OK, I pulled the upper manifold today and tested the injector resistance (for kicks). They're all in good shape, registering somewhere from 12.3 to 12.7 ohms. I did find a lot of natural debris -- maple seeds, acorn shells, etc. -- under the upper intake (on top of the lower intake), so I'll vacuum that out. I'll post a picture of it later, but I need to charge the camera battery first. It makes me want to look around and make sure that there is nothing in the car posing a fire risk.

I'm gonna hook a fuel pressure gauge back up to the rail, pressurise the fuel system, and look for leaks once the pressure starts dropping. Hopefully, I'll see gas leaking through the injectors seals.

Jooseppi, just saw this, and read through it all. Fuel injectors are a good bet, especially if high miles. Over time the penals get grit in them and the springs get weak, so spray pattern and closing is affected. I was going to do the Volvo's just because, but now it has a new home.

The seals on the injectors can go bad and lead to smelling petrol also.

For rebuilding, this is the place: Fuel Injector Cleaning Service and Flow Testing - Injector RX They even balance them, which a lot of injectors from the factory were never done.

On the Volvo, which also was OBDI, it was a F.I. relay! Though I did have a major improvement replacing the main fuel filter. A clogged filter can cause a rich condition. Though I am sure you already replaced this. ;) :D

Oh, and how is the Camry feeling about your new love and relationship? Is she jealous? ;) :P

Well, progress has been slow, but I have now gotten the fuel rail pulled and replaced all of the injector seals and filters. I was going to clean them with a HF ultrasonic cleaner, but they look quite clean already (I suppose its 50,000 miles have been on decent gas). I confirmed that I have Dexcool, and bought some Prestone Dexcool and two bottles of Prestone radiator flush. The next steps will be to remove the alternator and unbolt the PS pump to push it out of the way. After that, I will drain the coolant and pull the lower manifold, followed by the pushrods and then the gasket.

I need to look in the FSM and see if the oil needs to be drained for this.

I assume that by "penals" you mean pintles :)? Anyway, these injectors don't have pintles, but have ball valves instead.
That's what I'm betting on/hoping for.
Hopefully I don't need that!
Oh yes I have, and the original was disgusting :pukeface:.
I assume you mean the Corolla? We junked our old Camry ten years ago :).

As to how the Corolla is, it's blowing its clutch out slowly. I'll let you figure out how to interpret that :P.

you dont need to drain the oil to do the lower manifold, but its best to change the oil after the job as a lot of "stuff" drops into the cam valley. Before closing it up wash the cam area with some ATF or thin engine oil to "wash" the area. cut 4 pieces of blue shop towels and wad one end into the rectangular openings and drape the tails outwards so that the coolant can be wicked up and drain outside the engine rather than into the cam cavity.

its not a very hard job. change the distributor/oil pump drive O ring while at it - its right there. If you buy the NAPA kit - it already comes with the required O ring.

Jmho, I would ditch the dexcool. That stuff is hell on cooling systems.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1415480075

Need I say more?

OK, so now I need say more :).

Two main issues and one whine:

1) When I dip a white paper towel into the coolant to see what color it stains the paper towel, it stains it orange. When I just look at the coolant in a clear milk gallon, it looks green. What is going on here? It is sludging up, (as shown in the above picture), so I assume it is Dexcool. Why does it look green?

2) I have not emptied the coolant resevoir, but have done everything else according to the FSM and yet everything does not seem to be going right. I have only managed to drain ~3 quarts, even though the whole system is supposed to hold close to 12 quarts. I can see about four quarts in the reservoir, but that still leaves me missing ~5 quarts... where is it?

Two things of note (at least to me) are that I did not get even one drop out of the block drain when I popped it out and that I have the two lines that run in and out of the throttle body plugged up with bolts (thereby disrupting the coolant circuit). Could either one of these be a clue? I certainly feel like I should be getting a bunch of coolant out of the block drain. The car was not overheating even a little bit before, so I assume that there is no major blockage holding back 5 quarts of coolant.

3) I can't remember what the whine is anymore. Must not be that big a deal.

Are you really attached to this car now?

The more I think of it, the more I think I may want to pull the rad, the hoses, the water pump, etc. and flush them by hand. Does this sound like a good idea, and should I do it before or after running a flush through the system? Before and after?
That sounds ominous, but yes.

Well if you are emotionally attached then the work is worthwhile. Carry on my good man!

In my experience - getting oil sludge out of an engine's cooling system often requires mechanical removal methods. Flushes don't tend to work very well. I would most certainly be attempting sludge removal from the parts individually.

there may be multiple block drains. you might try putting a piece of weedeater string in the block drain to see if it clogged.

Oh, it's not oil sludge, it's Dexcool sludge. Dexcool has a way of letting you know that either the previous owner has not maintained it or that green coolant has been mixed into it -- it sludges!
Good idea. I'll try that.

EDIT: The FSM says that there is only one block drain, but some dude online claims that there are two. Since this is the same FSM that tells me to torque the intake manifold bolts to 116 lb-ft, I think I'll look for that second block drain...

there are two block drains - one for each side of the block - its usually a 14mm head bolt, That sludge you see is due to air in the cooling system.

If you notice - the radiator cap is a bit lower than the Z shaped steel pipe on top of the lower manifold - thats where it locks in air and dexcool starts to accumulate this sludgy junk. I found that its best to backfill the engine with coolant slowly from the heater hose that leads to the back of the thermostat, then fill with a big funnel stuck in the radiator cap opening and keep the level higher than the entire engine start and bleed through the bleed valves.

FWIW - the guy who bought my old Duramax mixed Dexcool and the green stuff.

Almost overheated the poor thing climbing a grade with a small trailer. All seems well after a few citric acid flushes and a fresh fill of Zerex G05