1989 Town Car HO Conversion running rich

[OVERKILL]

Well, I put all new injectors in it today, and ran it. It ran a LOT better. I still need to work on setting the idle. I set it when I first fired it up, but there was some combustion chamber cleaner in the upper intake (I was trying to clean out some of the crap left over from when the EGR spacer was leaking) so I think that effected my results. Its too late to try now (neighbours will complain) so I'll keep you updated on my progress tomorrow.

FUN STUFF!

-Chris

[Dave84]

hey overkill, i notice you live in ontario as well, im from london ontario,,

[OVERKILL]

OK, update on the insanity with my car.

So, new injectors seem to be working well.

If I plug the ACT in, the car surges. It doesn't stall, but its undrivable.

With the ACT unplugged, the car is "soft" off the line, IE, throttle response is a bit lack-luster and of course the "Check Engine" light is on.

With the ACT unplugged, the car will idle smoothly with the IAC unplugged, so I can set the idle.

If i try to do that with the ACT plugged in, it surges and cannot be done.

Its not missing anymore (injectors fixed that) but this last aggravation is quite irritating.

I have tried putting the ACT on the surface of the intake, to emulate the heat it might experience in the runner, this had no effect.

With the ACT plugged in, the car runs rediculously rich, but with it unplugged, its pretty much" normal".

This is quite baffling. The only sensor I haven't checked at this point are the O2's, which I may do this afternoon when I have some time, though how the ACT surging could possibly be caused by the O2's, well, it just doesn't make sense to me. I may try to find a bad ground or something.

I was thinking about trying my old Mustang ECM for shits and grins....................

This is VERY frustrating, as, logic would dictate, the car SHOULD be running like a top ATM.

Its pulling wicked vacuum, almost 19lbs at idle and its steady (with the ACT unplugged).

I have tried two different MAP sensors, and that made no difference.

I may try pulling codes again later, though I know its simply going to bitch about the ACT being unplugged.

Maybe I'll luck out and found I melted an O2 or something

[OVERKILL]

hey overkill, i notice you live in ontario as well, im from london ontario,,

Nice! A buddy of mine grew up in Glencoe and was up until last year, living in Strathroy. God that area is SO FLAT, you could put a drag strip anywhere

[turbo2256b]

The ACT sensor is still my guess. It sends back a signal based on temp. I dont know if the one in the manifold is the same as the one in the air box. I do know the temp erature in the air box is much lower than in the intake. If the ECM was calibrated for it in the manifold thats were it needs to be. If calibrated in the air box it should be there . The Mustangs you mention that had there s relocated might have worked well because they were modified to the point they needed extra fuel and wass a way to do it with out changeing injectors ECM and related componets. Some have changed the thermostat with similar results. Your like in perminate choke mode. I remember relocating the ACT sensors cant remember what year it started. Jusst remember redesigning air boxes to accept them. Reason it was some sort of improvement sensing actual air temperature with out engine componet temps ssuch as intake metal teems bleeding in to the calibration. To put it another way the air temp in the intake might realy be guessing 100 degrees the intake metal temp might be to hot to touch for long or on initial start freezing such as your 2* day you mentioned. You can see that would be a troublesome issue to deal with calibratiing an engine ad to that meeting tight emission standards. Relocating to the air box the air temp would more consistant due to the more stable temp.

[OVERKILL]

The ACT sensor is still my guess. It sends back a signal based on temp. I dont know if the one in the manifold is the same as the one in the air box. I do know the temp erature in the air box is much lower than in the intake. If the ECM was calibrated for it in the manifold thats were it needs to be. If calibrated in the air box it should be there . The Mustangs you mention that had there s relocated might have worked well because they were modified to the point they needed extra fuel and wass a way to do it with out changeing injectors ECM and related componets. Some have changed the thermostat with similar results. Your like in perminate choke mode. I remember relocating the ACT sensors cant remember what year it started. Jusst remember redesigning air boxes to accept them. Reason it was some sort of improvement sensing actual air temperature with out engine componet temps ssuch as intake metal teems bleeding in to the calibration. To put it another way the air temp in the intake might realy be guessing 100 degrees the intake metal temp might be to hot to touch for long or on initial start freezing such as your 2* day you mentioned. You can see that would be a troublesome issue to deal with calibratiing an engine ad to that meeting tight emission standards. Relocating to the air box the air temp would more consistant due to the more stable temp.

