Time for a tune up

[jrclark32]

My fuel injected 1990 Festy is due for a tune up. I’ve noticed the fuel mileage has dropped a bit, and she’s idling a little bit rough sometimes, so I’m going to dig into it when I do an oil change here soon.

Here’s my plan:

Plugs & Wires
Distributor Cap & Rotor
Air & Fuel Filter
PCV Valve
Change manual tranny fluid

Questions:

I’ve never really cleaned the throttle body or injectors. Do you guys have a procedure for that?

I’m pretty sure the catalytic converter is original. Should this be replaced? I don’t have to deal with emissions inspections, so would there be any harm in just eliminating it?

Is there anything else I should add to the list?

Thanks!

[Studebaker]

oxygen sensor. May want someone else change it out. It can be hard to remove. I took a cheap deep six point socket, Drilled a hole on the side toward the top for the wire to go thru. Still had to cut the connector off the wire.

[firebush357]

Cleaning the injectors probably isn't necessary and it is quite time consuming. If you look at the throttle body and can see carbon build up on either side of the throttle plate then go ahead and clean it. There are two ways to do it... either just spray some Carb Cleaner in there and wipe what you can with a rag or take the whole throttle body off and do a more thorough clean and replace the gasket.

You might want to go ahead and flush the radiator if you haven't done that in a while just to keep stuff fresh. I also like to check the brake fluid to make sure it isn't dirty.

[WmWatt]

I just clean and gap the plugs, wipe down the wires and cap, and spray carb cleaner into the carb on my model L. I check 3-4 times a year with a vacuum gauge to make sure the engine isn't missing. How old is the coil? People with fuel injected model LX's have reported problems with the air flow gate on the air intake. It may need cleaning to operate freely.

[jrclark32]

I don’t think I’ve ever changed the coil, and I’ve had the car since ‘03, so it may actually be original.

Where is the air flow gate located? I’m not sure exactly what you’re talking about there.

thanks!

[firebush357]

The air box meter, known as a Vane Air Flow Meter (VAF) has a door inside that tells the ECU to give the car fuel. They can get dirty and start to stick causing issues.

[jrclark32]

Oh okay... cool. I’ll make sure that’s clean and moving freely.

[firebush357]

There are also ways to adjust your VAF to make it run Leaner or Richer. I don't think that it is necessary but some people claim that the cars don't run as well as they used to because it was tuned for the fuel in the early 90s that did not have the ethanol content of today's fuel.

[jrclark32]

Anybody have thoughts on the Catalytic Converter?

[WmWatt]

My car still hs the ooriginal catalytic converter, 30 years old, and was passing the emissions tests fine until the government of Ontario stopped the testing last year. If it's passing the tests I wouldn't touch it. It has long been a scam of muffler shops to tell customers it needs replacing. I had one of those Midas muffler lifetime guarantees when mufflers used to rust out every other year and each time I came in to get the muffler replaced they would tel me the converter needed replacing. They even used the line the converter was blowing rust back into the muffler and rusting it out so the converter had to be repalced. So long as the car was passing the emission tests I saw no reason to replace it and always refused.