WTF did I do?

[Andrew Homan]

95 D-1

I decided to change out all my coolant hoses and while doing that replace the V/C gaskets and the intake manifold gasket. (they were leaking) . So I do just that. Everything seems to be going well and I just got done putting it back together. I fire it up and it doesn't seem to want to idle. It also has a miss and a backfire before it dies. If I give it some throttle it runs but seems to have a miss. Let off the gas it tries to idle then dies.

I noticed the plug wires were not in the best shape. A few were cracked pretty bad. Do you guys think a couple of wire finally took a crap when I moved them out of the way. I'll check them tomarrow. Also no check engine light. Just won't idle. Ran good before.

I put dialectric grease on all the electrical connectors including the injectors. Could this have some affect? I don't think it would but I don't know.

Teach me for trying to fix up the rover.

Thanks, Andy

 

[agbuckle98]

change your plug wires out if they are cracked. New plugs too while you're doing it. Did you have the wires off while doing your work? If so did you get them all back in the right order?

 

[Andrew Homan]

Left the wires connnected at the cap. Took them off at the plugs.

 

[Andrew Homan]

It would seem my problem is in the the dist. I changed the wires, no fix! I then swapped the cap and rotor for good measure only to find the shaft the rotor turns on turns independant of the engine. You can turn it a 1/4 turn or better before it catches any thing. Makes sense cause the engine ran like the dist was in backwards or off several teeth. Pulled the dist out and will look into it tonight.

Anyone had this happen. Not sure why it did this now. I didn't touch the dist on all these recent repairs. Maybe its time to go I guess

:seeya:

 

[Andrew Homan]

Ok I'm at my wits end. Dist is OK. Checked all spark plug wires. And replaced with good ones. Triple checked the firing order and wire locations. Changed cap and rotor for grins. Still won't idle and has a back fire/miss to it. To keep it running I have to give it throttle and it still is a dog with a miss to it.:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

My question is this did I "F" up some of the injectors when I cleaned/degreased the intake. I left them in the manifold with the fuel rail connected. I also triple checked all electrical connections.

PT, anybody I need advise.

 

[p m]

...to find the shaft the rotor turns on turns independant of the engine. You can turn it a 1/4 turn or better before it catches any thing.

I guess it's how it should be - your mechanical and vacuum advance allows for rotor to be turned by hand to some degree.

 

[Andrew Homan]

I guess it's how it should be - your mechanical and vacuum advance allows for rotor to be turned by hand to some degree.

Yes my bad! Dist is fine. It sucks that a simple job that seemed to go smooth backfired (no pun intended) I can't think of what I did. It has to be related to the job though. It ran fine before. This was all "preventative" new hoses and some new gaskets.

 

[zero&otis]

Remove all the dielectric grease from all the electrical connections, plug wire too if you used it there.

 

[Andrew Homan]

Didn't use it on the plug wires but did on the injector electrical connectors and other connection. Will this cause problems? I thought (which is probably the first mistake I made) that it would help keep water out. I'll pull all the connectors tomarrow and clean them out with electrical connector cleaner.

 

[pippie762]

Did you check where the fuel line enters the fuel rail, I did the same thing last summer. In the process of removing the manifold / gasket you may have kinked the fuel line and you can't tell because the kink is under the insulation. Your local autozone type place has fuel pressue test gauges that will tell you if your getting the correct pressure and then you can go from there. (it can't hurt)

 

[Andrew Homan]

I'll double check that too. Thanks

 

[_carson_]

I'm having almost the exact same symptoms with my 95. Is your display throwing any codes? Have you checked for any vacuum leaks in your hoses?

 

[Andrew Homan]

I'm having almost the exact same symptoms with my 95. Is your display throwing any codes? Have you checked for any vacuum leaks in your hoses?

No codes and can't find any leaks at the vacuum hoses either.

 

[RichardS]

A couple of suggestions:

Listen to each injector to see if they sound the same. Maybe you cracked a wire or connector on one. Use a mechanics stethoscope, or just a long screwdriver held to your ear and to each injector. They should all sound about the same in terms of how loud and how frequently they click.

Double check that you did not introduce intake leaks. You can use a hand held propane torch too introduce a little bit of propane in areas you suspect leaks. If there is a leak the propane should be sucked in and cause the engine to pick up some revs. I've heard of guys using carb cleaner or other such flammable stuff to do the same.

I do not think the dielectric grease should be causing you trouble, I've used it on lots of stuff on many vehicles and have never had a problem with it. The only scenario I can think of where it would hurt would be if you had a loose/broken connector that was arcing before an now cannot arc due to the grease.