Rich fuel mixture??? What have I done?

Here is the deal. Lost a supercharger belt and had to wait for a pulley to be shipped in. Drove the car for a week around town-no more than 100 miles- without the supercharger hooked up. The day I got the pulley the car started sputtering and acting like its running on 4 cylinders. This was before I installed the pulley and new belts. The exhaust smells strong of fuel. Did I screw something up by running it without the SC? What do I do to fix it? Any help would be mucho appreciated. Rob

p.s. running the sc now and no difference in behavior.

98 w/no mods yet

You can run w/o the SC, and it should be without any other damage. When you lost the SC belt, did it pull the vacuum line out from under the snout?

Is your CEL on ? (Check Engine Light)

Agree, this is some other problem unrelated to the SC belt. Something could have been damaged when the belt came off, such as a vac line as deekster suggested.

Kinda sounds like what happened when my O2 sensor went out. It would throw a code if that was the case. I wonder if the broken belt would have been able to slice through the rear O2 sensor wires. If I remember right the wires are fairly loose near the passenger side firewall behind the belts...

He would definately see and SES light if the O2 were disconnected. Happened to me once. Light came on after 2 or 3 trips.

yes the light is on...flashing. I didn't see anything cut or unhooked. I'll check again, but it ran fine for the first four days running short errands in town. So I doubt it was anything that had to do with dropping the belt. I'm going to check plugs for fouling next. Although the plugs and wires are less than 3k old. Thanks for the help


98 w/no mods yet

x2 on the O2 sensor - that could be it. Scanning the car would be a big help at this point.

Read the codes, you'll have a better idea what to check.

just scanned and the codes came back P0171-lean fuel mixture, p0300 twice- random misfire bank 1. I'm guessing that means a bad or dirty injector on bank 1. Lead me by the hand here guys, where is bank 1? I don't have and can't find a book on my Riv. The dealer shop said I shouldn't mess with the injectors as the connectors are delicate and easy to screw up. Is that a bunch of malarky to get me in to pay them or what?!?!?


98sc w/no mods DITW

you shouldnt mess with the injectors or fuel lines if u dont have much experiance... FIRE HAZARD!!!

okay, thanks for the input guys. I just replaced a bad coil and its better, but not perfect. Pulled the plastic cover off the engine and guess what? There is anti-freeze pooling around two of the front injectors! What the hell? Where would it be leaking from?

Back to investigating. I have a 120 mile trip tonight and I hate to have to drive the 78 Bronco (429ci-12 mpg).

98 w/no mods and still not running

I have a 87 Bronco 351W 9.1mpg as my alternate car. Hate driving that compared to the riv too.

Antifreeze leak was from my upper hose....WHEW! But its still missing. I noticed the cat was glowing hot after running for about 10 minutes while diagnosing. Could that be because of the mis-firing? Or do I have a plugged cat in addition to another problem? Pulling my hair out here.....

Cat converter glowing red could be the result of dumping fuel through the exhaust. Either you're running pig rich on all cylinders, or one or more cylinders has a dead miss, pushing unburned fuel out of the engine. My guess is it's a miss.

Try new spark plug wires...

Have you pulled the plugs yet? They can often tell you what's wrong.

plugs and plug wires have less than 2k on them. Code did say random misfire. Next step I guess is to take it to a mechanic and have them put it on a real diagnostic. I'm gonna guess injectors... anyone have a set if I have to change them? Do I go with OEM or the 42lb ones I hear people talking about? Do I have to do anything else if I go with the larger injectors?

Misfires like this almost always come back to bad wires or a cracked spark plug. Check them all.

If you upgrade injectors, you also need to reprogram your IFR table in the PCM, which is not something your average shop can do. You need an aftermarket 'tuner'. Check for local Grand Prix clubs in your area, someone is bound to have a tuner you can use for this.

Quote :

I'm gonna guess injectors... anyone have a set if I have to change them?

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/for-sale-f22/injectors-t5104.htm

After extensive testing at exhorbant shop time fees the verdict is ignition module. Anyone have one for a 98? I'll be into this over $400 before I'm through.
That would buy a few mods, wouldn't it? I guess mods are no good if the riv don't run!