Mass Emission woes, please help

[jazzyjeff]

I have a big "R" on my windshield. I'm new here so let me give you some info. Just bought my 93 3.0 (i think) with 128,000. There's oil in the spark plug wells but I was told that that would not affect the emissions (which failed on CO GPM: 031.87 of a 020.00 limit). The station that failed the car said it might be the Mass air flow sensor. I've replaced both o2 sensors prior to test with Bosch (the guys at the station said to only use motorcraft is that true with o2 sensors?) I've replaced the fuel filter, cleaned the K&N air filter (which has been modified to the cone style) and ran some injector cleaner all prior to inspection.

Footnote, I'm burning oil somewhere. It's not the head gasket. High RPM's equal smoke out the pipes. Sometimes at a light, the idle fluctuates and sometimes stalls.

PPS, anyone know how I can get to the 3 plugs in the rear of the engine?

I know I'm new here, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[RStalveyARFF]

Hello and welcome to the forum!! THose station mechanics are actually thinking for once Don't worry with your O2 sensors, Bosch is now the supplier for motorcraft so you're all set there. So you only failed CO2? Usually bad cats will trip off the hydrocarbons and Nitrides of Oxygen. Hydrocarbons usually say that not enough fuel is being burnt, which would point to bad plugs.. You say you sometimes have a rough idle.. Try unplugging the mass air flow sensor and seeing if that clears things up. If so, that is the case. I'm leaning toward the idle air control valve, which is located directly across the throttle body, next to the snakes. What part of mass are you from? I'm on the north shore. Good luck!! Oh yeah, the rear plugs. There are several ways to access these. First, if you have that black valance over the windshield wiper motor and other pieces, you can remove that (3 phillips) and then use some extensions to get the 5/8" plug socket in there. I don't like this because you can get foreign objects in there and not even know. I personally remove the intake when doing plugs, so I can get my vacuum right in there and remove all oil and dirt that have accumulated. For plugs and wires, use AGSP 32 PP motorcraft plugs, and WR4033 motorcraft wires. VS50378R is the # for the felpro gaskets needed to cure your plug well flooding.

<small>[ October 14, 2002, 07:27 PM: Message edited by: SHO91MTX ]</small>

 

[luigisho]

You sure the oil in those wells isn't interfering with the idle/proper combustion? How old are the plugs and wires?

 

[jazzyjeff]

Thanks for the warm welcome and the quick reply. I'm from Central Mass. I failed to mention that my check engine light is coming on and they tell me it's coming up as running rich and lean for both sensors. There were quite a few codes. I replaced the front three plugs with dual platinum plugs that don't need to be gapped, but I couldn't get to the rear ones. You don't think it's the MAF? Also, on ebay there are some upgrades to 73MM MAF which claim to increase HP by 20. Any thoughts there?

Thanks again!

 

[Kevin Ryan]

Question, were the bosch replacements the type you splice together or were they a direct fit on the pig tail? I ask because I've seem the universal type that you splice together cause a voltage variance and the computer gets confused. Also, remove the sensor from the MAF assem and clean it off with some brake cleaner.

 

[jazzyjeff]

I wouldn't know if the oil is affecting combustion, I'm not that mechanically good. When I replaced the O2 sensors, they had factory pigtails, no splicing was neccesary. I'll try to clean the MAF with brake cleaner, will rubbing alcohol be better?

Thanks again all!

 

[Kevin Ryan]

Any fluid that does not leave a residue! Brake clean is just easy to use since it's in a spray can.

Later

 

[luigisho]

The first thing to do is to check the codes being thrown from the check engine light. AutoZone can assist with this. There is a procedure on the shotimes.com website on how to get these yourself.

Use electronics cleaner from somewhere like AutoZone to clean the MAF. It's around $2. Don't touch the filiments in the sensor with anything. They are very fragile.

I would clean the oil out of the wells, use the recommended plugs and wires (all 6) and see if that helps.

 

[fozzie93atx]

When you clean the maf make sure you clean the little hole that has the little wires in it above the big hole with the screen across the opening. The ford mec. uses break cleaner said that it cleans the gunk more aggressively. As far as the codes with the O2 sensors after putting new ones on I went through this and never found the problem. ( I also ended up putting a total of 4 O2 sensors on before giving up)
P.S. This car only had 39,000 Miles when o2 problem started shoot

 

[RStalveyARFF]

Jazzy, either IM me or send me an email. I'll get your car running right. I'm close to 100% sure it's not the oil, since every car I know that does have them FULL, including my own when I bought it, passed emmisions with flying colors.

 

[1fastsho]

HWoever told you that the oil in the plug wells would not affect emissions was mistaken. The oil affects how the car runs becasue it can cause carbon tracking on the plug wires. What this means is becasue the oil is in the tubes and up around the plug wires it can short the wire out. Electricity follows the path of least resistance and if there is oil in there it will shoot past the plug and the boot meaning you get a misfire. the evidence is usually visible on the inside of the spark plug boot as a white stripe coming out of the boot. Once the wire has carbon tracked it is ruined. If you hooked you r car up to a scope you would most likely see that it is misfiring...even though you can't tell necessarily with everyday driving it can still be there and affect emissions.

DOes your car surge a lot at idle? especially at the first start or a cold start? This is an indicator that the MAF is bad. Don't go crazy on the parts swapping until you know what the problem is, it can get expensive.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

sure it can cause emissions problems Shawn, but not for what he failed for. My car was running on 5 cylinders & oil in the plug wells when it went in for mass enhanced emissions and passed with flying colors..

<small>[ October 15, 2002, 03:14 PM: Message edited by: SHO91MTX ]</small>

 

[jazzyjeff]

UPDATE! I removed the entire intake system and cleaned the MAF with brake cleaner spray. I couldn't get the screen out, and I couldn't take the black piece off the top so I blasted it with the spray then cleaned what I could with a rag.

I disconnected the battery prior to removing the MAF. Put it all back together and I'll be damned! The car is idling perfectly...so far (I'm still skeptical). The check engine light came back on, but I think that could be for something else.

Question, I replaced the O2 sensors about a month ago, if they have been getting contaminated with a too rich/lean condition, can I remove them and clean them as well?

Again, Thanks for ALL who have responded to my question and saved me a boat load of money!

Jazzy!

 

[luigisho]

See what that ce code is.