Please help this is my first time on a forum. but with todays prices of car repair I need to try and do some work myself.

The CEL came on and went off on it’s own a couple of time with out a problem. Then the last time it came on and started blinking, and ran very rough, passenger side cylinder stopped working. I took it into a mechanic and he told me it was clogged fuel injector, though he said the computer showed it working normally. I purchased 4 used injectors and replaced all of them. After that the same cylinder was out. I even replaced it with one that I know was good and that didn't help either. After double checking for spark, and putting a meter on to check for voltage I still can't find the problem. Now I can't even get it to start on the remaining 3 cylinders. Also I haven't driven it since I found out the fuel injector was bad. I just don't want to take it to another place and pay $140 for a bad diagnostic.

 

The blinking of the CEL indicates misfiring severe enough to damage the catalytic converter. Hopefully, you didn't drive very long under these conditions. What were the CEL codes?



How many miles on the engine and when was the last time that the plugs, wires, distributor cap, and rotor were replaced?

 

One bad cylinder can cause a lot of trouble starting.

Check the cam timing, sometimes the timing belt jumps a tooth. Also if you have, or can borrow, a compression tester check the compression in all 4 cylinders.

Replace the ignition parts if you haven't already. If you don't have the budget inspect them very carefully. The wires are a likely culprit and really can't be checked well other than replacing them (One test is to crank or run the engine at night and look for any blue flashes around the wires). Test for spark at each cylinder individually with the other 3 hooked up. Hold your test plug away from the engine. You should have strong blue sparks that can jump 1/2 inch or more. Beware that there are some rather lousy knock-off parts in parts stores. It's worth paying more for the OEM parts from a dealer. If you have time you can mail-order them at a discount.

 

the car has 135K on it. i replaced the dist. cap, roter, and plug wires Jan-07, put about 34k on since then. after i got the car back from the mechanic i replace the plugs. haven't tried compresson testing yet, and i was thinking of the fuel system pressure. but still looking to barrow a tester. not sure about the codes i'll call and ask if they still have them.

 

You can check for fuel delivery by disconnecting the return hose from the fuel regulator back to the tank. First loosen the gas cap so there is no pressure in the line. Disconnect the hose where it meets the metal line at the firewall. Direct the end of the hose into a container. When you turn the key on but do not crank, gas should come out of the regulator end for a few seconds while the pump primes. This gives good confidence that the fuel pump has enough pressure to reach the regulated pressure.