87 Escort rattle with black smoke from the tail pipe

My wormer 87 accord was fuel injection but the lower versions were carb

All United States Ford Escorts were fuel injected in 1987 (but not Honda?).
A failing oxygen sensor can cause a rich mixture problem without a check engine light. Start with basic diagnosis, not gut feelings about compression problems.

I owned a few 1986 Ford Escorts and I would be surprised if the instrument panel didnā€™t shake at idle.

@Nevada_545. ā€œA failing oxygen sensor can cause a rich mixture problem without a check engine light.ā€

I agree. In an OBD1 system without a down stream oxygen sensor that could easily happen.

Well now, Iā€™m really confused I donā€™t know how to tell if itā€™s fuel injection or not but I do know what a carberTor looks like at leSt the way the outside looks and it defiantly looks the same but now that you mention it the inside of the carb doesnā€™t look like the inside of the carburetor I had before, hmmm I will snap a pic and find out for sure. But the car has a MAJOR problem with its fuel economy. 10 dollars puts it at just under a half tank but 35 miles later itā€™s completely outta gas. And now the smell that it blows out thru the air vents is starting to make me feel nauseous and kinda makes my head ache and sitting at red lights is so embarrassing due to the gasey smell and the cloud of black smoke that hovers over me

If you are using 10 dollars worth of fuel in 35 miles paying for a diagnostic to find out what you need to do will be money well spent.

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The engine may be pushing raw gas past the rings and contaminating the oil. That can destroy the engine. And if somehow the engine isnā€™t destroyed the catalytic converter will be, if it isnā€™t already.

Multi port injection looks nothing like a carburetor. OP may certainly have throttle body which does resemble a hollowed out carb with the float bowl removed and 1 or 2 injectors. I suspect it was a $$ saving transition avoiding a complete re-engineering of intake manifolds. The lack of check engine light could be the result of it being illuminated for so many years it just burned out.

Yes, a throttle-body fuel injection unit looks quite similar to a carb, an outside view with it installed I mean. In fact itā€™s quite common for owners of older carbā€™d cars who decide they want a car that starts and idles perfectly, every time, to install an aftermarket throttle body fuel injection in place of the carb. These units are designed with the same bolt hole pattern and dimensions, where you can just remove the carb and bolt the TBI unit on.

You arenā€™t quite done unfortunately, b/c TBI requires higher fuel pressures, which means an in-tank electric fuel pump, and TBI usually requires one or two O2 sensors. OP could look at the exhaust system near the exhaust manifold for an O2 sensor. That would provide a clue.

Thank you for reminding me of something semi related. In late 1975 I was doing lube, oil, filter duty (which was rotated between the mechanics) on a Saturday morning at the GM (Buick) dealership. A barely running, black smoking mid 1960s Rambler Ambassador 327cu in V8 pulled onto the service drive. I greeted the driver who was an elderly Jewish man on his way to the Synagogue. I did not want to bring this carbon monoxide generator inside and requested he park it on the side of the building. I removed the air cleaner which was completely clogged. The automatic choke was also stuck and the carb was dismal with raw gasoline evident. I retrieved a large aerosol can of ā€œchoke cleanerā€ from the dealership which I later logged ( the $1.25) onto my tab. I used over half of it to somewhat clean the choke and carb. The rest I expended into the carb with engine running. The results were surprising with smooth running and lack of smoke. I advised him that due to the raw gasoline washing cylinder walls and draining into the oil pan required an immediate oil/filter change. He agreed. I completed a lube, oil, filter, + safety inspection.the air cleaner was $3. He tried to give me a $5 bill for getting his car drivable. I suggested he give it to a poor person that really needs it.

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@GeorgeSanJose Believe or not some carbureted engines of the 80ā€™s did have oxygen sensors. I had an '84 Skylark V6 with an E2SE Rochester carb. It had a throttle position sensor inside the carb and other sensors that fed the ECM.

And that carburetor was a nightmare @George. Rebuilding it was a real pain.

@Rod_Knox Yes it was. Just getting the mixture control solenoid back in without smushing its O ring was a real challenge. Then there was the veri-jet. Had to make my own tool to adjust it but once I got it right it was a great carb.

Yes @MY_2_CENT, once properly reassembled and adjusted it was a great carburetor but it was a money losing proposition for me. A good glob of Vaseline on that MC solenoid plunger helped get it seated but when it split it was a pain. And reassembling that Rube Goldberg linkage was a nightmare.

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