5 out of 6 ain't good!

[AllanMn]

This seems odd to me...

My 93 Camry 160K miles is running on 5 cylinders. The normal ticking sounds of the center cylinder's injector start and stop when removing the signal connector but there's no change in the idle at all. I connected the spark wire to a spare plug and it sparks fine. I replaced the rotor, dist and plugs. No codes.

So I would think the injector must be clogged completely. The only other thing I could think of is a value stuck open, etc. so I checked and the compression is good.

I'm looking for an economical but fairly good solution. Should I replace them all thinking is one plugs up, they all must be close? (the back 3 cylinders are of course a pain to replace under the intake manifold). They vary from $34 up to $200 for a Toyota part. They should be flow-matched, right? Or send them all to a remanufacturer like www.witchhunter.com ?

[Mister_Perkins]

You can clean them yourself actually. Or send them out. Really your choice. But if one isn't working properly, dont just assume that they need cleaned. You want to check the resistance on the injector before sending it off to be cleaned. One injector may be out of spec and need replaced.

the range per injector is 13.8 oms at 68F but also gives range of 5-23 ohm at 68F. This is for the 1mzfe, but the range should be pretty much the same.

Test the injectors and report back

If one of your injector resistances is bouncing all over the place.. this is the problem injector. the ohm readings should be steady

[AllanMn]

Oh yes, they all checked out about 13.5-14 ohms. I'm thinking they clog due to varnish/deposits and also due to particles clogging the internal filter.

How would you clean them? Run carb cleaner or techron through them?

[Mister_Perkins]

its best to have an injector pulser, but you can get away with getting an old pigtail and just applying voltage to it. have your ground securely connected and just tap the (+) against the wire repeatedly. This will open and close the injector. Also use Injector cleaner when doing this. Make sure when you remove the fuel rail to replace all of the O-rings too, and lube them up with some petroleum jelly before installing them.

[JohnGD]

Or send them out to RC Engineering for cleaning. A few TN members used their services.
http://www.rceng.com/Fuel-Injector-Cleaning-P43C0.aspx

Originally Posted by AllanMn

Oh yes, they all checked out about 13.5-14 ohms. I'm thinking they clog due to varnish/deposits and also due to particles clogging the internal filter.

How would you clean them? Run carb cleaner or techron through them?

[ScottForster]

Honestly, I would clean it first. Start with the simplest stuff before jumping to expensive part replacements...

[AllanMn]

Strange...

So I removed the injectors, flushed Techron through them with a syringe and 12v battery/aligator clips. They looked fine and didn't appear clogged (I couldn't get 40 psi of course but they sprayed). I assembled the suspect one at a different cylinder and the SAME cylinder is still not firing. (removing the injector power has no noticeable effect on the idle). Nothing is different from this procedure.

So I have spark, compression, fuel but no power. I verified the spark wires aren't mixed up. All I can think of is the intake valve isn't opening. I can't imagine quite how that might be.

Any ideas?

[Mister_Perkins]

Have you confirmed that your injectors are actually Pulsing voltage? I would suggest getting a Noid light and making sure that the injectors are working correctly.

[AllanMn]

The normal ticking sounds of the center cylinder's injector start and stop when removing the signal connector but there's no change in the idle at all.This injector sounds just like the others.

[JohnGD]

Is the injector port in the cylinder head blocked? Otherwise you have to pull the valve cover to check the lobes etc

[AllanMn]

I didn't explore the intake ports much--just a look. But everything on the injector was nearly clean (no built up material, just a little varnishy coating).

I think I'll take it back to the mechanic who remilled the heads 2 years ago after my girlfriend's daughter drove the car too long without coolant. I'm thinking with a borescope they can verify valve function in about 10 minutes.

They replaced the crankshaft seal with the head work, which leaked big time a little over a year later. They wouldn't warrantee repair the seal--only 12 months on all work. They claimed the part was bad so tuff luck. Quality parts are almost never "bad" so I point to installation myself... If it's valve trouble from the head work, I think these are unprofessional, poor results from a certified full price kind of shop (the head work was $3600). (on top of some $4000 in other work over 5 years).

I found online the idea to put compressed air to the compression check hose to see if air blows out the intake and exhaust as the engine is rotated to open the #4 cylinder's valves (the non-firing one). I just don't know how or if their're crank positions with just the #4 intake and exhaust open. I don't think so, so the test isn't so simple. Hence the borescope.

My girlfriend reports the running rough started suddenly, not gradually FWIW.

[AllanMn]

Well, the shop found and replace bad plug wires.... and it's running normal.

I had checked them all with an ohmmeter and got about 500-1000 ohms metal tip to tip. The bad cylinder wire I connected to a spare plug and got spark.

I don't get why I missed this but it's better than a valve problem...

[JohnGD]

That's weird. The wire gave you spark but didn't when installed. Anyhow it's all fixed now.