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My son bought a neglected 2005 manual transmission 2.0 a few months ago. Initially, it seemed to run rich and often smelled of fuel. To date, among many other things, we have installed new spark plugs, cleaned mass air flow sensor, installed working throttle body and TPS sensor (junk yard parts), installed new idle control valve, and installed cone filter in place of a debris packed OEM air filter housing. Gas mileage improved and the smell of fuel was almost gone – seemed that we had the car working almost perfect and felt pretty good cruising at 70-80 mph. But I still suspected the fuel system needed some attention because after all this, there seemed to be very slight engine stuttering as soon as the foot eased off the accelerator. Also, there was still a slight odor of fuel but no where near as bad as before.
However, today on start up, the idle immediately dropped to a few hundred RPM, almost stalling and then worked back up to 2000 RPM and repeated 3-4 times. We turned off the car and then cranked again but now it will not start at all.
The fuel pump fuse and relay checked out fine and gas pumped out of the fuel line when disconnected from the fuel rail and cranking. We tested the ignition coils and they checked out fine at the time but we may have to re-perform that because not certain we tested properly with a multimeter…. Noted the new spark plugs were wet and a little fouled with dark matter – smelled and looked like a mix of and gas and oil but not totally sure if it was just gas or just oil – but did not see any other liquid below the spark plugs. When we turn on the accessories we can hear the fuel pump priming for about a second but it is more of a clunking sound. There are no check engine lights or codes but we have had the battery disconnected while working on stuff. Fuel injectors look like aftermarket (not the same color as my other Foci)
Given what we have already done, can anyone suggest a checklist of things to do to troubleshoot this problem? Thanks for all your help.
However, today on start up, the idle immediately dropped to a few hundred RPM, almost stalling and then worked back up to 2000 RPM and repeated 3-4 times. We turned off the car and then cranked again but now it will not start at all.
The fuel pump fuse and relay checked out fine and gas pumped out of the fuel line when disconnected from the fuel rail and cranking. We tested the ignition coils and they checked out fine at the time but we may have to re-perform that because not certain we tested properly with a multimeter…. Noted the new spark plugs were wet and a little fouled with dark matter – smelled and looked like a mix of and gas and oil but not totally sure if it was just gas or just oil – but did not see any other liquid below the spark plugs. When we turn on the accessories we can hear the fuel pump priming for about a second but it is more of a clunking sound. There are no check engine lights or codes but we have had the battery disconnected while working on stuff. Fuel injectors look like aftermarket (not the same color as my other Foci)
Given what we have already done, can anyone suggest a checklist of things to do to troubleshoot this problem? Thanks for all your help.