Well, I've gotten to the point where I am completely stumped with my truck. So before giving in and taking it to a shop, I'm posting up as a last ditch effort for some advice/direction on where to go with my truck. It's been an ongoing struggle since last July when I bought my 95SR. If you are interest in the whole saga, click here , and here. Warning, both threads are LONG.

To catch up, here is where I am at. My short block was trashed. #4 piston was about to come apart, and the crank was bad. One of the journals was .040 out. A core crank was obtained and reground, and the entire short block rebuilt by RPM performance in Utah. Here is a list of what I've put into the engine since then.

Re-manufactured heads from Clearwater.
New water pump
New oil pump
New OEM gasket kit
New head bolts and washers
New torque converter bolts
Basically new tensioner, pulleys and timing belt (They had only a few hours on them before I pulled the engine)
New alternator
New crank sensor and blade

Spark plugs are virtually new, as they also only had a few minutes of run time on them prior to pulling the engine.

After re-assembly, my good friends in the AZ crew helped me drop the engine back in and get it all bolted up.

After some trial and error of the engine not running, I found that I had swapped the cams on the passenger side. After correcting the error, the truck will start and idle fairly smooth. I hear some lifter tick on the driver side. I attribute that to not having built up sufficient oil pressure to pump the lifters up. I also hear some knocking under the truck, but I can't pinpoint if it is an exhaust leak or worse.

Here's where I am stuck. If I put the engine in gear, turn on the AC, or turn the wheels (basically put any kind of load on the engine) it will idle very low and want to die. I've changed the ISC with a known good ISC from a running truck. No change.

Acceleration sitting in park is very slow. Meaning when stepping on the accelerator, the engine RPM is very slow to rise. Like it is struggling to rev.

I took the truck for a very short trip around the block. Same thing when in gear. The truck struggles to rev, and is knocking to the point of sounding like a diesel. Have to keep revving the engine to keep in from stalling at a stop, and it has NO power. I parked it after that to not cause any (further) damage.

This was a couple of weeks ago. I pretty much walked away in disgust and left it alone for a couple of weeks to give my mind a rest.

I've discussed at length with some of the AZ crew, with no definitive ideas. Timing is spot on, and I'm obviously getting fuel and spark, since it will idle, but little else.

So, short of taking this to a shop, or just setting it on fire, I figured some fresh ideas may help. I've got a lot of blood, sweat, and money into this thing, and I'd really like to finally to be able to drive my truck that I bought some 7 months ago. Thanks for reading my long winded cry for help. Thanks in advance to any ideas/assistance you guys can give.

Jay

Bad fuel/, Bad fuel pump? Bad fuel pressure sensor? Intake leak? Coil packs bad under load? my montero runs like crap when 1st started cold-(intake leak somewhere) But runs very smooth when warmed up. Did you replace both sensors? Cranks and cam? Are you 100% sure the timing is right?

Maybe the cam timming is all messed up...?
What compresion is the motor I would do a comp test ad see.

check the 10 cent hose on the fuel pump fuel pump hose

Some more info:



Bad fuel. Not sure. Tank was darn near empty, and I put in 3 gallons of fresh fuel. Fuel pump? I don't know, but I can hear it cycle when the key is turned to ACC. There is no schrader valve on the high pressure side, but I cracked the fuel line and fuel shoots out when cranking. I'm not sure about a fuel pressure sensor? Or do you mean regulator? I didn't check either. Didn't check the coil packs. only tested for spark with a timing light. Crank sensor is new, cam sensor is not, but was good prior to tear down. 100% sure timing is right. (Had to do it 3 times to get it right)



Have not done a compression test yet. Didn't see the need with everything being new, but will put it on the list. Maybe something happened with the cams being swapped on the passenger side.



Two suggestions for fuel system, so I will put it on the list also. I've looked in the FSM, but don't see a spec for static or running fuel pressure, or a way to check fuel pressure on the high pressure line. Is there a way to put a schrader valve in line to check with a gauge?

Thank you all for the suggestions so far.

Jay

Easy stuff:

Test the air fuel ratio with the sensor in the middle of your face. Does the exhaust at idle smell like gas, or is it acrid and biting to the nose?

Is the wire connected to the power steering pump?

Remove solenoid wire from starter and remove fuel supply line from fuel rail and put in graduated container. Turn key to start for a measured 10sec. Report fuel quantity pumped.

Pinch fuel return line shut and try engine power test again.

Harder stuff:

Buy new fuel line from hard line to fuel rail. Take old line and cut in two, and insert tee with schrader and test fuel pressure. 41-46psi is my recollection of correct - check me.

Do the easy stuff and report back, and we'll go from there.

Thanks fasteddy. I'm finishing up my irrigation system this weekend, but will do these tests and report back. The wire is connected to the power steering pump, but I will check the wire for integrity.

One more thing I forgot to add. I pulled the cat off to see if it was plugged. I can still see light through the catalyst, and there was no change with the cat removed.

EDIT: Ok, here are my results:

Using the sensor in the middle of my face, there is a slight smell of fuel at idle. Not strong, but what I would consider normal.

Removed solenoid wire and separated fuel line at the main fuel line connector at the firewall. Pumped gas into a cup via a hose for a count of 10 seconds by stopwatch. Measured JUST slightly over 400ml.

Pinched the return line off with a towel and a set of needle nose vise grips. No change in engine power.

I noticed this time around the check engine light came on, which was not on before. Going to search how to check codes on this thing to see what it pulls up.

Ok, so I think I've got the codes right. I grounded terminal 1 on the diagnostic plug and watched the check engine light for long flashes first, then short. I'm coming up with these, but found the codes via Google, so I don't know if they are correct or not.

12 - Air flow sensor fault
13 - Intake temp sensor fault
22 - Crank angle sensor fault (This would suck, as I have a virtually new sensor in there. I don't quite understand this one)
25 - Barometric pressure sensor fault

Looks like I've got my work cut out for me still. Any insight?

12 - Air flow sensor fault
13 - Intake temp sensor fault
25 - Barometric pressure sensor fault

Thats all mass air stuff. I would look in to it.

Alright. Stupid mistake. I didn't have the MAF connector plugged in when I started it the last time. Strange thing is, it makes no difference if it is plugged in or not as far as the truck running the way it is right now.

Plugged the MAF back in. Pulled the -neg battery cable for 10 minutes to clear codes. It started somewhat reluctantly and idled for 10 minutes. No check engine light. Back to square one.

I turned on the AC and the idle will adjust somewhat. Bogs the engine down like its going to die, and then slowly compensates, but it idles very low. I'm wondering if I have my idle speed set correctly. Time to read some more.