End of the rope with my '88

[toffeepeanuts]

Its now been over a month since my '88 XR decided to kick the bucket on the highway. On that day, it ran completely fine ALL DAY with no hiccups whatsoever. When it died, it ran fine and then all of a sudden I lost power and the engine sounded different. Fast forward to now, it is still dead and I have genuinely no idea what to do now.

Currently, the engine will run, albeit VERY poorly, and it smells heavily of gasoline.

YES, I've verified cam timing is set to spec at TDC (it is)
YES, I've verified distributor timing is set to spec (it is)
YES, I'm getting 40 psi of fuel to the rail and injectors
YES, I have spark on all 4 cylinders
YES, the TFI module, ignition coil, and wires are all fine

The only thing I haven't been able to verify is compression. Why? Because the compression tester I have doesn't fit for no reason other than to piss me off even further. Knowing my luck, that's exactly where my problem lies and I can't even test it to find out.

Please someone help me before I push this thing off a cliff with me in it

[thesameguy]

You can rent a compression tester from Autozone or Oreillys...

[MarkM]

I don't see any mention of engine trouble codes.

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

I don't see any mention of engine trouble codes.

Yes. Scan it. You could just have a bad coolant temp sensor for example. This will keep the car from running if the computer does not get a signal. You can unplug the one for the fans or the one for the gauge but the computer needs it's coolant temp input. Great sneaky kill switch wire to splice into, sneakier than splicing into the fuel pump(s) which is pretty common.

[Ed Lijewski]

Pull the vacuum hose off of the fuel pressure regulator and sniff the end of the hose; if it smells of gasoline its diaphragm is bad.

When you removed a spark plug(s) what did they look/smell like?

YMMV

[my8950]

Location?

[toffeepeanuts]

I don't see any mention of engine trouble codes.

Yeah, my mistake. I hadn't even thought about getting a scanner. My last eec iv Ford had an actual check engine light (89 Mustang) so it hadn't even occurred to me.

Pull the vacuum hose off of the fuel pressure regulator and sniff the end of the hose; if it smells of gasoline its diaphragm is bad.

When you removed a spark plug(s) what did they look/smell like?

YMMV

They were slightly black from carbon but didn't have any major issues as far as I could tell. One was oily but my VC leaks about right in top of it.

Location?

Northwest Missouri

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

My car had a cheapy parts store (white plastic) PCV valve installed by a previous owner. It blew out the guts under boost and the car ran really bad bucking and jerking. Put the real deal Motorcraft one on it no problems since. Except for things like turn signals, power windows, brake lights etc. But I don't mind having to fix a few things now and then since the car is so fun. Boost comes on like a switch and throws you back into the seat. When you get the car working you will be glad you didn't push it off a cliff.

[Ed Lijewski]

You didn't rely re the fuel pressure regulator (do you know what/where it is?).

YMMV

[toffeepeanuts]

My car had a cheapy parts store (white plastic) PCV valve installed by a previous owner. It blew out the guts under boost and the car ran really bad bucking and jerking. Put the real deal Motorcraft one on it no problems since. Except for things like turn signals, power windows, brake lights etc. But I don't mind having to fix a few things now and then since the car is so fun. Boost comes on like a switch and throws you back into the seat. When you get the car working you will be glad you didn't push it off a cliff.

Yup. I have a new Motorcraft PCV on mine. PCV valves are one of the first things I do on any new cars I buy, especially if they're old cars (and they always are). Cheap insurance, y'know?
I definitely would rather get it going and not let it sit anymore.

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

We are really just blindly throwing darts at this point. I would guess if you scan it you will find out the vam or something is the problem. Ed he says he is getting 40 lbs of fuel pressure so it doesn't sound like that is an issue. As long as that pressure is not intermittently dropping off like when actually driving around. Not sure if OP is using a gauge under the hood or has a fuel pressure gauge permanently installed in the car.

[Ed Lijewski]

Currently, the engine will run, albeit VERY poorly, and it smells heavily of gasoline.

I was responding to that.

YMMV

[toffeepeanuts]

We are really just blindly throwing darts at this point. I would guess if you scan it you will find out the vam or something is the problem. Ed he says he is getting 40 lbs of fuel pressure so it doesn't sound like that is an issue. As long as that pressure is not intermittently dropping off like when actually driving around. Not sure if OP is using a gauge under the hood or has a fuel pressure gauge permanently installed in the car.

I used a pressure gauge under the hood attached to the fuel rail


I used an obd1 scanner. I got the following codes with the engine running: 12 34 41

[reddy2300]

Soooooooo, what does the book that came with the code scanner say about those codes?

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

https://www.troublecodes.net/ford/eec-iv/
https://www.troublecodes.net/ford/
Ed might be right and you are lean because of a bad fpr