Ok. . . car was running fine (93 FD touring, 75,000), but I was doing some regular maintenance. So, new spark plugs (NGK BUR7EQP in leading, 9's in trailing), the old ones were absolutely, terribly fouled. New Bosch O2 sensor (universal). Regrounded with 8g cable. Tossed some fuel injector cleaner (stp) in the tank.

Turned it over, started right up. idle was lumpy and smoke was basically pouring out the back which smelled like raw fuel.

I reset the ecu (pulled neg terminal and held the brake for 20 secs).
I checked the spark plug wires which were on tight and on the right plugs.

Any thoughts? Does the ecu just need to relearn by driving the car around?
BTW the comp was just checked 2 weeks ago and its all good.

 

if the old plugs were fouled, it was probably flooded recently which could explain the smoke and smell. what color was the smoke?

 

grayish black. . .definitely smelled of raw fuel. if it was flooded, why would it be smoke free and running fine before I fiddled with it? BTW thank you for the very quick reply!

 

bump. . .

 

Check to make sure that your map sensor hose didn't come off. Small sensor located on the rear firewall, behind the throttle body and elbow. The nipple that the hose connects to is on the underside of the sensor, pointing down.

 

+1

agreed. When i first changed my plugs long time ago, this was my first encounter with the map sensor accidentally plugged off - didn't notice it was unplugged until a few minutes later. The map sensor location could get in the way when replacing the plugs (if you work over the engine rather than from below) so check on that.

 

I'll check it this afternoon, I hope that's it. I've only had the car for a week!

 

why didn't i think of that?!

+2

 

The MAP sensor hose was indeed off. Now she's purring like a kitten. I guess you learn by doing. . . and messing up. I love how you guys can hear a story and just know what happened based on experience.

I really appreciate the help guys!

 

It's funny because it's never actually happened to me, but I've saved four guys now from the depths of "Oh noooo, my motor is blown "

 

I just replaced the PCV and some check valves. I did the same thing. Funny, I was listening and looking at the car as it idled, and I thought this is running exactly like the guys on the forum said it would run with the map sensor hose disconnected. Sure enough, I grabbed the hose and it wasn't connected to the TB.

 

I love this forum! I disabled my AWS a few days ago by plugging the hose and TB elbow nipple (something I learned here). Car ran like crap afterwards. Was wondering if I messed something up. I did another search and found this thread. Symptoms described were exactly what I had and sure enough the hose was off the sensor! Thanks everyone!