still flooding and not sure why

[LYDS]

My 94 is still flooding and not sure why, we replaced all the fuel injectors and O rings and the car is still flooding when starting. I can start the car with the gas pedal all the way down or with the fuel pump fuse out but otherwise it will not start. Once it is started it runs very nice and smooth. Please provide any insight as to what this can be????


Thanks Lyds

[Lokim]

Check the coolant temp sensor.

[goody90q45]

It sounds like you may still have a leaker. Tee in past the fuel filter and run a fuel pressure check. The pressure should hold steady after the engine is turned off. If the pressure drops fast you'll need to figure out which cylinder it is next.

Unless you have a bad head gasket and are losing coolant, white smoke out the tailpipe means loads of vaporized but unburnt fuel.

[LYDS]

I have replaced the coolant temp sensor already.

The white smoke smelt like gas but it didnt start smoking until after I test drove it for 10-15 minutes and pulled back in the drive way. My dad said he heard a thumping noise before the smoke started. I will have to check the fuel pressure and will let you know.

As you can tell my dad is my mechanic and I am the daughter in training, I picked a good car to start learning how to work on cars thats for sure.

Thanks as always for any and all help given.

[RustyBucket]

+1 on Goody's suggestion of checking the fuel pressure.

Have you checked your MAF sensor? A bad MAF sensor can give you hard strarting problems and cause it to run rich. My '94 had that issue until I cleaned my MAF sensor. I remember once seeing black deposits on the snow behind my car where it was warming up because of it running too rich.

[LYDS]

I have already replaced the MAF and also checked and confirmed my fuel pressure is good.

Could it be possible there maybe a computer problem and giving the wrong signals

[RustyBucket]

Have you tested the replacement MAF according to the Factory Service Manual? When the car is ldling try to wiggle the MAF connector around a bit. If the idle changes when you do this, then your MAF connector is not making good electrical contact.

There are steps in there to test what the voltage at the MAF pins both at idle and when the engine is off. If you don't have the manual already, you can find it on NICO. Even if the MAF was replaced, it's possible it could be defective or the connector is loose.

[LYDS]

That I have not done, but will surely test and will let you know.

[jj702s1]

I had that similar problem as well. First the car would start then die out and would not start back up unless I pressed the gas pedal to the floor, resulting in a big cloud of white-ish smoke, then it would run fine. That told me that there was still fuel left in the combustion chamber. Pressing the gas pedal to the floor on fuel injected cars while truning over usually stops the injectors from spraying more fuel so the left over fuel inside the cylinder could burn off while attempting to start. Well now it was time to trouble shoot why. I did all the common tests, as instructed from this website. MAF, test the ohms on the injectors, fuel pressure, vacuum pressure. And it wasn't until I did the vacuum pressure test from the vacuum hose off the fuel regulator where I found my problem. I had good vacuum pressure but there was fuel in the vacuum hose, which led me to believe that the diaphram in the regulator was bad resulting in fuel being sucked into my intake manifold. Went to the junkyard and picked one up for 6 bucks. And that fixed my problem. No more starting issues and no cloud of smoke, hence no more flooding. So don't rule that out also. Just thought I'd share my experience with you and I hope you figure it out. There is a lot of information on this website and there is a good chance someone has had the same or similar problem with a solution, so good luck.

[LYDS]

OMG, thank you so much. I appreciate you sharing and I am so glad that someone else knows the frustration and knows exacltly what I am talking about. I will check on this today.

Thanks again, I will keep you updated.

[maxnix]

I have ... confirmed my fuel pressure is good.

Care to quantify that at WOT and idle?

[LYDS]

My dad is my mechanic and I am learning and helping at the same time. I will check wtih him and let you know.

[LYDS]

We replaced the fuel regulator and O ring and the car is worse. The car is still flooding and blowing more white smoke out the tail pipe and smells like nothing but gas.

I am lost for words and have no idea what is causing this. We have replaced everything that has to do with the fuel system and can not find what is causing the car to run rich and flood the motor with gas.


HELP ME PLZ!!!!

[Lokim]

Have you pulled the plenum off and pulled the injector rails to check for leakage while they're pressurized? That seems to be a really common cause of what you're experiencing...

[LYDS]

I have not, I will check that this week end and if this is not the cause then I will have to take the car to the dealer mechanic and hope for the best.

thanks again, I truly appreciate all of your help and knowledge

[maxnix]

I would be checking all the lower O rings on the injectors if I were you. Beats losing an engine.

[LYDS]

We replaced all the lower O rings at the same time we replaced the injectors and seals

[maxnix]

We replaced all the lower O rings at the same time we replaced the injectors and seals

Of course you did, but if the engine getting excess gasoline in the cylinders, one or more is pinched and not sealing.

[Lokim]

Ditto above.

[LYDS]

Ohhh okay I get it, I will also double check this as wells

Thanks to both of you

[LYDS]

Okay so here is the update, we found a defective injector that was stuck open and spraying fuel all over. We replaced it under warranty and tested under pressure. Now we found the fuel damper had a damaged line that was split in half.

So my question is... could this be another issue that was causing my car to flood?

[jj702s1]

Well, the defective injector stuck open will definitely cause your flooding problem. Too much fuel discharged into the cylinder. I don't think the split line from the fuel damper would cause flooding. The fuel damper is like the fuel regulator, it controls the flow of the fuel in the rails/lines. So you would just loose pressure. Unless the diaphram inside the damper was bad causing fuel to escape past it through the vacuum line into the intake manifold. In that case, then yes. But a split line, no. I would just replace that split line and let us know how it goes.

[maxnix]

That's weird because OEM injectors fail closed.

[Lokim]

That's weird because OEM injectors fail closed.

If a little chunk o' something got in there it could stick open...

[LYDS]

I was told the penium was jammed causing the injector to be stuck open allowing the fuel to pour out like a fountain.
We are going to replace the split line tomorrow and then pressure test again to see if anything else is leaking that may cause additional flooding. But still not sure why the car will not start more than once a day.

[Lokim]

Excessive fuel in the cylinders "washes" the engine oil from the rings and causes loss of compression. Overnight (or over a few hours, anyway) the fuel evaporates or otherwise dissipates allowing the pressurized oil to re-seal the rings prior to being washed again. You should smell the oil. If it smells like fuel, change your oil before starting your Q again.

[LYDS]

We pressurized the fuel rails and checked for leaks, which there were none. We also confirmed there was fuel in the oil and changed the oil which stopped the white smoke but the car is still flooding. What else can cause the car to run rich? Once we started the car again and ran it for about 15 minutes it started to smoke again and smelling like fuel.

Is it possible a bad computer can be causing this to happen? The check engine light is not on but my alarm is also not working.(just a thought)

thanks soooo much, you have been alot of help so far

[Q451990]

I suppose anything is possible, but it's very rare to have an ECU fail.

[Lokim]

What is your fuel pressure at?

[maxnix]

That's weird because OEM injectors fail closed.

If a little chunk o' something got in there it could stick open...

I would take a big chunk to get the rotary pintle to jam open. Never heard of it before. So.........