Last night I made my fuel pressure regulator adjustable. First thing I did was raise the fuel pressure up some. My car ran like crap. It was way too rich; tons of smoke, bogged down, ideled at 350 RPMS. Since then I have gone step by step adjusting the fuel pressure from one end to the other. Seems like I got the same setting. Could I have fouled my plugs? I also just changed to a 180* stat. The guy at the the auto parts store said that it will make my car smoke. Should I go back to the 195*? THANKS

 

You probably knocked a vacuum hose off the TBI or didn't fully plug in the injectors. Start it up with the air filter off and see if both injectors are spraying evenly. At idle the ECM will compensate for different fuel pressure, it's only at WOT that pressure will make a real difference. Even if all your vacuum lines are where they should be, pull them off to make sure the ends aren't cracked or split.

The only thing that's smoking is his crack pipe. Based on that logic your car would smoke every time you started it until you reached normal operating temperature.

 

After checking everything out don't forget to reset the ecm by taking out the fuse in the battery area for at least 30 seconds.

Steve

 

Okay now things have gone from bad to really really bad. Saturday mourning the car acted like it did Friday night. Saturday afternoon the car would start, but if I didn't give it any gas it would die. Now when I go to start it the engine acts locked up and it won't even turn-over. My starter can't even turn the engine. Why is my car acting like this. I checked the vacuum lines and they are all fine. What the is wrong? Please don't tell me my engine may be locked up.

 

When it rains, it pours.

Start with the simple things first. Check your battery voltage, terminals at the battery and starter, etc. Check the EGR diaphram., fuel filter, TB linkage, connectors, on and on. There are too many things that can cause your car not to turn over. If you buy Haynes Repair Manual, it'll tell you how to do a lot of this stuff. The book is about $15. Maybe if you try and give us more specific info on what it's doing, or isn't doing, than maybe we can finger it out.

 

Alright I finally got the car to turn over and start, but it still runs terribly rich. I figure all of this happened by me messin with the stock fuel pressure regulator so I just went out and bought a new AC Delco one. I know I could have gotten a JET AFPR but I have had enough with the whole fuel pressure thing. I got new spark plugs that are going in sometime in the next couple of days. Should I go ahead and replace the wires with some better 7mm or 8mm ones? What does everyone think about the Accel coil. Are there any negative long-term effects from running REALLY rich for a couple of days?

 

The only thing I can think of that you can harm by running really rich is the cat. All the unburned fuel will burn off in the cat and eventually it'll melt and come apart.

 

I too just made by FPR adjustable, and I had the same problem as you with the engine not turning. The starter hit hard but the engine wouldn't crank, or it would turn once and then stop. I waited a few minutes, trying it occasionally and eventually it DID start, just as yours did. Why this happened beats the heck out of me.

Anyways, one thing that is confusing is the Tech article on the subject. Which way were you turning the screw? Remember, COMPRESSING the spring INCREASES fuel pressure, unscrewing it and letting the spring stretch DECREASES fuel pressure. To my knowledge the FPR is just before the return line to the pump, if you compress the spring and create more pressure on the diaphram, there is more resistance to the return line, thereby increasing fuel pressure. If I'm wrong, somebody correct me.

Also, if anybody knows why both our engines would not turn, even with a good strong shot from the starter, please let me know. . .

Jason

 

any way the cylinder filled with some gas, not letting it compress? you know the hydraulic thing.....maybe the regulator was leaking into the intake.

 

i did this to my 88 astro, and my 91 gmc 1-ton. havent had this prob. then i installed the 91 gmc pod on my 92 camaro, with no probs. including the 350 injectors. other than sounding cammed out at start up. (fouled plugs.....)

 

Thanks to all that have helped. I am fixin to put it the new FPR and rebuild kit. All of my flugs are fouled. I think I am going to buy an Accel coil. Anybody got this? Any information would be appreciated.

 

been there done that.

sorry been busy havent read boards since yesterday mornin.

anyway, what happened to me was i leaked a ton of fuel into the intake one time because i didnt get an oring back in correctly on one of my injectors. car fired, died, wouldnt start or turn over for bout an hour.

i went back out, turned it over and it would start and die, so i just turned it over without the injectors plugged in. cranked it run die, run die, etc.. cranked it over for a few seconds after it wouldnt start, plugged the injectors back in, started it, and floored it to red a few times. shot some black out the pipes. including raw fuel. let it idle for a few minutes. no problems.

hope that helps.