need help with newly installed rebuild

[fireguy12117]

i finally get a rebuilt motor installed and running on the 93, however it doesnt run very well.

right now it has a rough idle around 800rpm and when ive let it sit long enough it bellows white exhaust and smells i dunno, rich i guess.

i think i might have an exhaust leak on the pass. side where the manifold meets the y pipe. i had to rig up a clamp and i need two people to really reef it down. otherwise, i dont have any check engine lights to go on. i dont have any plugs dangling, ive got oil pressure, fuel, and the spark order seems to be correct. i pulled the TPS and got a CEL to come on, so the bulbs not burned.

the gas is 8-10months old, and its a newly rebuilt block.

i guess tomorrow ill see if im missing coolant to see if i have coolant getting into the cylinders. whats the other way to confirm wether im burning coolant? what are signs of white smelly exhaust?

i try to drop it in gear and it starts sputtering and back firing and wanting to stall....need some help.

 

[KELLY88]

Old gas is probably the problem. Did you use a fuel stabilizer while it was sitting?

 

[fireguy12117]

no...no i suuuuure didnt do that...

 

[almostclueless]

Did you reconnect the vacuum line to the fuel pressure regulator?

 

[fireguy12117]

yup. all vacuum lines accounted for. ive got good vacuum i suppose without hooking the gauge up. i pulled a cap on the distributer on the upper intake and the idle changed, and my finger tip was sucked up unto the open port rather well. i had a busted line on the EVAP canister that i capped off in the mean time...assuming the line from the tank to the canister, that has the solenoid on it, was normally held shut. also assuming that vacuum inside the tank was avoided with the gas cap vent....which the cap isnt screwed down anyhow...

 

['94RangerXLT420]

you do know that rangers run funny after the battery has been removed, it will run weird for about 15 mins or less after the battery has been reconnected.

 

[fireguy12117]

yeah...i had started the truck the first time saturday, knew i had some issues. took care of those- found a new one...leaky heater core i think, then unhooked it until tonight.....but otherwise the trucks been ran for about 45min to an hour....and i left the battery connected this time. even after running it that long it didnt seem to clear up any issues, and i dont think i can get it down the road to let the PCM re-learn everything....

 

[fireguy12117]

ok, so...could someone please please in the most simple terms...talk to me like im a friggin moron....explain the firing order for this damn motor.

that was the first thing i went after, checked it twice, even thought i had 2 swapped, try a change and couldnt start the thing, and figured, well it must be right the way it was.

well tonight i triple checked and it seems like i had 4 and 5 mixed. i swapped em on the coil pack and the engine ran much more smooth. but still was billowing white exhaust, but it didnt smell anywhere near as bad. the other exhaust manifold, the drivers side, is burning off oil and smoking like the pass. did when i first started it. so maybe i wasnt getting that side hot enough? the center spark plug stunk like gas and was wet, and the one closest to the front of the truck on the drivers side was sooty black...i have the rest of the conditions on the plugs if that'll help...

 

[Taragon]

i pulled a cap on the distributer on the upper intake and the idle changed

How'd you do that? 4.0's dont have a distributor

 

[fireguy12117]

the vacuum port distributor. its got a bunch of ports for all the vacuum lines to connect up to.

 

[289-tiger-]

The engine has been rebuilt. Is everything glued onto it correctly? My question to you is did you see everything go back together or rebuild it yourself or was the package given to you to drop in. (i.e. manifold gaskets etc.)

White smoke would indicate a coolant leak into the cylinders in some cases which could be caused by a number of problems, drop in resovoir is a good sign that coolant is going somewhere. If so the leak should be fixed before it damages 02 sensors or catalyst.

If you perform a simple compression check and vacuum test it will give you peace of mind the important and expensive rotating parts are working. The bad gas will have to go to eliminate that issue, if the fuel system was not sealed while awaiting its engine transplant it may be full of water (white smoke?)

Vacuum you describe sounds like a good sign and no CEL. Also mixed spark wires should give you a CEL as a "hard failure".

Any first start will give you problems, misconnections and leaks, just take the problems one at a time and be patient.

Good luck

 

[289-tiger-]

Also another thing to check is the vacuum diapraghm from the automatic transmission leaking ATF into the vacuum system. Check for wet vacuum lines at the tree. Just another possibility for "smelly white smoke".

Good luck

 

[fireguy12117]

the vacuum line for the trans was a great suggestion. i know those have gone bad on RBV's before, but that hose was dry inside.

Basically, it seems to be- at this point- mixed plug wires. the exhaust has cleared up and the truck seems to run as about expected for having sat for 8-10 months. i drove it around the block tonight, just to get it rolling and seeing some rpms. im still going to be monitoring fluid levels and the like to make sure there arent any other issues cropping up. whats weird was that the motor seemed to actually run ok with a mixed firing order, and that no CEL got thrown considering that there HAD to be some serious fuel management issues going on with one cylinder basically not firing...unless the PCM was still in a learning mode? it hasnt seen any rpms over 2000 yet, so perhaps i havent given it a full range to start really doing its full powertrain control managment...?

 

[289-tiger-]

Sounds like you are getting on the road again. That's great. If you are still running on the old gas perhaps a bottle of dri-gas may eliminate some problems while you tune-up. From what I know on the eec-iv systems they are not that smart and dont learn like the OBD systems. Keep them on the road. Help thy neighbor.

Tiger