SaveTheZenkis

Hey all! Just bought an all original '90 S13 hatch off an old guy and now I'm trying to get her all fixed up. I'm gonna try to explain it as thorough as possible.

The issue is the car smokes a good bit. It doesn't smell like oil or coolant, oil looks good and coolant looks normal so I'm sure its not the head gasket. The smoke smells like straight gas. The oil on the dipstick has a gas odor to it as well.

What I've done to try and find the issue is 1. replaced plugs and wires (plugs were fouled bad) and 2. I've taken off my fuel rail with injectors. The previous owner replaced 3 out of 4 injectors about a year ago. when I pulled the rail with the injectors (fuel system still pressurized) I didn't notice any of them leaking or dripping. Full disclosure, I don't know if that is the actual way to check if injectors are leaking. I haven't done a lot of fuel maintenance lol so please correct me if i'm wrong.

This makes me believe that the O-rings are good on all injectors if there's no leaks. All rubber spacers look good. At this point I dont know whats causing this. I have a new stock FPR and a new coolant temp sensor that I plan to put in today. Idk if those are the issues but might as well.

Is there anything else that I'm not looking at that could be an issue? Distributor or timing etc.? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

jedi03

check timing, temp sensor, o2 sensor, cat condition/presence, you can crank car with sidefeeds fairly easily, unbolt fuel rail and lift it then have buddy crank you can see spray or other pattern to let you know if they are sending to much, staying open etc.

SaveTheZenkis

Thanks for the input! It's a single cam so it has the top feed injectors. But i'll get someone to crank with fuel rail off to check the spray. I did see that the o2 sensor wire at one part of it was kinda exposed. all wires looked in tact though, but I'll put a meter on it to be sure. The timings gonna be fun. I'll have to clean off the front of the engine. It's COVERED in grime and oil. You can tell the old man didn't really care about it

Also i will say this, when I took the spark plug out of cylinder #1 after I ran it for a few minutes, there was smoke coming out of the spark plug hole. doesn't seem good lol

EFITTZY

Was the car sitting while in the old man's possession? Did he take it out and drive it periodically?

If the car was sitting for an extended period of time, it may clear up by simply driving it... cars need to be driven. Could be something as simple as having bad gas.

Seems like you've done some searching around, with that said the more info you can provide the better we can try to help.

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SaveTheZenkis

He drove it regularly to work and back. About a 7 min drive as he told me.

Yeah man I've been reading every post I can. Unfortunately it seems difficult to find regular maintenance stuff for single jingles on here or other forums. And if i do, they're old with dead pictures or no confirmed fix. I want to stay all original, but that's making me want to put in a dual cam lol. I do appreciate your input!

More info, the car will start up fine every time, but will idle low even on cold starts. Around 500 to 600 rpm. It's like it doesnt have a cold engine cycle where it brings the revs up until warm. Idk if it's related, but adding that to what's up with it.

SaveTheZenkis

So I replaced the CTS. No dice. But I think I found the problem. I pulled the fuel rail and set it down. Asked someone to turn it to ON. And when It built pressure.... POP goes the cylinder 1 injector off the rail. Recreated the same thing again to make sure it was installed right and same thing. Also tried to hold it down while cranking and it just wouldn't stay on. So o ring I guess is the culprit. It doesnt "snap" into place like other injectors I've installed. I dont think I need to replace the whole injector, just the o right right?

EFITTZY

Start with o-rings and go from there...

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SaveTheZenkis

Doing that today. Sorry for the noob questions, just not a lot of experience with injectors lol. One of my friends said that the injector coming off like that should be expected with the rail just sitting there getting pressurized and nothing really holding it in other than that o ring. So idk if he's right or what really is supposed to happen? but I'm going to replace them anyway.

SaveTheZenkis

I also just checked the ECU for codes and it gave me only code 13, coolant temp sensor. It's been replaced, but I havent reset my ECU yet. Once I put it in though, it still smoked and smelled like gas. So idk what else it could be

Jfornachon

First off before you go any further Change that oil. It is full of gas then reinstall the fuel rail. Pull your plugs and the CAS connector. Crank the engine to clean out the cylinders. Spray off the spark plugs with brake cleaner and let dry. After install connect the CAS and try to start the car. See if it runs.

If not pull all plugs and check to see what the plugs look like. Report back. We can go from there. Remember to keep track of where the plugs come from.

Have a great day,
jared