Engine Losing Power

I just got over a very similar problem, it was the injectors. Bad idle, no power. I had a mechanic friend handle it, ran me $150. Fixed the problem right up

crazyjackcsa wrote:

I just got over a very similar problem, it was the injectors. Bad idle, no power. I had a mechanic friend handle it, ran me $150. Fixed the problem right up

Thanx !!I will try this !!

For what it is worth, I had a similar problem some years ago with a 2.0L Dodge Aires stationwagon. My wife started complaining that the car lost power climbing hills or if she attempted to accelerate on flat terrain.

Suffice it to say that after spending an entire Saturday checking out a number of things, including replacing the mechanical fuel pump, blowing out the fuel lines back to the tank, replacing the fuel filter, etc., ad nausem, I gave up when the sun started to go down and began putting the car back together again.

I was getting ready to put the air filter back in the filter box and noticed some debris in the bottom of the box. When I went to clean in out, I started laughing.

A family of field mouse had built a nest in the outside air intake tube just forward of the filter box and the nest was restricting the flow of air when more air was required to burn the fuel under load.

At any rate, before tearing into the injectors, take a moment to check out the air path from the exterior of the Riv to as close to the engine as you can. If you have already made this check, my apologies for wasting your time.

Crashtestdummy wrote:

For what it is worth, I had a similar problem some years ago with an 2.0L Dodge Aires stationwagon. My wife started complaining that the car lost power climbing hills or if she attempted to accelerate on flat terrain.

Suffice it to say that after spending an entire Saturday checking out a number of things, including replacing the mechanical fuel pump, blowing out the fuel lines back to the tank, replacing the fuel filter, etc., ad nausem, I gave up when the sun started to go down and began putting the car back together again.

I was getting ready to put the air filter back in the filter box and noticed some debris in the bottom of the box. When I went to clean in out, I started laughing.

A family of field mouse had built a nest in the outside air intake tube just forward of the filter box and the nest was restricting the flow of air when more air was required to burn the fuel under load.

At any rate, before tearing into the injectors, take a moment to check out the air path from the exterior of the Riv to as close to the engine as you can. If you have already made this check, my apologies for wasting your time.

This is important and a very good note - thanks, wish I'd remembered to suggest that.

how hard is it to remove and clean the injectors for cleaning? ,,,Can I preform this my self,,, I am pretty good with tools, do I need any SPECIAL tools ????!

AZANC1995 wrote:

how hard is it to remove and clean the injectors for cleaning? ,,,Can I preform this my self,,, I am pretty good with tools, do I need any SPECIAL tools ????!

you can do it yourself but you really ought to get the service manual for the car first, or at least a manual that shows R&R of injectors on the L67 engine. You also might consider getting a set of cleaned injectors from a junkyard or new or rebuilt ones from a car parts store.

Reason I am not posting instructions - they are not complicated but they are involved, including things to do to avoid injecting gas into yourself... and based on the problems you listed no kidding it's really best to get a manual, it will explain this and as well pretty much everything else you will need to catch up on the maintenance. The manuals are usually pretty cheap on eBay, less than $50 the set and sometimes you will find for less, if the seller says "make offer" probably $20 - $30 would do it.

Someone else might post instructions...

Albertj

Make sure you have a ball hammer,you'll need it to hit your self in the head. After realizing, a can of SEAFOAM, would have been just as effective............

flyineagle96 wrote:

Make sure you have a ball hammer,you'll need it to hit your self in the head. After realizing, a can of SEAFOAM, would have been just as effective............

If the injectors are REALLY bad, Seafoam won't do it. Off come the injectors for a cleaning/rebuilding, or replacing.

Thanx guys, really luv this RIDE !! Got manuals and will give it A try !! WILL try the SEAFOAM FIRST !!

AZANC1995 wrote:

Thanx guys, really luv this RIDE !! Got manuals and will give it A try !! WILL try the SEAFOAM FIRST !!

glad you got a manual set, hope they are factory not Chilton - chilton will help but fac manuals are about as cheap nowadays.

please remember not to overlook the obvious. For instance we recently had another problem posted on the site, had us all speculating, turned out to be a detached/burned spark plug wire. So again please remember to check the obvious first, which may be easier now that you have a service manual set.

