Code 26

[The S is Silent]

I drove the van from Aiken to Clemson today...140 miles without a problem. As soon as I got there, the power steering pump decided to move (wtf?) and now I'm smoking fuel.

I pulled codes and I have 12, 23, 26, 33, 35.

All of those are normal except for 26...which is: Peak injector circuit voltage has not been reached.

What would you suggest checking? I'm going to read plugs tomorrow and see if it's just one of them, and hopefully just pop in a spare injector tomorrow.

[altered7151]

The culprit with that code is usually a bad connection on the injector wiring harness.

[The S is Silent]

The culprit with that code is usually a bad connection on the injector wiring harness.

Would this cause me to run really rich? I'm getting a lot of smoke, and it makes everything stink like gas.

[The S is Silent]

The funny thing is, it was running freaking awesome, and then my buddy cranks his neon up to warm it up and show me the new cams, and he's running on 3 cylinders...one of his injectors is leaking through really badly. As soon as I crank the van back up...I'm running really rich and I'm pouring smoke out my tailpipe.

It's almost like I caught his problem.

[altered7151]

You could have a bad injector. I'd try checking all the connectors and see if that helps, if not try the other injector. I had the same problem on my daytona and it turned out it was a bad wire grounding out, so it wasn't getting good voltage to the injector. I figured it was probably not allowing the injector to open all the way to get a good spray pattern, or was fluttering.

[GLHSKEN]

Careful,, I hjad an injector go bad... Stuck wide open. Check the oil for gas. You would not believe the amount of fuel that can be forced out a downpide in a short time... (and that means it was going straight to the oil as well)

[The S is Silent]

That sounds about right. I cranked it up while a friend was standing next to my exhaust and liquid shot out at him...gas.

What does gas in the oil look like?

[GLHSKEN]

Oil is really thin... And you can smell it more than anything.. Pull the dipstick and smell it.

BTW... Running like that WILL toast every bearing in the car.

[BadAssPerformance]

It can unseal the rings too :(

[The S is Silent]

Oil is really thin... And you can smell it more than anything.. Pull the dipstick and smell it.

BTW... Running like that WILL toast every bearing in the car.

I'm not running it at all. I moved it maybe 10 feet after this started happening. I just hope I didn't already mess it up. :(

[The S is Silent]

I checked today...the oil is still thick like normal, and the smell isn't overpoweringly like gas. Nothing out of the ordinary. I pulled the injectors out and left them connected, and primed the fuel pump. None of them were leaking like that...but I don't think that meant anything.

Also, I have green corrosion on one of the injector plugs, so I think that's where the code 26 is coming from.

Does anybody know how to test fuel injectors with them out of the car? The haynes manual tells me to listen while the car is running...but no offense to them, if one of them is dumping a large amount of fuel into the oil...I see no reason to be running the engine. How can I test these...I have 8 and need to find 4 good ones?

[turbovanman²]

The only way to test them on the car is to remove the fuel rail but keep the fuel lines hooked up. Look at the wiring diagram and figure out which wires are power. Then turn on the fuel pump and let it sit for a bit, this will let you see if any leak. Then power each injector, just tap it and you will see the fuel spray, look for a fine mist, not a stream.

[The S is Silent]

How do you test the injectors out of the car? Otherwise, I'll try and test them like that in the car

Does it matter which post I put the 12v to on the injector to fire them manually? I figure one post is positive, and one is negative, right?

[BadAssPerformance]

You need to measure impedence, but you can cheat by measuring resistance with a multi-meter. They should all be almost exactly the same, so if one is bad, you'll know it.

[turbovanman²]

How do you test the injectors out of the car? Otherwise, I'll try and test them like that in the car

Does it matter which post I put the 12v to on the injector to fire them manually? I figure one post is positive, and one is negative, right?

Out of the car, you take them to a fuel injection shop that has the proper equipment otherwise you need them hooked up to your fuel rail so you can pressurize them with fuel and turn them on and off.

I would think the polarity doesn't matter but you want to do it the same way as Dodge, that way, you don't bring another equation into the picture.

[BadAssPerformance]

If one is 'stuck' the resistance will be out of whack. I think I still have one lying around somewhere. The MP 'ball & seat' injectors do NOT like more than 70psi.

