So ive had my car going for about 3 weeks now. I had let it sit for about 2 years without starting it at all. When I first tried to get it started, it took a few times to get it going but when it did, it ran great. I ran a tank with fuel injection cleaner in it. Throughout the first week, there were times it wouldnt fire right up and i would have to crank it one or two more times before it would start but it had no problem once it fired up. So right at the end of the first tank of gas that I ran through it, it started running a little rough when accelerating. But I did get 310 miles on that tank of gas, took about 12 gallons to refill it which equates to about 25 mpg and I wasnt exactly taking it easy on it. So throughout this second tank its been running rough while accelerating. Also my gas mileage is terrible. I have about 1/4 of a tank left and sitting on about 175 miles and im taking it significantly easier on it this go round. I was thinking that maybe I could be having a problem with the seals on the fuel injectors so I took them off and noticed a couple of the small green orings had tears in them. I had a spare set of injectors that were cracked but had better looking seals on them so I swapped them out on the injectors. They didnt exactly look to be in perfect condition once I got them off of the injectors so I dont know if they did any good as far as sealing them. But anyway, the car ran the same. No improvement. I do have a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel filter and Im getting a reading of about 24psi while idling. I did notice a little faint white smoke and water coming out of the exhaust when the car is cold and idling. So I went ahead and ran a compression test and got good numbers. 190 psi across the board. When I pulled the plugs for the test, they were definitely on the white side. Anyone know what could be happening? BTW, I have no check engine light.
I just figured out that whoever had the car before me put a b&m fpr on it. I just adjusted it and got it up to about 40 psi with the vacuum line on the car. Im really doubting that this is whats causing my hesitation but im about to take it for a test drive.
Ok so i took it for about a 10 mile test drive and it seems to be running normal again. I did fail to mention that I had to change out the thermostat last week. It was stuck open so the car would never reach operating temperature. After the thermostat change is when the car began to hesitate/sputter. It would run normal up until the car warmed up… then it would sputter. I guess what im trying to figure out is if the fuel pressure was ideed the problem, why did it run normal on that fuel pressure before the thermostat change?
fouled o2 sensor could be throwing off your A/F ratio
I seem to recall these cars get about 25 to 30 MPG according to Emunds, so you aren’t too far off there… may need a vallve adjustment… White on the plugs could indicate a couple things… running too lean or coolant burning off in the cylinders.
what year is your car? if it is a 90-91 you won’t see a CEL pop for a fouled o2 sensor… the car will run like shit when it’s warm… Distributor and coil issues can also cause rough running issues.
Its a 92. It seems to be running fine now. Would low fuel pressure cause the engine to run lean or rich. Btw I checked the spark plugs earlier and they were not near as white
Low fuel pressure would cause a lean condition.
Not enough fuel = lean.
Too much fuel = rich.
Yea I know that but why did my gas mileage go to crap? Also why did it run fine with a low fuel pressure when the engine was cold?