Well, unfortunately, the new fuel pump, pulsator, and strainer didn't fix the issue either. Perhaps the car runs a tad bit smoother but not enough to make a difference. It definitely didn't affect the rich condition. I pulled the hoses off of the canister and didn't see any fuel come out so I'm guessing that's good. I haven't replaced the fuel filter yet but I suppose I'll do that next. I checked the oil and it looked okay. The viscosity was normal and wasn't watery. It hasn't dieseled any today, but I can still smell the strong fuel smell. It still runs really roughly upon a cold start too. If it helps anyone, it makes a rattling noise when you turn it off, or when it's idling really low when it's running poorly upon the cold start. Not sure what else this could be.

 

The rich condition from your FPR could have fried your o2's and plugged your cat.

 

Could this actually cause this kind of a rich condition? The past owner told me that the driver's side cat was bad. You can here it knocking when going down the road as a matter of fact. (Not rod knock, because the sound doesn't change when RPMs change). He told me that they hit it with a mallet one time, and it rattled like you said. I haven't gotten any CE light codes since I've owned the car, except for one related to the code 24 for the VSS, but I don't think that's related here. I think that is causing my speedometer doesn't work, and the previous owner put on a new TPS. I'm not totally sure if it's adjusted correctly or not. On the bright side, I've got some parts replaced that were probably going to go out in the next few years anyway.

 

The cat makes for a cleaner burn for the EPA without it will smell more fuel.

 

Your O2 sensor is before the cat so regardless of what the cat does, it checks the output on the driver side head and assumes the passenger side follows.

 

I'll test the O2 Sensor in the next few days, and see what it's doing. As for the catalytic converter, I'll replace it soon regardless just to get rid of the knocking sound.

 

Exactly how and why test the sensor? If it is old enough, just replace it. Sure you can use a propane torch to heat it, etc, etc but unless you can see what exactly it is doing, what is the point? I had an O2 sensor that was bad. It was a post cat one on another car. ECM said it read 0.48V and nothing wrong. I was fixing something that indicated a pre cat O2 sensor and didn't find anything wrong. Changed the post cat sensor and the code never came back. Voltage went up to 0.48V. Bottom line is if you cannot see it varying fast enough and what it should be, it is going to be difficult. So just toss it if it is old enough as a PM item.

 

 

Op, are you going to grab an aldl cable and a cooy of tunerpro rt? Just curious because if you are going to do that then you could hold off on messing with your o2. the program would ket u know what its doing and u would only need to mess with it if its messed up.

 

He has an 89. Most owners, especially those selling their car would skimp on maintenance or any replacements that don't jump out at them. I would replace the O2 sensor anyways. It isn't that expensive and probably is old and getting lazy.

 

I'll look into replacing the O2 sensor either tomorrow or Friday. The timing was still advanced today, and I adjusted it back down to 6 degrees TDC (EST plugged in though). At that setting, the burnt fuel smell is a bit stronger than when it's advanced so it's still rich. If I unplug the EST, adjust the timing, and then plug it back in, it advances itself to somewhere way past the marks on the harmonic balancer. I filled up the gas tank recently with 89 octane fuel. Before, it was running with 87 octane fuel. I haven't witnessed any dieseling yet but I can still smell the gas fumes. It does however make this odd rattling noise upon shutoff. Sometimes it does it and sometimes it doesn't. It seems to do it more in warm temperatures as far as I can tell. I took a video of it so everyone can get an idea of what I'm talking about: Not sure if this is related or not. Is this my flywheel making noise or does this sound like spark knock? Is this the knock I hear going down the road that I mentioned in a previous post? I only hear this when it's idling too low when the engine is cold, or when I cut the car off. Earlier today though, I could hear briefly while it was idling normally. I also tried tapping on both of the cats with a mallet and they sounded the same. I didn't hear any rattling or knocking when I hit either one. The noise I hear going down the road seems to be something different, and I only hear it when I'm driving probably 45 mph+.

I'll let everyone know if something changes.

Update: Just tested the resistance on all 8 injectors and they were all fine. However, I did notice that one of the injector plugs was missing the metal clip that keeps the connector in place. I'm wondering if that being loose was causing that injector not to fire sometimes. I'll investigate that more tomorrow.

 

Take a good look at your harmonic balancer to make sure it is not separating.

Just now listened to it not sure what that is from here but sounds like sheet.

 

AFAIK, you unplug the timing advance (tan wire), get 6 degrees and then plug it back in. You should get a Code 42 which your scanner can clear. That is how you get timing

If that is how you feel, go for it. PLEASE DO NOT BUTT CRIMP. SOLDER. http://www.autozone.com/fuel-deliver...ring-connector

 

That's what it is supposed to do. The ECM sets the timing to 20°, which is at about 12:00 on the harmonic balancer. On my car stuff is in the way and I can't see the timing mark when it's at 20°.

 

Thanks for clarifying this for me. I'll make sure to set that propperly later today. The injector connector didn't seem to be loose enough to change the way the car ran, but it's way too loose as it is without the clip so I'll replace it anyway for good measure. If I have time today, I'll swing by the auto parts store and get that and the O2 sensor.

 

id check engine mounts. and pull inspection cover to check flywheel bolts to tc and to crankshaft if needed. exhaust flange off the manifold. banging exhaust.

 

Good deal. I'll check on the flywheel and exhaust flange when I get home later. I've been driving the car a lot today. I've confirmed that the dieseling is still present, and that it's definitely heat related. When it was colder this morning when I first started it up, (about 46 degrees Fahrenheit), It didn't diesel at all. As a matter of fact, the rattling that you can here in that video I posted wasn't there either. I know for a fact that on other colder days, it didn't make the rattling noise, or perform any dieseling when it was colder. On warmer days like today has been, is when it diesels on me. Seems to me like the rattling noise upon shutoff occurs when it's not too hot to cause dieseling, but not too cold to make it shutoff normally. Any new ideas? I'm thinking we're starting to narrow it down a little more at least...

 

Get the o2 on yet?

 

I have purchased a new O2 sensor and will replace it tonight if I can

 

Go to Oriely's and for a $20 deposit you can get the o2 socket set use the short one.