[edrohan]

This car actually has a 3.0L V6 engine and tranny out of 1990 Acclaim installed. It's been running beautifully for years. Now, when it is started cold, it runs great, but after warm up and restart, it runs very rough and has "check engine" light on. Checking trouble codes, it shows 26, which doesn't apply to this car. I've started throwing money at it by replacing the oxygen sensor and the idle air control motor. I also cleaned and regasketed the EGR valve. Didn't help. Seems to be a temperature related, but I can't imagine what. Help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[John Wood]

I've got a feeling that the code 26 will apply to your 3.0. I'll try to check a manual tonight. A code 26 identifies a problem with an injector, the wiring or connector to an injector, or an injector driver inside the computer.

If you can find a noid light that fits your injector harness and connector (specifically for the Mitsu 3.0), you could quickly identify a driver/wiring problem.

 

[edrohan]

I have the Chilton book for this series of cars and 26 isn't listed in the trouble codes. I've also checked here at Allpar and 26 is mention regarding injectors but no info. I have also exchanged computers and that didn't help. Dont know what a 'noid' light is. Thanks for helping me.

 

[John Wood]

OK, the factory manual shows that a code 26 can mean a high resistance condition on either injector 1, 2, or 3 (this applies to all the 6 cylinder sizes of that era). That is right out of the FSM. I don't know how you tell if there is a problem on 4, 5, or 6 unless you can assume that the manual mean't for you to interpret that 4,5,6 was a continuation and they just didn't want to print it. The same goes for code 27 which just means that the injector is not responding to the control signal.

A noid light is just a neon 12 volt light. These take only a tiny bit of energy to flash and they give you a visual look of what the injector is doing. When it flashes, the injector is firing (opening --- supposedly). You can do the same thing with a regular test light by back probing the wires to the injector.

I recall some earlier posts about how hard it is to access the injector connectors on the 3.0 so it might not even be possible to get a noid light on this engine. You may have to remove the intake plenum to do resistance tests. By inspecting the plugs, you may be able to see one plug that looks very different from the rest, and that would be the clue to a non functional injector. Some people have reported removing a plug wire one a time and when they get to the bad injector, there is no change in how the engine runs.

 

[edrohan]

Thanks to you John, I've solved the problem and fixed my car. Don't have a noid light but I do have a mechanics stethoscope. That found the faulty injector right away. It was the first one I probed, It made a very quiet clicking sound where the other five clicked with authority. I probed this injector after a cold start and it seemed like all the rest. But after coming to temperature. and the check engine light coming on, I could barely hear it. New gaskets and o-rings and a replacement injector plus lot of work made it all better. Thanks again.

 

[John Wood]

Excellent diagnoses. I'm glad you got it fixed and thanks for your report.