Thread: Scan tool or code reader for RRC

The most common reason for rich running is failure of the temperature sensor for the injection which is located on the RH side of the inlet manifold at the front and has an injection type plug on it. Or maybe simply the contacts of the plug are dirty.

At normal operating temperature there should be <300 Ohms resistance across the blades.

Or your thermostat may be faulty.
14CUX will richen if the read temperature is <80C so they should be fitted with 88C thermostats.
Funnily enough exactly this happened to my Disco TD5 last week.( dirty plug)
Regards Philip A

I finally got round to removing the plugs. Every plug is evenly black from running rich.
My temp sensor read 400 ohms after 15 mins of idling. Due to an abs issue I can't drive the car. I will replace the coolant temp sensor anyway. For $30 its worth it.
I compression tested all cylinders since the plugs were out. I performed it dry with a cold engine. All cylinders were between 132psi and 138psi except cylinder 5. This one is 120psi.
I will fit new plugs and see how it idles. I'm not expecting any miracles though. Hopefully I will get a coolant temp sensor tomorrow and can fit that too.
Thanks again for your input Philip.
Cheers.

Oh and you were right Philip. The idle plate on the back of the plenum was a bit loose but not enough to cause a leak.
Cheers.

Okay I have replaced the plugs and coolant temp sensor. The new sensor reads 308 Ohms at running temp.

The engine still stalls and is also doing it when cold now. It even stalls when I turn the a/c on now. Idle is set at 1000 rpm. After the engine stalls I restart it and it revs at 2000 for a few seconds then drops off in a couple stages down to 1000. If I select D or R while its idling at 2000 it doesn't stall and will sit in gear for a minute or so before a couple little chugs and hiccups then stalling.

I have checked the star rotor air gap and it looks fine. Checked all connections at coil, amplifier, sensors and ecu. I'm running out of ideas. Maybe the idle stepper motor is too slow to react but that doesn't explain how rich the motor is running.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

Thank you.

What about the thermostat? Must be 88C on 14 CUX.
Even if you now have it right it will need an Italian Tune up to go properly.
Regards Philip A

One question I haven't asked is whether your recently acquired car has ever had gas on it.
I have seen Lucas injectors jammed open when not used enough on a gas car.
In fact I have supplied a set of good injectors to a bloke who posted pictures of obviously jammed open injectors.
A cheap solution is to buy reconditioned Bosch Gen11 or Gen 3 injectors to suit a Mustang 4.6 litre on US ebay (18.5 Lbs per hour) . There are lots on there.
I have fitted 2 sets with good results .
Regards Philip A

Thanks Philip,
Yes the car has had LPG fitted and removed before I purchased it. There is electrical tape in various sections of the harness where the LPG was previously wired in. Good idea with the injectors. I guess it is possible that there is worn/damaged injectors.

I have since fitted another borrowed dizzy with a stuffed vac advance and the engine definitely idles smoother and lower. I can set idle at 700 in neutral and its smooth. The original dizzy won't allow the idle any lower 900 rpm and even at that it still stalls unloaded sometimes.

The other thing I've found with the borrowed dizzy is if I set static timing anymore than 2 deg btdc the idle hunts and stalls when D or R is selected. If i set the timing at tdc the car doesnt stall when d is selected even when its warmed up. I'm going to check the balancer hasn't spun when I get a chance..

I have not yet pulled the thermostat to see which one it has but I'll get around to it this weekend hopefully.

The car still runs really rich cold and hot. Is it normal to be rich at idle when cold? Rich enough to gas you out and burn your eyes?

Thanks again for the heads up on the injectors from the U.S

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Pacemaker

The original dizzy won't allow the idle any lower 900 rpm and even at that it still stalls unloaded sometimes.

Check and adjust the air gap between the star rotor and the pickup, under the plastic cover. It should be around 0.005". Higher gaps don't allow the pickup to produce enough voltage to trigger the ignition module at low rpm. Distributor repair thread here:

Lucas V8 dissy nylon clip repair method.

Originally Posted by Pacemaker

The car still runs really rich cold and hot. Is it normal to be rich at idle when cold? Rich enough to gas you out and burn your eyes?

I've found many RRC/D1's to be very stinky at idle, they don't have catalytic converters or oxygen sensors to fine tune them, at least not in Australia. It's what struck me at the All British Day a while ago, cars without modern engine management do really stink something shocking. Rows and rows of Ol Blighty's finest blowing out clouds of noxious fumes, and most were warm and running perfectly. Not to say you can't fine tune the MAF with a volt meter and perhaps an oxygen sensor retrofitted to the exhaust. I've fitted plenty of oxygen sensors to RRCs running on LPG to eke a little more economy out of them.