I will try to explain this the best I can, and this is gonna be long so bare with me....I decided to replace my injectors at home instead of having a professional do it and that was my first mistake, which led to more problems. After I put them in and had everything put back together, I cranked the car and fuel leaked everywhere underneath the intake plenum - fixed that issue, which was that the fuel rail mount gaskets weren't put in. After I fixed that and put everything back together, the car started overheating , the car ran very slow, sluggish and put-put sounding like, and the coolant was boiling. I replaced the thermastat and tried again. Made sure I had coolant on top of the thermastat and throughout that whole system and all the coolant hoses. Took it for another 2 minute drive after it cooled off but it overheats again with the same sluggish problem. completely cut the Cat off thinking it was clogged but didn't fix anything. the next day, took it for a drive and I tested the SES light, no code. but then after I took the ignition key out and the test light key, i then put the ignition key back in to roll the windows down and left the key in that on position for a couple minutes forgetting about it as I opened the hood and began to snoop around. Suddenly, the fan kicks on as if I was running a test again. I checked to see if I left the test key in, but it wasn't. I looked at the SES light and it was not pulsating correctly and it would alternate with the "upshift" light that was also blinking for some odd reason and I could hear a clicking sound coming from under the hood as they alternated...I began checking all I could think of when it came to ground wires and as I was making sure one ground wire was seated right, I pulled off the hose from the intake plenum that leads to the passenger side valve cover...well it smelled like fuel which is probably not a good sign! because of that I checked the oil and it indead smelled like fuel. Seems to me like I have more than one issue and I have no clue what they are! I was told I probably shouldn't have bought refurbished injectors, but hey they were from Summit, which I thought was well trusted. I bought 19lb injectors which is what my car calls for, and they are the Ford ones. Anyone have any idea what the heck is wrong? I'm so frustrated!!
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Oh, and by the way, the radiator is only about 2-3 years old so its doubtful thats a problem.

 

Sounds like you have a lot of problems and this is going to be very difficult to diagnose without checking certain things and crossing them off the list.

When you turn key to ON does the SES light come on (off very quickly) back on? It looks more like a blink when you turn the key to on. Pay close attention to this and check it.

Have you done a timing check?

Compression test?

Do you notice any loss of coolant?

What is fuel pressure like?

Do you have good voltage from the battery?

These are just some things to start checking.

 

i'm going to tell you something about buying injectors from summit.. i am in the auto parts bus.. they buy huge quantities to get the good price. some of these injectors could have been on their shelves for years. you got a bad set for sure.. buy only from an injector shop that flows their injectors prior to shipping.. this way they can replace a stuck one before you get it. even new injectors have a shelf life but rebuilts can dry up a stick open from sitting. Summit is great fro new parts, great prices but don't buy carbs or injectors there

 

Can't be the battery..for one, its less than a year old and the lights and everything work fine, no flickering...the SES light, what its doing it trying to run a test and will try blink the test code 12 and once the "upshift" light blinks, the SES light will quit. The two lights seem to alternate, they won't blink at the same time. But other than that, there is no indication that its the battery. The interior light on the ceiling stays on fine, the car cranks (but of course dies right after if I don't pump on the gas and clutch). I will have everything else checked but theres diffinantly some electrical problem goin on besides the other problems.

 

also, I had the timing set correctly and it was doing the same thing it is now. It also back fires a lot (did before and after the cat removal) and did before and after the timing adjustment. I do believe its fuel-related so maybe it is those darn injectors. I was running on poor injectors for about 3-4 months so is it possible that anything else was damaged from over-stressing to make up for the poor performance of the injectors? Maybe the cat WAS really clogged but I might need to replace an over-heated thermostat again since the cat may have messed up the new thermostat? The car has gotten worse to a point where you can barely crank it now, so whatever it is has gotten worse.

 

With the SES when you first turn key to ON as if to start. Does the SES light do this, come on,off, come back on. It is more of a blink.

If it does not do that, then the PROM inside the ECM is not registering properly.

Also if you jumper pin A and B on ALDL will code 12 flash 3 times in a row before displaying error codes? If not I would say you might have a defective ECM. Do you have a spare you could try out?

 

When I first put the key in the on position (without the test key in) the SES light just sits on for a while without the fan. after a couple minutes or so or just randomly, the fan will kick on and it will start to blink code 12 and alternate with the upshift light which normally blinks just once and switches back to the SES light. When I put the test key on the upshift light stays off and everything is like normal, it will keep flashing code 12 over and over way more than 3 times so according to it, there are no codes. I started out with just bad injectors the car ran fine other than the injectors and had no other troubles until i replaced them myself so i messed up something!

 

Focus on the injectors. An engine with an extremely rich condition will overheat. That extra fuel is still burning, just not helping move the car.