Yes, except I put the sensor right in the valley beside the injector, where the air is hot, and it still acts up. Now of course, I could hold a lighter up to it and see if that does anything...........

[turbo2256b]

A pan of boiling water might be a better idea

[OVERKILL]

A pan of boiling water might be a better idea

That's actually a very smart idea............... I'm going to try that RIGHT NOW, BRB.

-Chris

[Enigma]

Is it a new sensor.??? The odds of that sensor going bad is slim, but it is a mechanical component. It will go bad at some point.

[OVERKILL]

Is it a new sensor.??? The odds of that sensor going bad is slim, but it is a mechanical component. It will go bad at some point.

The ACT? Yeah, its new, and I've tried another one too, but to no avail.


The water made the car act a little different, but didn't help the surging.......


Now, I pulled out one of the O2's, and it was black, so I stuck one of the original ones in there, and it seemed to help a bit. I'll try changing out the other side maybe later, driving with the ACT sitting on the manifold and the one old O2 and see how it goes.........

[turbo2256b]

Have you unplugged the battery and turned on the lights for a bit. This resets the base programing. The program then offsets for production tollerances in manufacturing of sensors.

I also had trouble with surging at one point in the blue tudor. Part of the issue could be the idle air bypass also there are different ones they have different orfice sizes in them. Some are just dirty and need cleaned. I dont remember what I ended up using but do remember building one out of three of them and after that and some screwing around with the idle screw it finialy settled down.

[OVERKILL]

Have you unplugged the battery and turned on the lights for a bit. This resets the base programing. The program then offsets for production tollerances in manufacturing of sensors.

I also had trouble with surging at one point in the blue tudor. Part of the issue could be the idle air bypass also there are different ones they have different orfice sizes in them. Some are just dirty and need cleaned. I dont remember what I ended up using but do remember building one out of three of them and after that and some screwing around with the idle screw it finialy settled down.

Well, I changed out one O2 and it made a difference, so, I'm changing them both out for a couple of new ones I have kicking around tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

I've reset the ECM numerous times, pretty much anytime I make a drastic change, IE, a sensor swap.

I still think I may have nuked the O2's when the timing was retarded..........

[OVERKILL]

OK, here are some pics of the setup:


The car is filthy, BUT, as you can probably tell from the hood, the paint is almost flawless, I guess that's what happens when its garage stored for its entire life



This is a shot of my 3G alternator conversion, as well as my Mark VIII Electric fan conversion:



And a front shot, showing the Explorer intake and Mustang valve covers:



And a side profile of the Explorer intake:




I am still working on getting a Lightning EGR spacer (thanks to N A on here! ) so I can use the stock HO TB, as the one that is on there right now is the stock 50mm TC unit, and is definitely holding back the engine some.

[gadget73]

Wow, a box without peeling clearcoat. What are you using for a fan and controller, a Mark VIII fan and what controller?

You also have your vacuum hoses swapped. The green one is supposed to go to the EGR, red goes to vacuum source. Looks like they were switched at the connector though so I guess it doesn't really matter.

Two nuts on the AC compressor bracket where it sits on the water pump studs are missing too, and the intake to AC compressor brace is gone.

No, I'm not trying to be an overly anal pain in the ass, I'm just bored and looking too closely at things.

[OVERKILL]

Those things are off on purpose And yes, I've reversed the vacuum lines because they both broke and there was only enough line to run them the way you see them, and they've been redirected to where they are supposed to be

I've held off installing the rest of the bracket and stuff because the A/C compressor is seizing, and I've been considering removing it entirely..........So I simply never put it back on.

I'm using a Flexalite controller run through a relay for the fan.