At this point I think my only recourse is to just buy 2 new o2 sensors, get those used ones out of there and buy a new set of rover injectors. I', also going to looking into a new MAF. After those 3 things what else could possibly be left? As usual, fixing the rover comes down to tossing parts at it until it runs.

 

Did all of this start before or after you installed the Ford fuel injectors?

 

it started BEFORE.. and just after he added headers.

Did you check the coolant temperature switch? I get so lost in this thread. If not Ill get the ohms reading off of mine and tell you what it should be. With a bad switch the engine thinks the coolant is -40*

 

i did a quick search on headers and running rich and found ALOT of results..

And since it only happened after you got a whole new exhaust...

EDIT, Actually im finding alot of posts about new exhausts and running rich..

ONE MORE THING TO CONSIDER. Somethings not telling your injectors to close. They could all be stuck open because of a bad ground

 

If all of that turns out to be caused by a bad ground, they would be the worst horror story that I have personally heard of so far, but i does sound plausible. Do you have any idea of the exact ground involved?

 

A ground problem..would suck....my rule of thumb is always always revert back from the last mod you did if it caused a problem...but you got waaaaaaaay too much in it now to do that...

 

Not sure of the ground involved but I know its happened. And it's actually not a bad ground but they say it's "grounded all the time"

 

I am not familar with that sensor, but it may acquire it's ground via it's mounting, so it could be a corroded or degraded condition where it physically installs. Maybe someone with some intimate knowledge could shed some light on the subject.

Like I said earlier, the reported response is way out of wack from what it should e. Did anyone come up with the correct resistance reading at cold vs hot?

From what I recall, he never had it run right the whole time he has had it. Is this the a fixture at the Walmart parking lot?

 

A bit off topic - but I've had experience with this. On my RX7, only 2 of my 4 injectors would fire. I could wire the non working 2 with the working 2 and it would run, soon as I removed the "jerry-rig" it would stop running and pulse like crazy.

New ECU, New injectors, lots of beer, dent in door, blah blah blah...

Out of no-where I decided to add another ground to my relocated battery in the trunk. I don't remember why, but it obviously wasn't in hopes of fixing the injectors.

Damn POS started and ran forever after that. Bad ground. I was SO mad.

A bad ground can really wreak havoc. I learned.

 

Easiest thing is to just recap at this point from the beginning, as a lot's been done and tried to get to this point.

1. Bought the truck, abandoned at walmart for about 8 months before I got it.

2. On picking up the truck, battery and fuel tank where empty. Pouring 5 gallons in and put new battery in. It started right up and I drove it home, about 20 miles.

3. On the way home it started to over heat. Pulled over and topped off the coolant, it was boiling.

4. Replaced the thermostat and the pressure cap. Flushed the coolant system. refilled it. REplaced the oil with fresh.

5. Large crack was discovered in the passenger header. Muffler was rotted out. Had a set of new headers here, so I bolted them on. (Putting the original 02 sensors in them. The next step required me to drive the truck back into town a couple times for a total of about 50 miles or so... added a pair of magnaflow cats, flowmaster 40. and the new pipe from headers back.
The drive back and forth where with the rear o2 disconcerted. (since there was no pipe yet, just the open headers. Front o2 where in. Truck ran ok. just of course loud as hell (you can see this in the video of it running with the open headers. The trucked coded an error about the cats on the drive in.
On the drive home for the muffler shop the first fouling out of the plugs happened. But when I got the truck home I noticed a substantial coolant lean at the rear of the engine. (Valley Pan gasket) Also the valve cover gaskets where pouring oil out the sides.

6. Replaced the Valley Pan gasket and the valve cover gaskets. Taking my time to clean out all the gunk etc I could. There was enough under each valve cover to literally fill a cup. Scrubbed it all down with kerosene, got it clean and put it all back together.

7. Truck ran rich at this point, but I figured it was due to the kerosene from cleaning it. But it didn't clear up.

8. Replaced the plugs and the wires. Champion coppers, mangacore 8mm.

9. Idle was way off, lopping the engine down to 100-200 rpms. Removed the IACV and the TPS and cleaned them and made again sure that the ports etc where clean. Again, went though all the vacuum lines and replaced all of them with new. Clean the MAF with MAF cleaner.

10. No joy. Fouled out the plugs. Replaced them. dicked with a few more things that made no difference, fouling out the plugs 3 more times, replacing them each time.

11. Wife gets into truck and leaves key on. had a full tank of gas. I notice this a week later when I go out to get it and work on it, dead battery from being left on. Charge up the battery and there is only 1/2 tank of gas!

12. Plugs fouled, oil full of gas. change both. leaning toward a bad injector/2 due to the loss of half a tank of fuel from it sitting with the power on...

13. Pull the injectors and pick up a set of gen 3 ford 19# and install them. Makes no difference. Still rich. still fouling plugs.

all this time, the only code the truck will toss is P1316

14. Swap the O2 sensors from rear to front. Hot cleaning them, with a torch to remove all the over-fueling buildup. No change.

15. Finally, able to limp it to Rover mechanic who works on it for 6 hours. Finds and replaces a stuck IACV (The one I had cleaned) It was causing an internal vacuum leak. Compression check the engine, fine. Did a leak down test. fine, checked fluids and again fine. No idea what computer he had it hooked up to but it was not the testbook, which he has. He also tosses on a new (used) coolant temp sensor. At this point he got the truck so it will actually run more than 3-4 miles without fouling the plugs, but still very rich. He also plugs a drives side knock sensor back into the harnes, and leaves it hanging over the MAF. (I had removed the original when putting on the headers.) Being told it was not needed. He noted that the valves etc all tested fine. and other than this rich running issue and the head gaskets leaking oil it was in great shape... Total cost of service, 200 plus another 50 for a hand full of parts , side markers I picked from one of his wreaks. In his testing he goes though 3 sets of plugs. He even tried a different ECU.

16. have to stop him working on it due to the failure of my daily driver. So I pick it up and drive it home and hour.

17. 3 days later, it fouls the plugs. Problem gets worse, and it starts to foul the plugs again every 4-5 miles. I literally have to pull the plugs from the truck and clean them every 5 miles to stay running. But, it's my only almost running car, so I have no choice. I had ordered and new coolant temp sensor so I went ahead and installed it. No change.

18. Did a fuel pressure check, no pressure after sitting overnight, 30+ when starting and zero when I turn it off. Also discover a health fuel leak in one of the fuel lines, leaks only when tank filled.

19. Continue to troubleshoot it, and fine that the pcv is totally plugged. Clean it and have it hooked back up less the coolant separator part.


20. Dropped off the original injectors to be pop tested. just to see if there is actually anything wrong with them. Will replace them if they test ok, or get a new set.

Notes, that since I got it back from the mechanic , and put 3 tanks of gas though it, no codes. Until yesterday, when it started to foul the plugs out like crazy again and finally tossed a code... guess which... p1316...

So, that's where I am. Wondering if I could just remove all the 02 sensors and let the truck error, Maybe it would actually run better... really at this point at a loss.

Can't find 02 sensors for less than 120 buck each. I don't trust my soldering skills enough to buy the generic ones that come without a plug. and 240 bucks seems like a pretty expensive test.