[The S is Silent]

I borrowed a multimeter from my roomate...but it only measures in kOhms. I had 3 injectors that read 0.002 and one that read 0.003. Are these normal? I'm going to take some time to find another multimeter that is actually ranged for Ohms and not just kOhms.

[BadAssPerformance]

I would say that those are all close. I'll try to find a bad one to measure it.

What size injectors are these?

[The S is Silent]

These are stock T2 (27?). Brown top. I'm still worried that those measurements are meaningless because it is so far out of range on the multimeter.

Another thing...I was having a little trouble getting a reading on some of them. I had to press pretty hard with the probe to get it to register. Could fouled contacts cause smoking and running rich?

[BadAssPerformance]

Stock T2 2.2L or 2.5L t1 should be like 32pph. I just measured some of those as well as some 36pph and 42pph injectos I had lying around and they were all between 2.5 and 2.7 Ohms which is pretty much what your kOhm meter said. I think I have a stuck one in my desk at work (so it didnt migrate back intot the flock) I'll check tomorrow.

Re-reading your first post, you said the PS pump moved? Check to see that the pulley/belt didnt get into any of the wiring harness.

[The S is Silent]

The rest of the wiring harness is fine. The pump moving didn't catch any of the wires.

[The S is Silent]

I think i figured it out...it was the fuel pressure regulator. I still have a little bit of smoke, but I think that's mostly because I'm running the TII computer on a TI harness without the CAT.

No gas smell in the oil...I think I'm good.

[BadAssPerformance]

You mean cuz you dont have a charge temp sensor?

fwiw, I found a known bad injector... will measure it when I get home tonight.

[The S is Silent]

Yeah...I meant it's because I don't have the charge air temp sensor. I think once I get that straightened out, it'll be awesome.

Thanks for getting the injector JT.

[BadAssPerformance]

no problem... well, I just measured a 42pph injector that I know for sure is stuck wide open, and its resistance is 'OL' or infinity... like I said, fubar.

[MiniMopar]

Measuring the resistance is just checking the magnetic coil inside. You could have an injector with something wedged in there holding the valve open, get still have a perfectly good coil.

I have some old test tube from a toy chemistry set. The injectors slip perfectly into them. We made a wood jig that held the rail and the tubes together. Then we cranked the engine and let the tubes fill about half way. You can observe the spray pattern and also see if they are flowing equally. Be careful when removing them since they are now pressurized.

[The S is Silent]

I kind of did that with a friend. we just pulled the rail out and with everything connected cranked the engine over. It took all of 2 seconds to see that they were all firing correctly. My problem was the FP...too bad my autozone FP gauge doesn't work, or it would have been much easier to figure out what was going on.

[BadAssPerformance]

Measuring the resistance is just checking the magnetic coil inside. You could have an injector with something wedged in there holding the valve open, get still have a perfectly good coil.

true that about the chuck of stuff in there... everyone I've stuck cuz they saw over 70psi consistently and that seems to kill the ball 7 seat type injectors... maybe not the coil but jams the tip open?

[The S is Silent]

It's easy to test for that though. Just pull the rail and observe the spray pattern. If they are all spraying like they should, then that's not the problem.

Could gunk in the injector cause you to run rich? I'd think that it would contribute to a lean problem....unless it disrupts the spray pattern and you don't get proper vaporization...

Anyways, it's a good thing to keep in mind when troubleshooting our fuel system.

[Stevien1]

Also, I have green corrosion on one of the injector plugs, so I think that's where the code 26 is coming from.

I'd start right there, you'd be surprised how fast "greenies" can work their way through the injector harness and cause all sorts of problems. Peel back the tape and check from the injector plug all the way to the main connector over by the fuel rail inlet. If the corrosion has taken over most of the harness, you can still buy a NEW harness from the dealer. If it's just localized at that particular injector plug, then splice in another one.

-Chuck James

[91DSX]

FWIW, I had codes 26 & 27 plague me for over a year and it was off & on. I had to make an injector harness from scratch and rewire them straight from the SBEC. I tried everything; HEP, Injectors, etc. Don't forget those wires are loomed above the firewall and can easily be damaged by heat/age.