chaseincats

@Zed Head Where do you put your fuel injector's hose clamps on the fuel rail? Do you keep them closer to the injector near the bump on the rail's piping or at the top? I have my clamp on the top - since its further away from the bump, could it not be sealing vapors well enough?

The weird thing is this was the hose and clamps used on my remanufactured Bosch injectors: It also applied to my other hoses using the same style of clamps, I don't get it

Update: So that one I linked definitely worked (on the 'high' sensitivity setting) and taught me that my gas smell is actually coming from the engine bay, not the fuel pump area. It seems that ALL of my clamps weren't keeping the fuel vapor in the rail when pressurized. I cranked down all but injector #3's hose clamp almost to the max travel (because the injector #3's clamp screw sits right below the fuel pressure regulator so I'm going to have to think on how to get a screwdriver in there to tighten that one). It seemed to help somewhat - I don't understand how these clamps aren't holding even this tight - the injectors and hoses are all maybe a year or two old and using the proper injector clamps (not gates belt clamps). It also seems like all of the clamps slowly un-tightened themselves over the past few years because there's no way I had them this loose when I installed everything...

Will do - the sniffer should be delivered today

I'd have thought so too but I pressure tested the vapor tank and all of the hoses by putting the palm of my hand over the outlets and blowing into them - it was a dreadful experience but it did give me the answer that there aren't any leaks there.

@inline6 my 78's valve cover doesn't have a groove for an o-ring but impressive you were able to find one that works!

Fair enough - so all Z's have oil vapor stains on their valve covers?

I just don't understand how the pressure in the valve cover is so great that it is able to push oil vapor out of the cap. I checked my PCV valve the other day as well as the hose and everything is clear/working properly.

That makes sense - have you tried the gasoline sniffer I linked (or any)?

Update: so I tried to give it a start today and it definitely still put up a fight - but I'd say less so. My assumption is we'll be back to normal after I give it a full tank of gas to dilute the old stuff that's in there. Here's the plan - I'll keep you updated in the coming weeks: 1. take the car out again to confirm it wasn't a fluke 2. change the 3/8 hoses to 5/16 like its supposed to have 3. buy fuel stabilizer 4. fill the tank

I'm thinking theres a fuel vapor leak and its being pulled into the cabin in the same way as exhaust does with that vortex that forms in the back or via the firewall as my grommets are old. Either way its definitely a gasoline smell and not exhaust which is why I was curious about the gasoline vapor smell. My garage also smells like fuel when the car sits in there overnight. That said, if we're talking about cereal box gaskets, I'm more of a frosted mini-wheat guy and heres why - stick with me here - it's the only cereal where you're not hungry after about 30 minutes. That cereal has substance, I'm tellin ya, with sugar infused to make it palatable.

If I had to guess, you have your afm set 3 teeth leaner than the original setting since those are the numbers I got with 3 teeth lean (black gear turned clockwise) - my numbers are from leaning it by 2 teeth. If memory serves 3 teeth got me: idle: 14.2, cruise 15ish, WOT 13.1 Timing to get into cruise was set following the AtlanticZ TPS tutorial here I hope that helps!

Hi all - I can't seem to track down where my gasoline vapor smell is coming from. Has anyone used one of those 'combustible gas sniffers' on amazon (like this) to track fuel vapor leaks down?

Me too! We'll see how it starts tomorrow morning as the final test. I bought a bottle of fuel stabilizer after I got out of the car today haha.

Update for you: It is very possible the issue the entire time was bad gas. I drive it rarely and haven't added any gas to the low tank since I was expecting to have to disassemble the rear again - the last time gas was added was (I believe) mid-October when the hose originally blew. I took it out today and it was driving terribly as it always does when the red fuel light came on so I added only a couple gallons to it (again, since I was expecting to have to drain the tank) and the car woke up after about 30 seconds. The AFR numbers returned to where they used to be and its power was back. The car still smells like gasoline which is possibly due to me apparently using 3/8 hose instead of 5/16. The final test will be tomorrow morning when I try to start it and we'll see if it's still a chore or if we are really back in business - I will report back. If the issue really was bad gas all along, I will be incredibly humiliated. On the road fuel pressure numbers: 30 at idle, 34-36 at WOT, 28 during engine braking AFR numbers: 13.8-14.2 idle, cruise 14.7, WOT 12.8 -chase

No worries - I appreciate any ideas to get this fixed. I installed the hoses/gauge/zip tied it to the windshield wiper last night so if I get home early enough, I'll take it out for some answers.

I've tested that before by pulling the oil pressure sensor plug, turning the key to 'on' and waiting until the fuel pressure gauge gets to 32 before starting and doesn't seem to make a difference for some reason. I'll grab some hose this weekend for sure

Tonight's update: Pulled all 6 plugs, laid them on the engine, and cranked the car - all have identical spark Ran it and listened to the injectors - all click to the same rhythm Pulled the PCV valve just for the hell of it - rattles properly Confirmed firing order Confirmed distributor hadn't moved (timing line I drew hasn't moved) Some notes about the engine - it is difficult to start if I don't manually trigger the cold start valve. Once it eventually starts it runs rough but smooths out after a few seconds. It will run the rich cycle and lean out as it warms up, so the injection seems to be working properly. @Captain Obvious @Zed Head - I think at this point this weekend really will need to be the 'get some long fuel hoses and take it for a drive' time

posted this twice somehow - please ignore this

Alright, so I just got back from a trip and did some work on the car (trying to avoid a gas shower if I can): Checked for vacuum leaks both smoke testing it and with carb cleaner Used a vacuum gauge and I'm sitting at 16" vacuum which is the same as it has been since last time I checked a few years back when it was running well Ran the car and pulled the injector power connectors 1 at a time and each made the engine run rougher until I plugged it back in - so we know all cylinders are at least working in some capacity Next steps: Go through the FSM's component checks via the ecu plug Pull the spark plugs and make sure all are firing with the same power Take a gas shower (grab the long fuel line and go for a drive with the pressure gauge) If fuel pressure is consistent, pull the fuel rail, put all 6 in individual cups, crank the engine - surely one (or many) are not working even though they're only a few years old Anyone have any other checks I should add to the list? EDIT: I pulled the spark plugs and all of them look good except for cylinder #5 which is CONSIDERABLY darker than any of the others. Could we be looking at our possible culprit? The car will start only with starter fluid the first time. After it is started once (regardless of the amount of time it is run), it will start on its own without issue. EDIT2: I pulled plugs 5 and 6, placed them on the engine, shut the lights off, cranked the car and they both are outputting the same amount of spark. I pulled the spark wire, put a screwdriver in it, then laid it against an engine bolt and the spark coming out of the wire when it grounds to the metal is however considerably stronger looking than what the plug is outputting.

Right - I just wasn't sure the method of doing it

That's a great idea since that is currently my exact setup. I'll give that a try this weekend - thanks for that

i snipped those off and soldered on new connectors there a few years back 😞. it definitely did make a huge difference though.

This is a dumb question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Wouldn't holding the pedal at 3k in my garage be the same as driving around or does the pump work harder when the car is under load?

Thanks. All the sensors on the front and their connections are new. It really doesn't make sense to me that the fuel line blowing can suddenly make a car running great suddenly have an issue with the EFI connectors but stranger things have happened.