Well I guess I just royally screwed up my car!
Car has been getting worse and worse gas mileage through the years and would smell like it was running a bit rich. It would backfire upon acceleration, and given an approaching massive late mustang event, where everyone’s going to be revving through the speedway tunnel to see who’s the loudest, I didn’t want to embarrass myself backfiring like a fool who doesn’t care about her car. So I decided that it was probably time to replace my fuel injectors since the 1986 ones that came with the 5.0 block were merely “rebuilt” by my husband back in 2007.
I assumed that this would be the miracle cure, as practically everything else has been replaced. I don’t really get CELs. The car has a chip, which would occasionally throw a code for a Converter clutch Lock-Up error, as the automatic transmission has a shift kit. Historically, I typically get a right side lean but sometimes left too, but ONLY if the SPOUT connector is disconnected, telling me this, not an actual CEL. O2 sensors have been replaced multiple times. So it’s not that.
Anyway. So new fuel injectors. I patiently waited a day for RTV to dry before starting it up. It idles like absolute crap!!! I figure it’s just learning, remapping itself and then it seems normal, but smells like it’s just pouring gas! No fuel seems to be leaking anywhere though. That’s what lead to me looking around for things that might be disconnected.
Anyway. I call it a night, and decide to give it a test drive just now. Car behaves exactly as it did the very first time I tried this, even thought last night, after it learned, and was a little warmer, it would start back up just fine. It was surging for a minute or two at idle, then dies. I then decide to drive it anyway, and instead of one backfire, I have SEVERAL!!!
After only driving a mile, I pull into the garage, and notice a different smell. I look under the car, and the cats are glowing red in the middle!!!! No CEL, and I can’t even get it to flash the basic 511 codes. Now I have a car that I can’t drive, and I have absolutely no idea what’s wrong with it, other than the fuel injectors, which clearly were much nicer than what came off of it!
What would cause the SPOUT not to flash any CEL codes?