Nothing really new to report...the Bronco II is still in the shop as they haven't had a chance to look at her yet. I ordered some James Duff shocks today to replace the crappy ones currently on the vehicle. They had the front shocks at $20 apiece and I figure since it will be costing me around $100 for four good shocks, I might as well spend the money and put quality components on the Bronco given the chance.

 

Engine Update:

The compression on the engine, vacuum check, and computer check all came out perfect. The folks at the shop feel the engine is solid and still has a lot of life in it. They changed all the plugs (which were REALLY clogged up) and checked the injectors, which were all functional.

They think it is one of two problems with the fuel system. Either the fuel filter is kaput, or the fuel pump is out of wack. The fuel pressure is VERY low, and the cylinders with poor ignition are getting poor fuel flow. As a result, other injectors are getting too much fuel, which is dumped into the exhaust, hence why the stock cat was fried when I bought it. I would not be surprised if the guy who cut the hole in the floor to access the fuel pump somehow managed to mess it up and this is why things are not working. They are going to check the filter first...if that isn't the issue, then they are dropping the tank and checking stuff back there. My horrible patch for the floor will be welded up with some real steel at the same time.

Once they know where the culprit is I get to order more parts to fix things up. Hopefully this will make the vehicle drivable so I can get the hang of driving a manual. Then I need to get the driveshaft looked at and I think I need to replace the brushing for the transmission shifter. The transfer case shifter is stiff and solid, but the transmission shifter is quite loose.

 

i just changed my fuel filter (pain in the **** BTW, PM me and i will give you an EASY way to do it) and it was the FACTORY one

 

Well, the folks at the garage I'm using have the vehicle and have been slowly checking out the engine for me. I'm willing to pay someone to really get it running right and work on things I lack the tools and ability to do. I have a hunch as to why the fuel pressure may be low....and this may sound odd, but what the heck.

The guy who had it before changed some of the fuel lines and used larger tubing for the lines. I know with air pumps that if the tubing is too big then the pressure can get lowered as result. PV = nRT....P = nRT/V or V = nRT/P (pressure or volume can be inverse). Anyways, I'm wondering if something this mundane is why the fuel pressure is too low. It's only a theory in my head, nothing more, but hey, there are stranger things that happen.

 

that could very well be Frank.....if you want to replace the lines with factory parts, look at www.lmctruck.com ......

 

I don't have photos, but I changed out all the shocks on the vehicle with James Duff shocks. I pulled a fuel pressure regulator from another vehicle at the junkyard. The engine runs a little smoother and sounds better, but there is still no fuel pressure. WTH? The mechanics and I are going to check the fuel pumps and filters next to see if that is part of the problem. Sigh...

 

try replacing the fuel filter....if you have the canister type fuel filter, I would convert it to an inline filter.....i did mine and it was SUPER easy.....i will get you a how-to later on tonight...

 

Well, I'll see what the guys want to do. Apparently the one owner changed out a bunch of things to try and find the problem as well...I'm thinking he didn't install something correctly.

 

mine even ran better after i swapped to the inline fuel filter.....

 

Well, I'll try to change the filter and then go from there. I'm going to see if they will loan me the computer equipment again to see what codes are popping up to try and narrow the issue.

 

Any auto parts store should have the computer equipment to scan the OBDI PCM.

 

Eh, I can use this stuff for free...might as well.

 

Most auto parts stores loan-a-tool/scanner is free, you just have to put down a deposit that you get back when you return the tools....

but if someone has it that you can use, that makes it nice.

I need to try to pull the codes on my BII, just to see what it is saying.

 

I was grateful for the help the guys at Midas gave me. They are letting me use one of their lifts in the back of their shop. They had to cut off the front shocks because they were so rotted out. The lift will make life easier as I can now remove a bunch of parts to clean and prep. I just wish I could pressure wash the underside of the vehicle while it's on the lift, haha.

 

a lift would have been nice to put the lift on my BII....getting the axle back under that sucker by myself was a pain in my 1 eyed willie....

 

I haven't posted in awhile, but today progress was made somewhat so I'll share. I have STILL been unable to figure out the damn fuel pressure issue and have reached the point I'm ready to sell the whole project and try again down the road. Well, I figured the one thing left was the check the injectors. I pulled the upper manifold (far easier than I thought it would be) and removed the fuel rail and the injectors. The one injector after I removed the manifold was leaking from the top. The injector is not cracked, but all of them are filthy. When I pulled them from the fuel rail you could see very fine rusty buildup in all the caps the injectors fit in. I bought new O-rings, have been soaking the injector rail in carb cleaner (and will then be cleaning it out with brushes and seafoam, then wire brushing and repainting the unit. The injectors have been getting soaked in seafoam and cleaned off. I realize this is a cheap, maybe not effective method, but I'm going to then hook them up and test the injectors on the vehicle to see which of them are bad or severely clogged. After I get everything cleaned up and reassembled the engine is getting a can or two of seafoam to at least loosen some of the ungodly carbine build up in the block. If all of this doesn't fix the pressure problem, I'll be damned if I can find the problem.