myk

Hey guys, got a problem here that's strange to me:

I got gas for my '98 GT and as soon as I tried to start the car back up I got a loud sputtering/popping noise along with some smoke from the passenger's side of the car. I stopped cranking immediately and popped the hood.

With the smoke or whatever that appeared for a split second I'm thinking maybe a spark plug had come loose and the motor was venting fuel/air. However I checked and all spark plug wires are in place so I took that as the spark plugs not being loose either-I didn't have tools on me so I couldn't actually check to see if all plugs were tight. I looked around and noticed that there was a coolant leak, with some fluid around my t-stat housing and A LOT of coolant pooled up around the front passenger side fuel injector.

I'm no master 'tech but I've been working on my cars for a few years now-I've never heard of a car sputtering/smoking/popping/misfiring or whatever as it cranked. As it is, I don't know where to start looking for the problem.

My car is 100% stock, it has 95K miles on it, and there were no codes on the car and there were no driveability issues before I shut it down to get gas; everything started as soon as I tried to start it up again. I'm stumped here, and I don't know where to start. Any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance...

cliffyk

If you still have the all plastic stock intake manifold then the crossover has likely failed...

04orngegt

Sounds like a spark plug blowing out... i have blown two out on my crown victoria and same situation... if it sounds like a lawn mower good chance that's it.

myk

Ok I've been reading up on this intake manifold issue and the recalls and whatnot-wish I had known about that back in the day so I could've gotten it swapped out. Anyway are you saying that if the crossover is cracked then what's happening is that the air that would normally be going inside the cylinders is leaking out into the engine compartment?

I plan to check the plugs to see if they're seated properly. I'm guessing they are or else I would be missing a plug and wire, right?

Thanks for the help guys. This car is my "work horse" and I need her running...

cliffyk

You would have had to own the car in 2005/06 to take advantage of the recall, it expired 7 years after the original sale date.

If the crossover is cracked then the coolant that normally flows through the crossover will be leaking out all over the top of the engine.

Intake air would never "leak out" of the manifold, even if there was a hole the size of a half-dollar--there is always a vacuum in the manifold when running n/a, that will suck air in...

Not necessarily, check the plugs--you need a 1/4" or 3/8" drive torque wrench to do that properly.

myk

Ok, I changed the plugs about 5K miles ago and it's possible I went a little easy on the ratchet-I'm hoping it's that.

If the spark plugs ARE tight and secure, what could be causing this misfire/harley-like noise and the smoking/misting coming from the passenger side of the engine? Could the coolant-soaked injector have anything to do with this?

On another note, what's the intake that most people get when they replace thier OEM NPI intake?

MidNightRunner

I had a similar sounding problem and it was a cracked manifold. And another time I popped a coolant hose driving in 100+ degree weather. You said there was a good amount of coolant so you need to find the leak. Pop the hood fill it up with water and have a friend rev it a few times and watch for the coolant spraying out.

myk

You mean exhaust manifold, right? The leak is either the t-stat housing or somewhere else on the intake; I've been dealing with a slow leak for a while now and I thought it was just my sloppy t-stat change but I guess not.

A theory someone came up with was that the coolant that's pooled up on that front injector is causing it to malfunction? Is that a possibility?

MidNightRunner

I have run into problems with water pulling on the plugs after washing the engine, but it goes away after 30 min. Back to the coolant though it sounds like its being sprayed around causing the bit of smoke and the pulling. A soon as I reved it up while under the hood the leak was obvious so you need to try that.

MidNightRunner

Keep in mind that it might be a hose leak, not the manifold, causing the pooling giving you the sputtering problem.