[TheBlackPanther]

1996 Dodge intrepid 3.5

In the Haynes Manual in chapter 4 Sec 12 bullet point 1 it discusses ground wire connections to the intake manifold.

I just recently did my intake manifold and didn't catch any wires. It might have disconnected when I yanked the manifold off.

It most be somewhere on the back of the manifold? This being stated in the fourth chapter leads me to believe this is the source for my problem concerning my bank 2 injectors not outputting any fuel.

For reference: the spark is no concern and taken care of. Currently the car seems to go in "camel mode and only bank 1 cylinders fire confirmed by unplugging all injectors to check for idle change.

All injectors tick. However all 3 bank 2 injectors do not change the idle when unplugged 1 by 1.

I wish they had a picture of this in the manual because it seems to be pretty damn important lol.

No fuel is leaking either with fuel rail completely rebuilt with new pressure regulator. Everything checks out clean just need to focus on the wiring. I think I might take off the throttle bodies and do a thorough inspection of all my wiring to check for any faults.

However I urgently want to know what and where this ground connector goes stated in the manual.

 

[FrostES]

I dont remember there being a grounding wire when I did the top end on my car last year (Egr valve and solenoid, pugs, wires, manifold gasket, intake gaskets) The only things i remember being plugged in to the intake manifold are the map, idle air control, throttle position, and intake temperature sensors. The only things I see connected in the back is just the Egr piping and the throttle bodies unless i missed it too 😅.

 

[TheBlackPanther]

I just read the manual some more and it indicates an engine ground wire below the bank 2 throttle body coming off the harness which connects to the fuel injection harnesses and also the oxygen sensors. I think that's what the manual meant in chapter before but I agree I don't remember seeing a flipping a ground wire on any of the intake manifolds.

Like I said I'm going to take off the throttles and try to keep the upper intake on so I can dig around for the grounds I now know I need to check. Will update sometime tommorow. Might have to finally buy a multi meter.

 

[TheBlackPanther]

See that's so ****ing weird my rocker arms on bank 1 were golden not as grimy as yours, while bank 2 was fairly clean. What's the cause of that?!?!?

 

[FrostES]

I just read the manual some more and it indicates an engine ground wire below the bank 2 throttle body coming off the harness which connects to the fuel injection harnesses and also the oxygen sensors. I think that's what the manual meant in chapter before but I agree I don't remember seeing a flipping a ground wire on any of the intake manifolds.

Like I said I'm going to take off the throttles and try to keep the upper intake on so I can dig around for the grounds I now know I need to check. Will update sometime tommorow. Might have to finally buy a multi meter.

Ill try looking tomorrow after work to try and help, I've never dug down that far into the car. Im very much a novice and learning off my car as things happen.

See that's so ****ing weird my rocker arms on bank 1 were golden not as grimy as yours, while bank 2 was fairly clean. What's the cause of that?!?!?

Tbh, Im not sure. My dad told me that, that side is just hotter than the other side.

 

[TheBlackPanther]

Painted mostly everything, took apart almost everything except the heads.

 

[peva]

Disclaimer: I have never owned a 1st gen LH, so I only know about 1st gen what I can read - no personal experience. I happen to have a 1st gen manual on my phone for reference.

See the wiring diagram pages from the Chrysler 1st gen LH FSM at bottom of this post. The resolution of my screen captures are just barely adequate to read the text labels, so they are readable). I do not trust any aftermarket manuals for wiring diagrams unless they have the Chrysler diagrams clearly labeled as being specifically for the year and model, and even then, I take them with a grain of salt.

There are two wires to each injector. One is common with the other injectors for supply of +12 volt power. The other wire for each injector is the output driver of the PCM for the individual injector. When the PCM opens an injector, it momentarily applies ground to that wire. So there is no common ground for the injectors.

You say that each injector is clicking, which tells me that they are all getting their control signal (the grounding of the second injector wire by the PCM) - otherwise you'd have no clicking.

It sounds like there is another reason the 2nd bank cylinders are not firing. If, for example, a given cylinder were not getting spark, you'd see no change in idle by pulling the injector connector for that cylinder because that cylinder is not working due to something besides the injector not working.

You said spark is working. I was just using a spark problem as an example of why disconnecting the injector connector of a dead cylinder would not affect idle.

Question: Is there something blocking fuel pressure/flow to the 2nd bank part of the fuel rail? Again, I am not a 1st gen guy, so I don't know how the fuel rail is set up - IOW, are there two separate supplies to 1st and 2nd bank rails?

 

[Ronbo]

Coil pack or wires? When you changed the plug wires did you do a wire for wire swap? Or remove them all at once? Possibly wrong firing order for the wires on some cylinders?

 

[peva]

Coil pack or wires? When you changed the plug wires did you do a wire for wire swap? Or remove them all at once? Possibly wrong firing order for the wires on some cylinders?

