<SOLVED> Car Stored 5 years, Cylinder 4 not firing at all

[ULYCYC]

 Is #4 still dead?   Are you sure it's OK mechanically? Do you have a bad lifter, that you bandaided with valve adjustment?  If all Ok then you can swap ign wires, plugs, injectors to other cylinders to see if the problem moves. I know you said you cleaned the injectors, I would still swap with another cylinder. You also could have bought a bad MAF.  The reman units are so so these days.

[Recap]

Injectors were cleaned a couple of months ago.  I am going to get after it again today so will post some numbers from the scanmaster later today.  Plan to replace all the vacuum lines as they are all original equipment with the exception of the wastegate line, check electrical connections, and unplug injectors one at a time and see if I have a non-firing cylinder.  I may also swap back on the old coil and ignition module just for grins as it has been known for new parts to be bad and that was all changed before I found the broken rocker arm.  Also going to verify spark and fuel pressure again.  Basically go back to the beginning and start over and see if I have missed something.  So here goes!

[Steve Wood]

Make sure it is not leaking around the base of the egr valve as well-they run really badly when that happens, or the egr sticks in the open position

[Recap]

Stuck my fingers underneath the EGR valve and was able to push the diaphram up.  This made the car idle badly and would smooth out once I released it.  So from this I am assuming it is not stuck of leaking.

Did replace some of the vacuum lines.  Any idea how you get to the long one that seems to disappear into the drivers side fender.  I assume this is for the cruise control and the module is located back in there.

Pulled the injector connector the infamous cylinder number 2 (same cylinder that had the bent pushrod on one valve and the broken rocker on the other valve) and idle did not change and car runs the same when you rev it.  Checked for spark, that's good.  Checked to see if the injector is getting a signal, that's good.  Pulsed injector with fuel pressure gauge attached, pressure drops.  Compression was checked the other day on 2 and 4 and they are the same.

So, looking for a little advice as to where to go from here.  I was thinking maybe I have a bad lifter that is collapses under valve spring pressure and not letting either fuel/air in or exhaust out.  Hate to have to pull the intake again, but thought I would ask for opinions in this before I headed down this path.  Was thinking it might make sense to pull the valve cover and stick a dial indicator on there and see what sort of lift I was getting at the valves first.

Thanks again for all the input, hopefully I can get this thing running before the Hot Rod Power Tour.  Was hoping to make the first part of that as it starts in Detroit which is only a couple of hours away from me. 

[Steve Wood]

well, sure seems like that cylinder is not doing anything to contribute.  Does the plug look like its firing?  Is it fuel wet?

Believe you said you had used a noid lite to verify that it is getting an injector pulse?  Seen plenty of bad harnesses the past few years.

If it has compression, one would think the lifter was working.  Maybe do a crude leak down by blowing air into the plug hole and see if it leaks out the exhaust or intake when the valves are close-wondering about bent valves

Could also follow Ed's suggestion and swap the injectors about to see if the problem stays on that cylinder or follows the injector to completely eliminate the injector.  Sure seems to be associated with the broken rocker and pushrod but?

[Recap]

When I pulled the injectors to have them cleaned I did not put them back in the exact same location. So don't think that is an issue.  I have an air hose I can attach to the cylinder to add compressed air.  Did this when I removed the splash shields back when I found the broken rocker arm.  I did not notice a huge air leak then, so my thought is that bent valves are probably not my issue.  Pulled the plug a few days ago when I checked the compression on numbers 2 and 4 and it is black, but so was the plug on number 4.  Car is running pretty rich at the moment at idle.  I'll go pull the plugs again and have another look. 

Any thoughts on my suggestion to check lift at the valve?

[Recap]

One other thing I forgot to mention.  Early on I did a compression check and all checked out fine, even cylinder 2 in which neither valve was opening as the rocker arm and bent pushrod had not been found at that stage.

[Scoobum]

I'm betting there's damage to the valves, guides or seats on number 2 cylinder.

[Steve Wood]

two and four have nothing in common electrically at the coil level.  Think you said you had proven the plugs were firing which would eliminate wires and plugs??

Bit strange to have the same compression if the valves were not moving which sure sounds like bent or such

Really hard to check lift on a hydraulic lifter as they tend to bleed down under pressure when the engine is not running.

Best would be to pull those four lifters and examine the bases for erosion as well as look down the lifter bore with a good light at the lobes.

Be nice to have leakdown gauge on the cylinders to see if they hold air pressure at all

[Steve Wood]

oh, yeah, put air in two and see if it comes out four, and vice versa

[Recap]

Not sure I understand what you mean by "put air in 4 and see if it comes out 2 and vice versa"? 

Although I do no have a leak down checker, I could do the same thing rather crudely with my air hose, could I not.  If I attach the air hose to the cylinder and set the pressure and then turn off the air to the regulator, which has a gauge on it and leave it for a period of time.   Then check the pressure after that, wouldn't this at least give me so sort of indication.  I could do no. 2 and another one just to get a comparison.  What of you think? 

Heading out of town for a few days tomorrow, so don't really want to rip it apart and then leave.  Really don't want to take it apart again, but may have not choice.  If I did pull it back apart again, and the cam looks ok, would it not make sense to throw a couple of new lifters in while I am there seeing as they are reasonably inexpensive and I am already there. 

Almost forgot, pulled the plug in 2 and compared it with another cylinder and 2 looks like its wet.

[Steve Wood]

take the plugs out of two and four...pump air into one hole and see if air comes out the other

yes, if you gave a gauge in the line you can see if it holds the pressure or goes right back down

If you install new lifters, you have to go thru the break in procedure again....if the lifters are bad, I would think they would be noisy.  Assuming the plungers are not jammed solid, I would think they are okay...

[Recap]

Little confused.  How can air from cylinder 2 escape to cylinder 4? Or are you looking for a blown head gasket? Had to think about that one for a second since we had been talking about valves, lifter, etc.  Will try and get that done tonight as I am getting motivated again now that I seem to have a direction to head. Shooting in the dark gets a bit old after a while.

[Steve Wood]

I have seen them pop a gasket between cylinders and run like crap because they did not build combustion pressure but would build compression.  After 25 years, virtually everything I have assumed has been proven wrong at least one time

Also run your hand between the head and the block on the bottom and see if you feel any air there...

[Recap]

Hooked up compressed air on cylinder 2 with plug out of 4 and no air coming out of 4.  Also did a crude leak down check on 1 and 2 from 120 psi to 80 psi.  Number 2 took 24 seconds and number 1 took 31 seconds.  Was going to check 4 as well, but compressor ran out of air and I ran out of gas!