[jwl]

I had a leaking injector (No. 1, so it was hard to see exactly where the leak was because of hoses, A/C, etc.). Since I don't have a lot of time, I ordered one immediately, and just replaced it. The old seals looked fine, and no obvious place for a leak on the injector body, but no leak with the new one.

It ran fine for about 20 mi, and then started hesitating and ran roughly, with blue smoke from the exhaust.

As I disconnect the plugs, each one apart from No. 1 caused it to run worse. I checked the plug with an in-line tester and it looked fine. I also swapped No. 1 and No. 2 plugs, and the problem stayed with No. 1 cylinder. Also, there was liquid (gasoline?) on the No. 1 plug when I removed it. Finally there seems to be a small amount of smoke emitted somewhere in the engine compartment.

I am wondering if I have a head gasket that is blown and not allowing sufficient compression in the cylinder. Does this sound plausible, or are there some other possibilities?

I don't believe it has ever been replaced, and the engine probably has 500k miles on it (odometer stopped at 100k with previous owner).

 

[PabloRock]

Did you test the plug or the wire? Sounds like #1 is just not firing. I would check the distributor, rotor and wires before going to the head gasket. If it's long enough, you can try just swapping a wire with #1 to see if the problem moves.

 

[jvanabra]

Sounds to me like maybe the replacement injector has a problem... that's the thing that changed, no?

 

[jwl]

Did you test the plug or the wire? Sounds like #1 is just not firing. I would check the distributor, rotor and wires before going to the head gasket. If it's long enough, you can try just swapping a wire with #1 to see if the problem moves.

The plug tester indicated that everything was fine. I can try to swap wires, but I am not sure if any others are long enough. I replaced all the wires within the last year.

 

[jwl]

Sounds to me like maybe the replacement injector has a problem... that's the thing that changed, no?

It seemed to work fine initially. It was new, not a rebuild. I could hear it clicking, using a long screwdriver to transmit the sound.

Perhaps I should swap it with another one ...

 

[jvanabra]

I would try everything before resorting to a head gasket!

 

[jwl]

Good point

 

[Jim Mesthene]

It seemed to work fine initially. It was new, not a rebuild. I could hear it clicking...

It needs to flow the right amount of fuel when it clicks. Different injectors have different flow rates for different applications. You may have the wrong new injector. They all look and sound alike.