Crock Pot

Just acquired a 1990 XLT Lariat short bed, 300 I-6, 5 speed transmission. 60k actual miles, so it has been sitting most of its life. Drove from Myrtle Beach to Knoxville, TN on 5/19/13. When restarting after a fuel stop, it requires staying on the starter much longer than I would like, and is very rough, just barely keeping itself going. Very rich exhaust smell with black smoke. I let it chug there for a few seconds, then just a little feather on the throttle and it smooths out and runs nicely, sometimes revving up to a couple thousand rpm and settling down. Check Engine light came on and went off several times during the trip, but it got me home. I added Star-Tron and Lucas Injector cleaner to the fill up in MB. It took 8 gallons and used 93 octane. Got 16 mpg on that tank. Fill at Spartanburg with regular pure gas & added more Star-Tron and Sea Foam. Climbing hills in NC resulted in 14 mpg. We will try to keep pure gas in it most of the time going forward.
We won't talk about the tire issues during the trip.
Any ideas on curing the hot starting issues?
Also on the list:
Need to diagnose & repair temp gauge not working.
Mid fuel tank doesn't work. It's been sitting with E10 in it for who knows how long.
Drivers power door lock not working.
Enough for now. thanks

Crock Pot

Update: fixed the temp gauge with a new sending unit.
Cured a bad miss with new distributor cap, rotor button and spark plugs.
It's still not happy restarting when hot.
No codes have been pulled since those were changed. Before that we had 41, 51, 67.

Crowder

41 is fuel system lean. Do you know how old the of sensor is?

51 is ect out of range. You can pick one up for pretty cheap. 20 bucks or so.

67 is neutral safety switch circuit failure.

Crock Pot

I imagine all of those sensors are original equipment. Where is the ECT sensor located?
I have replaced the temperature sending unit. I see another sensor on the bottom of the radiator. If that is not sending the right signal, the ECU may be calling for a rich fuel mixture even though the engine is hot. Strong fuel smell during those difficult hot restarts would confirm that theory. Feathering the throttle to give it a little air once it is loping on its own will usually cause it to smooth out and idle fine.
I removed and cleaned the IAC valve, but it didn't fix the hot starting issue. All parts move freely.
The 41 code has not reappeared the last couple of checks. Only the 51 and 67.
Thanks

Crock Pot

There are several vacuum operated valves associated with the air injection pump. While idling, there is a fluttering noise that comes and goes, and the idle speed fluctuates with it. When it is fluttering, idle is high. When it goes quiet, the idle speed drops. Is there anything in that system that I should be looking at?

Crowder

The ect sensor is located on the thermostat housing just before the heater hose. Very simple to replace

And I meant o2 sensor for code 41

Crock Pot

Replacing the ECT sensor solved the hot restart issue. I am relieved not to have to get into the injectors. Lesson learned: the CEL codes are the best place to start, even if they don't show all possible solutions.
Now for the mid-ship fuel tank...

Crowder

Just had the pleasure of replacing that tank myself

truckdawg

Is it trying to start at least? Like sounds how your starting with a low battery?

I had this problem and had two things that fixed ... first I replaced the battery, as it was due anyways, fixed issue for a little bit, then started to do the same thing ... Then was told to check the starter, being how it sits and its location it gets a lot of heat exposure , and when one that is going out gets hot it wont get the right amps to it so has trouble ... I replaced my starter and never had the problem again

Hope it helps ... cheers

Crock Pot

T-Dawg,
Thanks for the response, but see post #7 of this thread. Battery was never an issue, as that was the last thing that the previous owner replaced on the day I got it. The engione would turn over no problem - it just wouldn't run, and was terribly rich by the smell and black smoke from the tailpipe. Anyway, we are all good on that issue. Many more items to get put back in functional condition...