brentloftis

I have a 1988 5.0 convertible I am working to build back up. The car was sitting for about 4 years and of course needed work. I have since changed the plugs, wires, cap & rotor, oil, filter, belt, vacuum hose's, battery & cables, starter, fuel filter, fuel pump,and alternator. I dropped the fuel tank and cleaned it and purged the lines.
A few weeks ago I started it up and all seemed fine everything running, nice rumble from the rusted mufflers and no cat and semi smooth idle. I have moved on and completed the interior, then onto sanding the body.While sandinga guy drove by, stopped, made a low ball offer, and wanted to hear the engine beforenegotiating.So I fired it up and the idle isroughand asemi strong fuel odor and hint of blue gray smoke out the exhaust. Needless to say the guy left to think it over but I am still puzzled.

One thing I have found is that the temperature gauge in the car does not seem to be working, so I am wondering if the ECU is detecting that it is a cold start and over doing the gas and adjusting the timing or could valve seals / piston ringsjust give out like that.

Also any other suggestions more than welcome, will take any help I can getbefore tearingapart the engine.

*EDIT* I did pull the plugs after letting it run for a while; strong fuel smell on them but otherwise look fine.

aode08

Coolant Temperature Sensor and Coolant Temperature Sending Unit is located on the intake manifold, when changing the wires, you may of knocked the wire off of it.

Inspect both of them, and this

http://info.rockauto.com/getimage/ge...tex/1T1116.jpg

mjr46

before getting slap happy with parts run a koeo/koer/cylinder balance test to see if the ecm detects any probs

brentloftis

aode08,
I checked the connections yesterday and they are secure and not unplugged. Not sure how or why 1 let alone both would fail at the same time but you know how gremlins work. The only reason I am guessing this as a issue is the gas smell in the exhaust and on all the plugs.... my brothers Saturn was soaking the plugs with gas when his sensor failed so I thought it would be worth a shot.

mjr46,
Thank you for the suggestion I will give it a try this weekend; with the noise, smell, and smoke letting it run more than a couple minutes will **** the neighbors off since I get off work late. Curious though if it was a dead cylinder would all the plugs has the gas smell?

mjr46

^^^^^ not really but if it's running really rich the ecm should pick up on it through the o/2 sensors and by running a koeo/koer test it'll give you a direction to start hopefully...also a a fuel pressure test would be a good idea to see if the regulator is any good......if it has a ruptured diaprahm you can pull the vaccum line to it and generally it'll be wet with gas inside

brentloftis

Hmmm, got me thinking about the FPR now, I pulled the vacuum hose off to see if there was any leaks but did not really test the fuel pressure. Now thinking about the EGR as well...... I will add these to my list for this weekend.

Have you guys ever used those stop leak Oil additives? I seen a banner add on the right of the screen and just curious if they work as in reconditioning the seals or are just a thick goopy mess to "clog" leaks.

brentloftis

Update:

I replaced both sensors and the temp gauge is working again but did not solve the main issue. I checked the fuel pressure and it is 35 and jumps to 40 when vacuum is removed from the FPRso that seems good. I tried the koeo/koer test but my MIL\CEL light never came on and I cant find my test light to get the code outputs like that. I think the MIL\CEL bulb maybe bad becauseit does not light up ever.

On a side note, with the jumper attached when the idleclimbed it did sound a lot better but was not able to read what it may have reported.

brentloftis

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, still getting wierd idle and gas smell and smoke from exhaust. My next steps at this point is to pull off the intake and have the injectors checked to make sure none are froze.... not looking forward to it so please suggest anything!!!!

lj8364

I had a similar issue and solved it with new coil/cap/rotor/ If you do end up pulling your injectors you may want to consider replacing them with a set of Ford Design 3, 19 lb fuel injectors. These are newer technology injectors These will fit 86-2000 Ford Mustang 5.0 5.8 4.6, F150's, F250's with the 5.0 or 4.6 engine. I did this to my car and WOW the difference. they will provide a more even flow and a better mix of fuel than the cone spraying stock injectors and better gas milage and Fuel atomization. Great upgrade especially if you are going to have it apart anyway. It really was not that bad of a job.. can be done in an afternoon assuming nothing else needs replaced in the process. I did my valve covers while I was at it as well!!

brentloftis

I have new cap and rotor, plus wires and plugs, but did not change the coil because the car is running, just like **** though. I can stop by the parts store on the way home and pick up a coil if you guys think it will help.... just like the previous guy said I don't really want to get slap happy into the part swapping side of trouble shooting.

Also where could I get the Ford Design 3, 19 lb fuel injectors, I checked 50resto but did not see them, is this a dealer order?