Hello!

I gave up on trying to guess what was wrong with my engine on Monday, so I took it into the dealer to see if they could give me a head start. I told them the best I could find is that cylinder #1 was totally unresponsive and #4 was intermittent. After a $90 dianostic fee, they told me cylinder #1 was not working. DUH.

They wanted me to fork over $1,000 to replace the intake gasket and injector #1. I have two problems with that: First, I played musical chairs with the injectors and #1 ALWAYS came up dead, second I wasn't buying they theory that the gasket was blown simply because the tech said there was oil in the water. There is no way that I am so stupid that I can't tell what oil and water look like when they mix.

I took my car home and set a date for Christmas to strip the motor down. It went faster than any engine I have ever taken tools to. The teardown on this motor consisted of less than six steps, and I lost no skin, tools, or engine parts.

When I got the heads off, I was somewhat dissapointed to see that there was no obvious damage to the piston, bore, head chamber, or anything else mechanical. I wasted a lot of good gaskets to see the engine has no damage. This engine is basically a virgin that I could probably put another 100,000 miles on before I even think of it as broke-in.

I may take the heads in to have them magged just in case there is a crack in the intake chamber that I can't see, but I don't expect the money to get me any further than it did at the dealer. My final move will be to reassemble the engine and go from there.

If anyone is familiar with the electonic aspect of this engine, could you please arm me with too much information? I want to know how to test the injector leads for voltage, timing and everything else that pertains. The only thing I can think of is that injector #1 is not getting a signal. The cylinder is perfect in every way from spark, bore wear, carbon build up and compression. It just isn't producing a single bit of power.

Once the engine is back together, I will be putting in a new PCM unless I get negative feedback from anyone regarding the effectiveness of doing so. I am that lost.

One major thing that leads me to do this job myself is that the "tech" told me that I needed to put new plugs in the engine since the "leaking water had soaked the plugs to the point that they are damaged". He also recommened new plug wires. I was in the dealership the day before and bought a new set of wires and six Delco plugs for $9 each. The plugs are made by NGK and can be bought for a hell of a lot cheaper anywhere else but that is straying from my point...Anyway, I had new plugs AND wires in the engine with less than 30 miles on them and he said they were overdue for replacement. Ummm, wake up.

I want to do this myself (with help!) even if the long run cost overruns the dealship. If anyone is still hanging with the story and has anything to add, please feel free to help! I swear I need it.

Thanks,

Kerry!