when you gut tells you something…

[Ray Pierce]

Working on an Acura TL… Cranks no start,.. or starts and immediately stalls with very bad engine shake/misfire. First thought, bad motor.. can hear loss of compression in one or more cylinders. So I told the owner it’s gonna be VERY expensive if we try to repair. Crying ensues,, and “I have no money, I’m broke, car isn’t worth it” So feeling bad that I just ruined her day I said “give me a few hours with it to make sure i’m right, and then we can discuss options.
First test Compression…. 180 lowest, 220 highest. Pretty good for 205K miles. Next was spark,.. yep all six. Plugs fouled, but not bad changed anyway. Can’t check injectors, under manifold. SO I did the next best thing…..spray can fuel into throttle…. VEROOOM! engine ran like a top! OK… fuel issue ! NOT A BAD ENGINE…..install pressure gauge… 50PSI plus…so are the injectors are bad? or is brain not firing the injectors. Hook up scan tool… can see injector ms (I think it was 15ms) But that tells me computer is trying to work the injectors. SO I give the owner the news, Engine isn’t bad, but we have fuel issue. and I think it’s the injectors. I ask if she would let me continue. (mind you this is day 2,…. at the owners garage.) Now on 3rd day I pull the upper intake. I do a injector pressure drop test one every injector (LOVE POWER PROBE) 25psi drop in 1 sec. same for all 6 injectors …. injectors are good. I then unplug all coils. and crank the engine over with a noid light in every injector connector. Blinks with every injector.. and no unusual pattern. WHY IS THIS NOT RUNNING THEN??? Then I do a “whats left to check?” test. Fuel…. get a sample for the fuel from the fuel rail inlet…… flow is good,.. but it’s not gas. Comes out looking like juice. It’s heavier than gasoline, and gasoline will separate from it and float above it. So NOW I know why it wont run. ended up running the fuel pump from the pump relay to pump the crap out. Took about 2 gallons out till I was seeing only a tiny bit of juice and mostly fuel. Reassemble the engine, and 2nd crank engine ran.
I felt so guilty that I was almost condemned this engine cause my gut told me so. What started as a possible $3-4,000 engine job turned out to be $390 for time and 6 spark plugs.

Topic

[Ray Pierce]

I had a picture of the fuel sample but the size exceeds the limit.

[Joe]

That’s good you went through and did the proper diag. I’ve seen guys tell customers they have a seized engine with out pulling the belt off a lot of times its a seized alternator or ac compressor. I usually over think things and second guess myself when most of the time I was right the first time but its better than being wrong. since we are all crooks and grease balls 😆 😆

[Joseph C]

YOU ALL ARE THE MECHANICS I WOULD WANT WORKING ON MY CARS!

I had to fire a HACK. Engine frequently not starting.. Sometimes did. Changed the STARTER. Did same exact thing.. Oh, sorry, Fuel Pump or Main Relay (95 Honda Civic.) :/

So. Changing Main Relay, and, after unrelated issues.. Fuel Pump. Hack? FIRED.

[Author]

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