Okay, after finally being able to go look at my Grandsons 2004 Crossfire I found the following. He said after buying fuel it hesitated to start then backfired and spewed black smoke and wouldn't run. I popped the hood and everything looked okay. I changed the RCM because it is easy to do. Because he disconnected the battery there were no codes. When cranking it would start for a moment, have a loud pop-pop in the exhaust then surge and die or just die. I suspect the MAF or CPS but I would appreciate other thoughts. It has 101,000 miles on it.
THANKS

 

what fuel did he put in ... did he grab the diesel by mistake ... I've seen this happen before

 

He says he is sure it was gasoline.

 

Maybe bad gas. I doubt diesel. The diesel nozzle is too big for the unleaded fill hole. Many years ago, when I worked at a gas station on I-94 I had to drain diesel from a couple of cars. These were older cars that ran on leaded gas, same size nozzle for leaded and Diesel.

 

Plugged cat
top cat gets brittle over time. Hit a few holes in the road to jar it good. The cat converter inners shake loose and plug the down pipe

unbolt the exhaust manifold and try to fire it up.

zero cost to try.

 

The first post was March 10th indicating no start

Any update? Did your Grandson get it running?

 

No, unfortunately he lives aways from me and it is difficult to assess. I intend to replace the MAF, CPS and see what happens. The one time I was able to start it, it was popping then surged and quickly died. I agree with you about a possible plugged cat.

 

Following up on this one. Was a definitive issue identified?

did he get it running?

 

Actually no, it has been sitting. After replacing the RCM, CPS and Maf, it would sort of idle however no power and loud popping when running. It sounds like a hole in the manifold. There is also what appears to be a hot spot on the exhaust manifold which could indicate a cracked or broken valve.

 

I found a thread about a line that runs to the bottom of the intake manifold near the throttle body. The fitting that the line goes into gets dry rotted and causes leaks. I don't know if that is causing the trouble.
You can find it around post #85 in this thread:

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...running-5.html

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Okay, after 5 months I finally got it running good. I had it brought to my house so I could trouble shoot. I could feel air pressure coming from the front of the engine so I decided to pull the intake. Sure enough the intake was blown from the backfire. I replaced it and not knowing the cause decided to replace the injectors, Plugs and wires since I had it apart. I also replaced the MAF and CPS. The plugs were black and worn. He also had an 02 sensor code so I replaced that. After putting at all back together it still didn't idle smoothly but the backfire was gone. I checked the fuel pressure and it was low so I changed the fuel filter, started it up and YEA it sounds good. I believe the reason for the destructive backfire was from multiple issues.

 

Hi Zeracer,
Congratulations on solving your problem. Hope you don't mind, but could I ask what the total cost of the repair was? It sounds like $1k at least.
Thanks
-Jerry

 

Jerry,
I did the work myself. The parts ran a little over $300.00 and about 12 hours labor over about 10 days because of the hot weather and my age (80).

 

I'm glad you've got it running again!
Thanks for the pictures and the update.

 

Good work! I want to be like you when I grow up

 

LOL

 

"so I changed the fuel filter"
I'm not sure you have corrected the problem. Hopefully all is well, but keep a close eye on the fuel system. It is quite possible the charcoal filter is saturated with gasoline and in a short time you will exhibit the same old idle problems.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I also figured excessive fuel in the system but have no other ideas what would cause that. I also changed the EVAP solenoid that regulates the fuel return so ? I tried adding suction to it and nothing.

 

If the charcoal filter back by the fuel filter and pump gets saturated with gasoline the EVAP system will pull raw gas into the intake manifold when the solenoid (under the hood, in front of the CAB) opens.
The EGR should only circulates exhaust fumes back to the intake manifold.
As I said above you may have got the problem taken care of, but watch the EVAP system for any trouble.
The solenoid is normally closed; Adding vacuum to it should be negative, but adding vacuum to the line that runs to the rear of the car is what you want to test.