Well here?s the story?.My car was running kinda sluggish so I talked to a guy down the block that fixes lawn mowers and he said that maybe the gas was old. He said I needed to maybe clean my fuel system out, and I think I might have done something bad.
What I did was went to Home Depot and got some Liquid Plumber and added it to my fuel tank ( I used the gel b/c it?s stronger) and I think it worked too good because now my injectors are plugged up, at least that?s what the lawn mower guy says, IDK.
So I pulled the injectors to clean them one at a time. I took each one out and buffed them up on my wire wheel real good and they look nice and clean now. But now the problem is I think that something is wrong with the computer because the injectors squirt real good but they don?t stop. The reason I know this is because three of them popped out when I tried to start the motor. But I fixed that with some J-B Weld and tapped them all in with a hammer. They are all nice and tight now but the car still won?t run very smooth or very long. Some times when I try to start it raw gas drips out of the exhaust pipe, not a lot though, is that bad?
I have been working on this for a long time now and every time I go back to work on it there seems to be something else wrong I?m at a loss for ideas. I thought that because it was a little rich ( fuel dripping from the tail pipe) maybe it was starving for air. So I used my shop vac (on blow of course, I?m not stupid) to blow air into the throttle body. That was real easy to get to because one time when it back fired it burned the intake tube off (guess that will be a trip to the junk yard for a replacement), but if any body has a spare let me know. Any way what I did was turned the shop vac on and let it build up some pressure then tried to start it. To my suprize it fired right up and idled real fast for about 10 seconds then started to shake and slowed down then made a loud sort of clunking noise and stopped. After that it wouldn?t even turn over with the key. Could that be a PATS issue?
Sorry for the long post and any help would be appreciated . Thanks in advance. Oh yea this site rocks!
You can post something like this with a straight face?
If you’re serious then it’s time to scrap the car.
Today is April 1st. That is all I have to say about that.
This has to be an April Fools Day joke - nobody uses Liquid Plumber in their gas tank, JB Weld on their injectors or their shop vac on their throttle body.
I think the problem is that you have to use the vacuum cleaner on the exhaust end rather than the throttle body and pull the exhaust out rather than push air in. If this works you can put the vacuum in the trunk, plug it into the power port in your console, and drive the car that way.
Don’t worry about the loud clunking noise. The sound of the vacuum rolling around the trunk will drown that out.
The problem was the Liquid Plumber.
Everyone knows you’re supposed to use Drano for that sort of problem.
Try emptying your gas tank then refilling it with gasoline and then add Drano this time.
I don’t know what you guys are all so skeptical about. I have fixed many a fuel system problem with Liquid Plumber. Its quite obvious that this person was way to timid about it and didn’t use enough.
Do you have to pour it out of the bottle first or should youe put it in in the bottle?
In my experience, the only important part about the actual procedure is to make sure that you begin a double shot of a good, stiff whiskey. After that, no matter what you do it with it will probably work.
Please do us all a favor and provide the make, model, year, and mileage of the car. If possible also the VIN and any maintenance history. Were you the original owner? Which engine do you have? Is it a daily driver or only used on long trips/highway driving?
I am still waiting for the information I requested.
it’s a 94 mitsubishi ecplise, big rear spoiler, with two vtec’s i think
So, I Know, Right ?
So, I think there’s still something wrong with the car, eh? After all you’ve done, you’d think it would be really percolating. Ok, who knew, right ?
So, Here’s what I would do: So, back down to Home Depot you go. Ask the folks there for a Plumber’s Snake to fit a Mitsubishi Eclipse and a pair of heavy duty rubber gloves with nonslip grips and some vaseline.
Ok, start with the smallest snake you can, graduating to a larger size if it still won’t fire up.
So, insert the business end of the snake in there and turn the handle clockwise while gently pushing. It may take lots of handle turns. When the snake appears out the other end, try starting it. If not starting, graduate to the larger snake or try some vaseline.
If Home Depot doesn’t have a snake specifically made for the Eclipse, don’t try this, but come back and we’ll try a different approach. Do you have any pets or small children ?
CSA
Let us know tomorrow if this is a real question or an April Fool’s joke. It’s so bizarre that I’m assuming it’s a joke, but on the off-chance I’m wrong I don’t want to leave anyine hanging.
No no. Drano is what you use to get better gas mileage and more horse power. Liquid Plumber is what you use to clean it out
Yes, it was merely an April Fool’s joke. I had the sole intention of putting a smile on a few people’s faces.
I actually got a semi-chuckle out of it. Being a mechanic for a long time, I’ve had the privilege, or misfortune, of seeing things that are equally stupid. A few of them.
Guy keeps blowing the headlight fuse on his Subaru. After a dozen fuse changes he takes the bull by the horns and wires in the broken blade of a screwdriver to replace the fuse.
Good news is the fuses are not blowing anymore. Bad news is the entire engine compartment wire harness went up in flames and smoke.
Nissan 4 cylinder pickup throws a rod which then led to a hole in the block. The cure?
A heavy rag soaked in hardware store panel adhesive and jammed into the hole with the pronunciation that “I’ll drive 'er til she quits”.
Subaru owner says he’s having trouble with a fuel injector replacement as they don’t seem to match up. After some grilling he states the “old injectors have threads on them and the new ones do not and the wire connectors are different”. My advice was to reinstall the spark plugs and have someone else do the job.
Not mine but a long time friend of mine who passed away a couple of years ago told me about this one. He had his own shop and specialized in Fords. A gentleman came in and was asking questions about why the engine rebuild (351 Cleveland) he had done himself was rattling like a can of rocks and going through oil like the Exxon Valdez. The engine had been done right (bored/vatted block, new cam/lifters, redone heads, etc.
Some questioning revealed that he had been given a “secret mechanic’s tip” by a friend. The tip was that some extra fine valve lapping compound applied to the cam lobes and cylinder walls would break the engine in much faster. Oops again.
About 7 or 8 years ago even yours truly had a pretty bad Three Stooges moment that would have made Curly proud. The only thing positive was that the car belonged to me and suffered little damage. The ego took a pretty bad shot though.
Don’t quit just when the story is getting good.
Let me think about it. I hate doing stupid things and it’s near impossible for me to turn loose of my doing something in a DUH moment. Maybe tomorrow night. 
I used to paint. Anytime I screwed something up I’d apologize to the guy I was working for. He’d say, Look - the important thing isn’t that you don’t screw up. Everyone does. The important thing is how well you clean it up afterwards.