No power...

[gruberguy]

Hi there, long time reader, 1st post as this is driving me crazy....

1988 Bronco II, 2.9l, 5 speed manual...88k original miles, 1 owner. Vehicle was my dad's who gave it to my 16 year old. Bronco sat for 4 years, never started. Once we got the truck and started driving it, fixing little things here and there, brakes, power windows, etc, we put some Seafoam in the gas tank... Then problems started as it apparently had a LOT of build up in bottom of tank.... Long story short, 2 fuel injectors got stuck open from the bad gas, took to the shop... who said engine had to be rebuilt...

We get the truck back, and immediately weren't happy as I called the shop 5 miles way as it was running rough. They didn't clean the IAC. Needless to say I wasn't impressed with the shop.

Shop is now closed and in foreclosure by the way...

Mind you, I'm not the best mechanic...

Bronco runs, starts, idles GREAT... Just no power at high RPM's... New coil, cap, plugs, wires... Shop didn't mark timing anywhere... I've tried advancing and retarding (twist a little, tighten, test drive, repeat.. have tried this many times). Turning clockwise, engine will bog down, turning counter, engine will never bog down as far as you can turn it before it hits the block...

New muffler, CAT converter removed and straight pipe, new battery and air filter, new fuel filter and fuel pump assembly in tank... (black fuel round resoviour thing cracked and is bypassed)... fuel pressure at idle is good and steady, and pressure doesn't bleed off with KOEO...no codes present...

My suspect.... is timing off? Other 4 old injectors possibly slightly clogged even though idle is great and never spits, sputters etc? Anything else to check??

Like I said... You'd never know anything was wrong unless you give it say 60% throttle or more....from 60% to wide open vehicle goes the same speed, which makes hills a PITA, passing someone impossible, and 5th gear absolete...

 

[wildbill23c]

Probably not running on all 6 cylinders, trust me with these little 2.9L engines you can tell when they aren't running on all 6 LOL. Probably due to the fuel issues you had it washed the cylinder walls down and causes some cylinder compression loss, and my guess is they didn't do a rebuild, they just charged you for one...and if they did a rebuild they're in the thousands of dollars mostly in labor, the rebuild kits are like $400 LOL.

My 88 Bronco 2 is currently sitting in the driveway waiting for its day in the shop for a new engine due to similar problems of fuel pressure regulator allowing fuel to be dumped into one or more cylinders and causing permanent damage. I've babied it along for over a year and its to the point where I changed a fouled spark plug and rather than just finding a ton of built up carbon as I had in the past it was wet with fuel, oil, and worst of all metal filings .

 

[gruberguy]

Guess I'll check compression on the cylinders.... Rebuild cost was $3200... If the Bronco didn't mean so much to our family, probably would have sold it instead... I've been trying to find out how you determine if injector is slightly plugged... Like I said, idles and drives perfect in town.. Just no power on hills...

 

[JerryC]

Random thought, is the throttle opening all the way?
Have somebody floor it with the engine OFF and hold it. Then go check to see you can manually open the throttle more by hand.

 

[gruberguy]

Jerry... I never thought of that.... I'll check that out this evening....