Problems with 88 3.8 June 20, 2006, 03:49:47 PM My 88 cougar has been having problems lately when starting out cold. It turns over, then just starts sputtering, sometimes dies, or just runs like for a few seconds until i give it some gas, then it levels out. After that it hesitates to accelerate for a few minutes until the engine gets warmed up. I've replaced the plugs, plug wires, distributor, rotor, fuel filter, and it's still doing it. Anybody have any ideas what it could be? Quote Selected
Problems with 88 3.8 Reply #2 – June 20, 2006, 09:46:36 PM Actually karate you may have a problem with your injectors... How many miles does your car have? Mine has 247k miles. I had similar problems. What was happening... over nite one of the injectors would leak bleeding the pressure out of the fuel system. It would take atleast 5 to 10 seconds to start, a long time, count to ten and realize that you would cry if it took your car that long to start. I swapped the injectors out with some 120k mile units and the car runs smooth as silk. Heres a tip, while at the boneyard, you wont find many low mile cougars or tbirds... now 3.0 vulcan taurus's have the same injectors.. and they are all over the place! Quote Selected
Problems with 88 3.8 Reply #3 – June 20, 2006, 10:44:41 PM The cougar just rolled over to 103k, and there aren't any places around here with the right systems to do a diagnostics on the car. Is there anyway to find out for sure that it's the injectors before I go through digging them out of a junkyard, buying all the gaskets, and prying mine off? Quote Selected
Problems with 88 3.8 Reply #4 – June 20, 2006, 11:24:08 PM No sure fire way of checking that its the injectors but you can test for fuel system problems... Turn the car off and check the fuel pressure... Let it set for however long it takes for it to act up... be it overnite or a couple of days. before you start the car pop the hood and check the fuel pressure again. You should have pressure no matter how long it sets. Quote Selected
Problems with 88 3.8 Reply #5 – June 21, 2006, 02:28:45 AM Quote from: badkarateThe cougar just rolled over to 103k, and there aren't any places around here with the right systems to do a diagnostics on the car. ?humm,,, so they dont have a paperclip and a test light? thats all it takes to do the test:D Quote Selected
Problems with 88 3.8 Reply #6 – June 21, 2006, 09:51:55 AM I'll do the pressure check tonight then again tomorrow morning, see how things come out from that. If I knew you could do a diagnostics with just a test light, I would've been trying it myself. Are there any sites/guides around that can show me how to do it myself? Quote Selected
Problems with 88 3.8 Reply #7 – June 21, 2006, 10:48:51 AM here it is,,,,http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/OBD_I.html Quote Selected
Problems with 88 3.8 Reply #8 – June 21, 2006, 02:16:39 PM I did the key on, engine off test with a test light, and it blinked twice, paused for a couple seconds, blinked twice, paused, blinked once, then blinked twice, paused and blinked twice. If I read the chart right, then that's a code 22, right? Bad map sensor? Quote Selected
Problems with 88 3.8 Reply #9 – June 21, 2006, 02:51:49 PM That is eleven presented twice. A separator pulse and eleven presented twice again.Digit pulses are 1/2 second on, 1/2 second off.Two seconds off time between digits.Four seconds off time between codes.The code sequence is presented twice.Eleven is no problems detected.The first code elevens are the result of tests that the EEC is running.The second code elevens after the separator pulse are stored codes read from the keep alive memory (KAM). These are stored during normal driving of the car.The KOER test will start with an engine code. Three pulses for six cylinder. Then present any service codes twice. Quote Selected
Problems with 88 3.8 Reply #10 – June 21, 2006, 03:19:32 PM Alright, so everything checks fine with the KOEO test? I did the KOER test and I got the 3 blinks for the 6 cyl, then 4 blinks, a 2 second pause then 1 blink then 4 seconds and another 4 blinks, 2 second pause and 1 blink. Quote Selected
Problems with 88 3.8 Reply #12 – June 21, 2006, 04:29:46 PM Code 41: Right oxygen sensor signal lean during self test.The sensor could be bad or it could actually be running lean.Does this car have two sensors? A right and a left.Does the '88 have heated EGO's? My '84 does not and the EEC doesn't look at the EGO until the car is warmed up.Since it only acts up when cold, maybe it is an engine temperature sensor problem. The EEC thinks it is warmed up when it is not? The EEC should give you a richer mixture when cold.If you run the KOER test when the engine is cold you should get a code 21. Quote Selected
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