I'm gonna buy a 91 Firebird 3.1 AT cali car, cheap. Guy whos owned it a decade, says his trusted mechanic diagnosed "bad fuel injectors" as the reason the engine shuts down, after 2-5 miles. Unknown just how long it must sit to restart.

I need to get it 50 miles, to my house and would prefer not towing it.

QUESTIONS: Assumeing one or more bad injectors shutting it down, how hard would it be to disconnect 2 at a time and possibly limp home? (I havent looked at it yet, can I reach the injector terminals easilly)?

Assuming mechanic is wrong, what should/could I disconnect to put the engine in "open loop" and maybe limp home?

How accessible is the O2 sensor, possible pull in case cat/muffler is plugged.

Other input? Thanks.

 

You're better off getting a 20 Foot rope for towing, preferably 4" wide. Find a good friend on Sunday morning, and tow it behind your buddies truck, or car. You'll have to run it for brakes, and power steering, but it's a lot easier than having to stop ever 5 minutes.

 

You'd be better off towing it home. I think that Uhaul has some dolleys that you can rent, so all you would need is a truck.

 

if your planning on keeping the V6 in the car i say just go buy some new injectors and put em in while your there. your going to have to buy new ones anyways.
unless your planning giving the V8 juice.
renting a tow dolly shouldnt be to expensive. its only for acouple of hours to.
if you have a truck then your set to go!
or you can drive it the way it is and hopfully you make it home.
i probably pedal that car to the floor getting home. well not quite. but
when it starts dieing give it all its got. you could always rig something up.
i blew a head gasket on my last car doing it tho so i dont think its a good idea lol.
manually pump the fuel into the engine. having hand pump in the car and a fuel can and hook it up. tho you be having a hose sticking out from the hood into the car haha.
it worked but it drove extreamly terrible! smoking coming out of the tail pipe. alot of back firing, and alot of not so good sounds.

 

Just tow it and save yourself the hassle. Better to call a tow truck when you're relaxed and at someone's house than dead in the middle of the road because your injectors are out.

 

Thanks guys, you convinced me. I'll tow it.

 

it may be the injectors but a REALLY BAD THING IS IT MAY BE THE FUEL PUMP. MINE DID THAT for a while till i got fed up wit it took it too 2 mechanics one told me injectors and the other said nope its ur Fuel pump replaced the FP. and now she flys again =)

 

I had it towed to my house(I just bought it). I have begun diagnosing the problem and will be testing fuel pressure next. I too, suspect the f/pump.

 

I located a leaking EGR valve(between pintle plate and EGR base . Resealed it leak fixed. No start is not present at this time. , I don't believe the EGR problem was the cause, of the no start. It now runs. It will sometimes backfire, when I race the enging a little(in nuetral, I haven't driven it).

Fuel pressure is in spec. The pick up coil "trigger" wheel is rusty, PU coil look original. I'm tempted to pull the distributor and replace PU & ICM.
NO codes(except 12).
Opinions?

 

I would do the normal tune up items.

 

Wont hurt to spec out the injectors. Mesure the resistance of all the injectors... Should be 14-17 ohms.

 

I've got an Actron CP9190 scanner/live data stream tool on the way. Does anyone know if it will read/test injectors and/or pickup coil and module operation or resistance?

Seller said a shop told him the car died because of bad injectors. I called the shop and they don't remember recommending injectors, because it was a "no charge" scan, per the work order.

If I were keeping this car, long term, I'd install injectors, PU and ICM, on general principle. Opinions?

 

Just use a multimeter.

 

I know I CAN test each one, with an ohm-meter. I'm asking if the Actron will read through the ALDL port. It would be a lot quicker!

 

I wouldnt see how. I had an ALDL cable built and operating before I went to the megasquirt, and it didnt have the information , at least in the 2.8l 160 baud datastream.