I've done some searching here and elsewhere online and I believe I might have a bad fuel injector, but I wanted to get some more feedback before I get these sent away to RC Engineering to get rebuilt.

For the last year my car has had this weird vibration under throttle, mostly in 1-3rd gears. I feel it most at lower RPMs (below 4000), and it shakes the car so badly you can see the shifter move around. If you let off the gas the vibration goes away.

My first thoughts were that there was a problem with something in the drivetrain, so I've replaced axles, wheel bearings, etc as well as a full tuneup on the rest of the engine.

Recently the car has had more and more trouble starting after it has already been run. It will kind of sputter and catch after a second, but when it's completely cold it starts up like a champ. Also, I've noticed the smell of fuel occasionally when I come to a stop and park the car.

My motor has about 80k on it and is 12 years old, so clogged or worn out injectors aren't outside of the realm of possibilities. What do you guys think? Are there scan tools that garages might have that could diagnose a fuel injector problem? So far I haven't seen any codes for it yet.

 

Anybody?

 

a clogged injector sould register a mis fire. You can always ohm test them just as an initial check, and then you could check the siginal from the ecu on each injector plug with noid lights. When I have had plugged injectors (happened somewhat often on my third gen) the exhaust note would sound like a Subaru boxer engine with an exhaust.

Do you have an adjustable FPR? I know your car is swapped. I have an AFPR in my swapped 4th gen and some times I have a little touble starting it when it is warm. It has done this ever since I had to increse my base fuel pressure in order to have enough fuel for the car up top. Just an idea

 

I tested the resistance of the front injectors last summer but didn't have easy enough access to the rear ones to test them. All the front ones tested the same.

My exhaust note doesn't sound any different than before, but then again I've had this problem for over a year, so my memory of a proper engine sound might be off.

I do have a NISMO AFPR, but I haven't touched it in years, and the warm starting problem seems to have started up within the last month or so. Same goes for the fuel smell.

 

To me it sounds like you have a leak in one of the pressure lines. Where is the fuel smell coming from? Exhaust or engine bay? I have had several leaks over the years they are normally from either where a clamp has rubbed a cut in a line or where the hose clamp has become too loose to seal the line.

 

Well I don't have any cats on my car, so the exhaust always stinks, and I'm not sure if I would be able to tell if it smelled more like gas. I believe it's coming from the engine bay, but my sense of smell isn't great, so I will need help from a friend on this one....is the best way to track down a fuel leak with your nose?

 

It's not hard. Just turn the key to the on position with out starting the car. This will pressurize your fuel lines....then go look for a leak Just follow there are only two lines to check. Once you check those and your fpr check the fuel rail at the injectors.

 

Same problem with the warm start. No one seems to hv the answer. Replaced alot of different sensors and it didn't help. Being browsing this site for about a year no luck. Dealership is next.

 

i just happen to have an 01 I30 come in today with a hard start. My first reaction was to swap out the crank sensor. But that did not fix the problem. I checked the other crank and cam sensors and they checked out fine. Looks like this thing has a leaky fuel injector which I am looking to replace. Car has a hard time starting but once running, it runs great with no misfires or anything. No cel either.

so i would do a fuel pressure leak test if you can to confirm.