Engine Barely Runs - Timing Chain?

[HadAFalcon]

Howdy Folks. My 92 Explorer XLT was running fine after 220K miles, when all of a sudden it didn't. Driving on a rural Oregon highway, felt a slight jerk, and immediately saw lots of blue-white smoke pouring out of the exhaust. Engine ran, but extremely rough, and liquid gasoline dribbled from the exhaust pipe. My first thought was that the timing chain had slipped. Stopped ASAP, trailered it home.

What do you think? Timing chain?

From what I hear, this would cost ~$2K to have done in a shop. Worth it?

Thanks for input!

Had A Falcon - 1965, 289, great car.

 

[MrShorty]

Timing chains don't slip very often on these engines.

Are you sure it was liquid gasoline from the tailpipe and not water or something else? If it was gasoline, my first thought would be a major rupture in the FPR diaphragm, which would be detected by finding gasoline in the vacuum line to the FPR. The only other alternative I really see is if it just isn't burning gas, which means looking for all the reasons why it's would be misfiring.

While these don't crack heads as badly as the 2.9, My first thought when reading your description was that the liquid is actually water, and you have cracked a head or something. Coolant level down? A compression/leak down test seems in order to make sure there is no major engine damage.

 

[HadAFalcon]

Thanks, Mr. Shorty. I'll check the FPR diaphragm -- which sounds like the easiest to fix.

 

[geoph1986]

My Ranger did a similar thing to me. I was on the highway when I felt a "jerk" as it dropped a cylinder, then a bump or two later the cylinder came back to life, in the end it was a bad spark plug cable. But by the time I figured that out the motor was pretty well done, the truck was a true beater so it didn't bother me too much when it died. For $2000 you could easily drop in a different motor with less miles.

 

[HadAFalcon]

Update -- it is gas

Folks, I tried starting the 92 Explorer 4-Liter again, and confirmed that gasoline is shooting and dripping from the tailpipe. The engine runs, but very badly -- missing, very rough, must keep accelerator pedal half way down or it'll quit -- so I ran it that way only briefly to check for gas in the tailpipe. Lots of white smoke pours from tailpipe, along with the gas.

Could the FPR be responsible for all that?

Dunno if I've found the FPR. I see something that might be it, on the fuel rail just forward of the fuel pressure test valve -- with one wire to the side and one hose attached to the top, but it's not the sort of vacuum hose I expected. This one is a metal-braided line attached to the FPR(?) via a threaded joint, and the hose leads to the fuel tank.

BTW, the oil and radiator fluid are clean.

I'm just not up on these modern vehicles. Now, my 65 Falcon and my 70 International pickup -- no problem. <grin>

Thanks....

 

[Willard]

The "wire" is a hard vacuum line. That braided line is the gas line. And yes you found the FPR.

 

[Maniak]

Yes, the fuel pressure regulator can make your truck run like that and yes you found the FPR and the vacuum line that goes to the FPR.. that is assuming the stuff coming out of the tailpipe is fuel and not water..

check the pressure on the FPR.. if its bad enough to make it run poorly you will problaby see 60psi or so pressure which is way high and can make it run really rough. If the Pressure is 30-40 then your on the wrong track.

~Mark

 

[HadAFalcon]

Vacuum Line

Well, I'm pretty slow, but I eventually get there. Yep, the "wire" is a vacuum line, and it's full of gas. Reckon I'll try a new FPR. Thanks, folks -- you're awesome!

Steve (HadAFalcon)

 

[Masterd]

Seems more like an injector issue to me...

Maybe the FPR being ruptured is just a coincidence.

 

[Willard]

I've never seen fuel injectors fail like that. I've had three fail on me, they always failed in the stuck closed position.

 

[Maniak]

With fuel in the vacuum line it will be putting quite a bit of fuel in.. and will make it run really bad.. but I agree.. liquid and smoke (blue/white) doesn't really jive with the bad FPR.

~Mark

 

[Willard]

I agree with that, but I don't know much else that could happen to dump that much fuel. Come to think of it though if one of the injectors did get stuck open, the combination of it all could be doing it.

Either that or he had such a catastrophic failure of the FPR that it is dumping loads of fuel.

 

[Masterd]

Ive seen stuck open injectors cause exactly what he's describing....thats why I mentioned it.

I've NEVER heard of a busted FPR doing what he describes in the magnitude.

 

[Maniak]

Ditto, the blue/white smoke and liquid out the exhuast is normally cracked head/blown head gasket.. fuel in the vacuum line is FPR.. I too am not conviced they are related.. I'm leaning more towards two seperate issues..

~Mark

 

[Willard]

I'm trying to think if there is one issue that could cause another to bring it to this magnitude, but I have no idea. This is definitely a weird issue.

 

[Masterd]

Just test the fuel pressure for starters...thats a good starting point.

If the fuel pressure checks out Id start pulling wires from injectors and see which one is at fault....once the wires pulled, it should stop spitting raw fuel. It'll be apparent which ones busted...

I was thinking maybe he dropped a cylinder for other reasons and its just pushing the unburnt fuel out....but I think he'd be hearing other mechanical related noises as well, and I don't think a normal injector would push that much fuel out even on a completely dead cylinder.

 

[HadAFalcon]

Well, the new FPR will tell the story. Should have it a few days from www.rockauto.com (which another member of this forum pointed to). ~$100 -- my local CarQuest wanted ~$146 for it.

Steve

 

[Four0Sport]

felt a slight jerk, and immediately saw lots of blue-white smoke pouring out of the exhaust. Engine ran, but extremely rough, and liquid gasoline dribbled from the exhaust pipe.

this is exactly what happened when my motor blew. when the motor was torn down 3 cylinders were filled with oil, rings were shot, never did find out the cause.

 

[HadAFalcon]

Well, folks, the new FPR arrived today and an hour later I had it installed. There's good news and bad news: the engine fired up and after a moment ran just like it did before. Sounds fine, runs smooth. The bad news: white smoke pouring from the tailpipe. Didn't diminish much, if at all, after running for a minute or maybe two. The smoke is white and smells like normal exhaust -- doesn't smell like oil or antifreeze, and there's still apparently no oil in the antifreeze or antifreeze in the oil. The Check Engine light is on.

Once again I ask for your advice: What now? My hope is that the smoke is from a catalytic converter soaked with gasoline and that it will burn off eventually. But I have the feeling its worse than that. Stuck injector? Blown head gasket or cracked head?

Steve

 

[Masterd]

If there isnt any overheating, bubbling in the overflow, coolant loss, or coolant in the oil, I'm still gonna say injector or head crack / gasket.