A good possibility.

 

[TheBlackPanther]

Ok so here's what I'm doing today.

I got a in line spark tester. All cylinders were firing fine with no noticeable misfires prior to the job. I did remove all wires and gave them a wipe down with degreaser solution from autozone and rinsed them with water. They had 2 days to dry out before I began testing and paid extra attention to not get water inside the connections. How can wires get damaged?

Thankfully if this is the problem then autozone has my wires for only 27.99 which is a relief. I rather get them right now instead of waiting for a rockauto shipment and usually autozone inflates the crap out of most parts. Yay.

Also going to inspect all wiring in the hood and clean up all the ground connections especially the one on the back of the engine under the bank 1 throttle body.

Will post results momentarily. Thankyou for the replys. Will remove my double post soon, sorry this is just extremely urgent for me because if I don't get this started this month then I'm not going to be able to pay my rent prob this month😔

 

[FrostES]

I'm still at work, but I just had a dumb thought.

You said everything was running fine prior to take everything apart. Could it possible theres a blown fuse? Although if that were the case then none of the injectors would work.....

It has to be a connection issue or wiring issue. I believe (If I remember correctly) the fuel rails are 2 separate rails, and if only bank 2 isn't working could it be a kinked rail if you pushed them out of the way?

 

[TheBlackPanther]

Guys......

I switched up the coil pack locations with the cylinder locations.....

All wires have spark. Bank 2 is probably sparking at the wrong time which is why the injectors tick but do nothing when removed.

The grounds really needed a cleaning. All the wiring looks good. Did properly crimp the wires where "the fool" that had this car did half ass work on it.

But hey I guess I'm the bigger fool today. Will hook it up properly and report back with results.

 

[FrostES]

Been there done that, but hey at least you got it all sorted out 😁.

 

[TheBlackPanther]

Bolt I excavated from the battery mounting seat. Not a bolt for ground but man never seen one this bad. Will get everything cleaned up no prob.

 

[TheBlackPanther]

Well now it seems that I have white smoke coming from the intake manifold.

I put a gasket maker around the coolant holes then applied the gasket on top of the gasket maker and torqued it on probably wrong so now it's back to square one.

 

[TheBlackPanther]

Never mind she's running fine now was just burning off some coolant from the residuals in the engine and she was clearing up.

Will keep updated if anything else turns up. Thought my head gasket crapped out but everything seems to be running fine.

 

[rusty69]

I would be concerned with the LH rocker assembly. When my rocker roller failed on my 02 3.5L, my rockers were similarly discolored. Possibly you have an oiling issue and/or a pcv problem.

 

[TheBlackPanther]

Update: have been driving the intrepid around 400 miles. No leaks calm idle and the car is just clean.

After looking at car wizards videos I can say that I'm pretty lucky to just scoop up this kind of a car not knowing how damn easy it is to work on.

This is the first time I have driven it with no check engine light. Such a weight lifted off your shoulders. I also recently watched the mater tech video discussing the 42LE Transmission. It's really fun to do your own work it's like a piece of your soul goes with the car.

I'm 22 drove a Buick lacrosse 2007 and a dodge journey 2009 amongst other handful of cars owned by others. By far the funnest car to drive. For a 1996 she sure freaking rips when you want to maneuver tight corners and such.

I hope she lasts many miles to come.

 

[peva]

Nice.

Maybe I missed it, but what cleared up the dead cylinders? You did some wholesale cleaning up of connections, so is it a case of you don't know exactly which one (or more) was the cause?

 

[TheBlackPanther]

@peva
I mismatched the ignition coil locations with the engine cylinder locations. When it's wired up that way only bank 1 fires because it's the only bank that can sync with signal being provided by the ignition.

Bank 2 was essentially out of sync with the mismatched signal. Which could make you think the injectors are not putting out fuel, but in fact it wasn't syncing with the ignition coil.

The dead bank 2 cylinders are the result of mixup of the locations stated in the haynes manual.



I'm also having trouble with this spectra premium ignition coil that I just bought. I think I got a scam one because when you look up the same part on amazon it has the coil numbers inscribed to the plastic which mine does not.

After trying to jump through 3 phone call transfers of "oh sorry that isn't my dept" I gave up and I'm thinking of just getting a new one. I installed with factory locations and I installed it with the same model # part locations off the amazon picture which got it to reverse and then it crapped out going 5 feet forward.

I know the coil pack I replaced is bad because it throws a code and is hard to start sometimes with good electrical all around. It looks like the oem chrysler one too.

It still drives but I really wanna throw away this Spectra part. Like why can't an associate just go on a database from a desktop search engine they probably have and just look up the pdf and email it to me. What a joke. Part from rockauto didn't come with pamphlet either I'm going to email them today.