining these cars.

I am not convinced that the correct TS2 is all that important. It may matter for warm up, but once its warm there should be no issues. If it is suspect, 'calibrate' a variable potentiometer to the 017 TS2 value and insert it into the system in lieu of the 012 TS2 and you will emulate the same effect. A parallel resistor could be rigged to make it a permanent solution.

Friendly Local Auto P___ S___

You might also run a continuity check on your FI harness, the circuits are listed in a couple of locations.

I have most of my sensors outputs listed in a book, Jeff. The only thing I know was that one pump regulator put out 29.5PSIG and the other was way too high.

Promptly put int the WAY TO HIGH one and the mileage went to 10 maybe.

The right FPR is in, but not running till I change the oil, screen gaskets, and look at the valve lash cold with a turning wheel.

New valve cover gaskets too. Would you run 30w or 20-50W?

And any treatments? ZNNF is something I hear, but I have not found a place for Brad Penn oils.

I think the right FPS at 29.5 is my trouble. And the 012 CHTS.

Let's talk on the phone tomorrow

MY cell, if you have time after 10 is 310-991-2200

Thanks!

John Lewis