Imma "Gross Polluter"

[So Cal Mark]

I have a Colortune and it's useful

[blakef]

I still haven't had much time to fuss with the mixture since I last reported... Hoping to work on it this weekend, so hopefully I'll have more to report next week. The color tune was fun to use, it was nice to be able to look into all 4 cylinders and see basically the same things happening, helps me to rule out a problem from an individual cylinder. I haven't really been able to get it to show blue like they say it should and adjustment of the idle mixture screw seems to have no affect on anything visual through the colortune or for that matter the voltage from the O2 sensor. It seems intent on sticking around orange with a hint of blue around the edges then stumbling and getting bright orange for a moment then back... Maybe this is how it should look in an FI system, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure if could really recommend it as a tool yet as I'm pretty new to this, but it's a fun gadget.

I also discovered I need to replace my distributor oil seal, but it doesn't seem likely that's the problem. My parts for that are supposed to get in tomorrow, going to replace all the bearings, seals, orings, cap and rotor, will try to reuse the pick up and vacuum advance. After that I'm going to recheck the fuel pressure regulator and the ecu's temp sensor. Then maybe I'll have some luck with the mixture... Either way I'll probably try getting it smogged again next week just to see if anything has improved, it certainly sounds and runs a little better than when I started working on it. Hopefully I will have more to report soon!

EDIT: Forget to mention with the gauge: It does drop to 0 as if I had turned the key off, but all of the other gauges seem to be working perfectly. I've looked at the connection on the engine... I think it's the forward sensor on the head between plugs 1 and 2, and it looks okay... I zapped it with some contact cleaner just to be sure, but it doesn't seem to have changed anything.

[blakef]

Well, unfortunately I didn't get around to fussing with the mixture this weekend. I swapped the timing belt, v-belt and put on a new water pump... but it took me a whole day to get the heater tube to waterpump sealed properly, I think the tube is slightly bent so it doesn't seat well.I also rebuilt the distributor and that seems to have smoothed out the idle a bit.

Unfortunately I'm now having problems with the connectors for injector 3 and my tps sensor making only intermittent connections. Does anyone know where I can buy fresh connectors(I can find the injector ones, but not the 3 pronged version for the tps???)... or maybe just a whole new FI harness as most of the connectors appear to be on their last legs.

In additional slightly irritating news I seem to have sprung an oil leak on the exhaust camshaft housing... I can't tell if it's top or bottom. I was suspect of the distributor gasket at first since I just replaced that... but I'm doubtful upon further inspection. I'll take a more careful look to confirm the location this week, is changing that gasket something that can be done in an afternoon? Do I have to drain the oil? Ugh!

At least I'm at a point where I can start fussing with the mixture again this week... Although I doubt emissions people will pass me with a gnarly oil leak. Mark do you know what color a FI system will appear through the colortune when the mixture is correct? entirely blue as suggested on the colortune packaging?

I'm hoping now that the idle is a little more stable this will be easier.

[So Cal Mark]

sorry but I've played with the colortune on carbed engines. I have a 5 gas analyzer I use on the FI engines, and since they don't have poor intake distribution like the carb motors I haven't had a need for the colortune

[blakef]

So I noticed something strange messing around with the car last night. I mentioned before I was missing at idle occasionally... and I still am (when I say missing I mean I can feel the car rock just once and there is a pause in the exhaust note, I assume that is a miss.) However, I am missing only when running on 4 cylinders? Whenever I start pulling plugs the idle gets rough running on 3 obviously, but the idle speed smooths out and the exhaust note stays steady with no pausing. Does anyone have any idea what could cause this?

The strangest part is the engine runs great without missing (that I can notice anyway), once I get to about 2k rpm and above.

I thought maybe it could be the coil, but the guy at pep boys let me borrow a different one and the symptoms were the same.

Seems like it might be a fuel delivery issue? I'll recheck fuel pressure, but I checked it awhile ago and it was good. I'm not sure about the fuel pressure regulator's status, but the diaphragm is not leaking. Are there other ways it can fail?

[SLOSpider]

Could just be some wear on the cap, rotor, plugs, timing a bit off, injectors not spraying good. Unless the injectors are new Id start with a bottle of techron ran a couple of times through the fuel tank. Also you want to check for any vacuum leaks that could cause a bit of a lean mis fire.

[blakef]

Okay I got retested and the new results look better, I even passed at 25mph but failed at 15 for NO. I'm no longer a gross polluter, just a normal one . The new results are as follows, it appears to be a bit lean perhaps:
...........RPM.........%CO2.... %O2...................HC(PPM)........................CO(%)........................NO(PPM)
Test......MEAS.......MEAS.....MEAS..........MAX....AVE...MEAS......MAX.....AVE......MEAS........MAX......AVE...MEAS..RESU
15mph...2315........13.7......1.0............152......36......78........1.05....0.14......0.55........1191......419....1511..FAIL
25mph...2522........14.5......0.5............123......27......27........0.85....0.13......0.26........1021......350....972...PASS

Recap of maintenance completed:

• Distributor rebuilt
  
  All vacuum hoses replaced
  
  AAV cleaned and appears functional
  
  timing belt and bearing replaced
  
  coolant flushed, water pump replaced
  
  timing reset
  
  fuel filter replaced
  
  injectors removed and reverse flushed with 20 psi IPA, also allowed to sit and ultrasonic cleaner IPA bath for several hours
  
  exhaust midpipe was rusted through and has been replaced
  
  catalytic converter cleaned overnight in laundry detergent (not sure if this actually helps but I read about it online and figured what the hell since it was off for the midpipe replacement anyway.
  
  new plugs (NGK)
  
  new plug wires
  
  new cap and rotor
  
  TPS reset
  
  Fuel rail pressure tested at idle~ 30 psi
  
  compression tested 120psi on the dot in all 4 cylinders
  
  Temp gauge in coolant t tested good at ECU while cold and warm
  
  O2 sensor replaced
  
  Attempted reset of mixture using digital multimeter with oxygen sensor. This came with it's own set of issues since my AFM appears to have been badly molested by the PO or a mechanic. When I received it the adjustment screw on the rotating assembly (not the idle adjustment screw) had been moved almost completely to maximum richness. I suspect this was to compensate for the large vacuum leak in the crankcase breather so that the car would still run. I believe the car is now functioning in 'closed loop' at all engine speeds although I'm sure my calibration was somewhat crude.

Suggestions welcomed.
Options I am considering:

• See if I can sneak by with a slightly retarded timing
  
  plug the vacuum advance
  
  retackle the AFM myself
  
  Swap for a remanufactured AFM or have it recalibrated professionally by a mechanic (last resort, I really enjoy the satisfaction of doing things myself)

I'd also like to say thanks again to everyone on this site, as someone with absolutely no prior mechanical experience none of my tinkering would have been possible without the wealth of knowledge here, and I've had a great time tinkering and researching!

[So Cal Mark]

you're on the right track. You are allowed +- 3 degrees from stock on the timing, so set it at 7btdc instead of 10. Plugging the vacuum advance will help a lot, if it's working. I'd try to get the CO at about .6- .7%
Make sure the tech does a good warmup to get the catalyst hot before he runs the test. Also, make sure there aren't ANY exhaust leaks on the inlet side of the catalyst. Even a tiny leak can cause high Nox numbers

[profcucchi]

Oh man... when I see posts like the last two, I wonder what I'm reading.

I appreciate a good mechanic that can do this for me. For a reasonable price!