Albertj

EDIT: Below Robo mentioned Mr. Injector. I think he means http://www.mrinjector.us/, mrinjector.com is a spam site last I checked.

ALSO - be sure to check your nylon gas lines (around the engine) *immediatley* to see if they are cracked or something. That could be a problem. Many parts stores sell a repair kit for them for fairly short $$.

any attempt at cleaning injectors while they are in the car is futile. they have to come out,and at the least you have to buy a injector service kit from mrinjector.com .it includes new filters new orings new pintle caps. at best you will notice a bump in smoothness and hp. the best course of action is to go to the junk yard and find a set of used injectors and send them off for cleaning. this way you will have a set in rotation. liquids,bug juice,sperm,vinegar,douche juice, nothing will restore the inj. filter that just degrades over time.if you have a 95 its time to address the issue and save your "juice" money for a six pak to drink while you service the injectors. over and out.

They are Factory Manuals !!!

Crashtestdummy wrote:

For what it is worth, I had a similar problem some years ago with a 2.0L Dodge Aires stationwagon. My wife started complaining that the car lost power climbing hills or if she attempted to accelerate on flat terrain.

Suffice it to say that after spending an entire Saturday checking out a number of things, including replacing the mechanical fuel pump, blowing out the fuel lines back to the tank, replacing the fuel filter, etc., ad nausem, I gave up when the sun started to go down and began putting the car back together again.

I was getting ready to put the air filter back in the filter box and noticed some debris in the bottom of the box. When I went to clean in out, I started laughing.

A family of field mouse had built a nest in the outside air intake tube just forward of the filter box and the nest was restricting the flow of air when more air was required to burn the fuel under load.

At any rate, before tearing into the injectors, take a moment to check out the air path from the exterior of the Riv to as close to the engine as you can. If you have already made this check, my apologies for wasting your time.

Had this same exact issue with a Cutlass Ciera. Mouse made nest in air cleaner and the car would just bog and flood when anything more than light throttle was applied.

DEMonte1997 wrote:

Crashtestdummy wrote:

For what it is worth, I had a similar problem some years ago with a 2.0L Dodge Aires stationwagon. My wife started complaining that the car lost power climbing hills or if she attempted to accelerate on flat terrain.

Suffice it to say that after spending an entire Saturday checking out a number of things, including replacing the mechanical fuel pump, blowing out the fuel lines back to the tank, replacing the fuel filter, etc., ad nausem, I gave up when the sun started to go down and began putting the car back together again.

I was getting ready to put the air filter back in the filter box and noticed some debris in the bottom of the box. When I went to clean in out, I started laughing.

A family of field mouse had built a nest in the outside air intake tube just forward of the filter box and the nest was restricting the flow of air when more air was required to burn the fuel under load.

At any rate, before tearing into the injectors, take a moment to check out the air path from the exterior of the Riv to as close to the engine as you can. If you have already made this check, my apologies for wasting your time.

Had this same exact issue with a Cutlass Ciera. Mouse made nest in air cleaner and the car would just bog and flood when anything more than light throttle was applied.

Wish I'd thought of this too.

Remember that the RIv's air horn passes thru the fenderwell. You might want a rod of some sort, like a used wiper blade refill, to probe it if for whatever reason you can't see thru it.

Albertj

My two cents.... you have a very small pinhole leak or crack in the upper air intake around the EGR tube/TB. (I assume your car is non supercharged). It allows a little coolant to leak in filling the lower intake valley up. When going uphill, turning very sharp, or even aggressive accelerating it allows the coolant to slightly overflow into the into the intake runners, bogging the engine down. It has happened to my brothers 3800 and we didn't notice it (no white sweet smoke out the exhaust) other than an insignaficant coolant leak we couldn't track down. We found out when the plastic upper failed completely. Replaced it with a used one (never a good idea) and the stumbling came back after a while. Found it had an minute sealing issue with the TB after we pulled the upper again and it was filled with coolant. Figured he'll drive it until it goes completely again but that could take another 2yrs... until then a quick top off of radiator fluid every 3 mo or so.

Let us know what it is if you find it!

cant figure out what the problom is... Series 1 suercharger riviera no acceleration at all. first they said it was bad cat, so put straight pipe on it nothin. Then it went to bad fuel pump so changed that and filter still nothing... I even to it to tranny shop the found nothing wrong cant figure this one out.... Help please need this motor until finished with other motor rebuild..

Engine has 82xxx miles on it and trany was rebuild last summer at 79xxx miles dont understand where my problem is it ran good until powerstearing pump started whinning which i cant stop even with a new one...HELP

Is your boost bypass valve actuating? (does it move when you rev the engine?) Is the SES/Check Engine light on?

Dont know about bypass vavle but engine light is on

deekster_caddy wrote:

Is your boost bypass valve actuating? (does it move when you rev the engine?) Is the SES/Check Engine light on?

...and do you have a scanner (not just code reader) so you can see what the sensors are telling the PCM?

Yeah a snapon it gives knock sensor tps and cam position codes fix all three sensors still same thimg

Pipes wrote:

Yeah a snapon it gives knock sensor tps and cam position codes fix all three sensors still same thimg

Did the snapon show the sensors were dead or did they read something and you replaced anyway?

If you replaced the sensors, and reset the codes, and the codes came back, most likely you have a **wiring** problem and you need to use a voltmeter/ohmmeter (don't know if the snapon has that function) to check the wires to the sensors for continuity and you need to visually inspect the plugs for damage. You also need to feel the wires to determine if there are any breaks in the wire hidden under the insulation.

It would be easier if you knew about car's repair history. Any info?

already checked wiring and harness also did a volt meter check the tps had a bad wire replaced it ... But there is no symptoms of the sensors being bad.... in the next i will be ordering a new wiring harness for the engine....

Pipes wrote:

already checked wiring and harness also did a volt meter check the tps had a bad wire replaced it ... But there is no symptoms of the sensors being bad.... in the next i will be ordering a new wiring harness for the engine....

I doubt the new harness will fix your problem.

You did not comment on repair history. I mean, if you don't know OK. But if you can talk about the car and what you've modified on it while owning it etc. that would help.

Another thing you can do - go under the rear seat and disconnect the battery - check and see what the voltage is **no load**. If it is much under 12.6 volts maybe that is the actual culprit. These cars don't like weak batteries, and the OE battery runs strong for a long (7-10 years) time. And when it goes, it goes.

This riviera is stock never no major repairs since i owned it... Had it since 2000 snd tranny was done at a tranny shop and powerstearing pump that all that has been done

Pipes wrote:

This riviera is stock never no major repairs since i owned it... Had it since 2000 snd tranny was done at a tranny shop and powerstearing pump that all that has been done

You may well simply have a weak battery, please check it. Go under the rear seat and disconnect the battery - check and see what the voltage is **no load**. If it is much under 12.6 volts maybe that is the actual culprit. If under 11.5 v or so then you have at least one dead cell.

Let me give a little more detail.

The PCM depends on readings from the car's various sensors to control fuel, spark, spark advance; it measures air but you meter the air via throttle body (mechanical linkage). If the battery is weak, although the sensors may be operating properly they are under voltage **and the PCM does not compensate** for the sag. Consequently, you get all sorts of anomalous and inconsistent behavior from the car.

So Yeah, it does not sound so intuitive but no kidding when you get a bunch of problems all at once like you are seeing now it's time to check the battery. They are good but they only last so long. Voltmeter test is an OK screen. If it measures something like 11.8 or 12.0 v odds are the batt is worn out and does not have "enough CCAs." You should check the wiring too but I'd check battery first.

If you have a battery tester available you can test the CCAs. You need at least 450 CCAs on the Riv, IIRC. Below that and it's time to replace battery.


Albertj