Looking for any advise,
no code or anything !! The other day as I pulled out onto the highway and accelerated the truck started to die out. I'm not sure of all the details it did when it cut off since there were cars passing me and I was trying to pull over. Once off the road I tried to restart the truck and it only zooed over but smelt like it was flooded. I let it set for a minute then tried again to start it but this time with the accelerator on the floor and it tried to start but ran extremely rough , smelled like it was flooding and would not idle at all. I was luck that a guy I work with pulled in and we discussed what was happening he said it sounded as if the catalytic converter was stopped up. I need to note that the "Check engine" light was and still isn't lit up. I crawled under the truck and the right side converter was noticeably hotter than the left side. I stopped trying to crank it and got a trailer to haul it home. The next afternoon after work I tried to restart it and once again it smelled flooded and would only crank and run extremely rough when the pedal is to the floor. When I get it cranked I have to feather the pedal to try keeping it running.
NOW>> The things I have checked, tried and Googled ..... I took a sawzall and cut a small wedge in the front of the right hand catalytic converter (I can weld it back in) then tried to start the truck again which this didn't make any difference . Next I removed and cleaned the following, Idle air control , EGR & sensor, DPFE, MAF sensor. Once again No codes nor any difference in the idle or starting. Next I purchased a coil pack and spark plug then starting on #1 cylinder i went through all 8 removing and replacing each assembly then trying to start it after each coil and plug were changed just in case there was a bad coil but not showing a miss fire . Also I have looked for any vacuum line cracks etc. but I haven't seen any yet. I do have a cheap scan tool but it still usually does what I need but not this time I need HELP !!!
Thank in advance for and help or suggestions

 

When you say each coil and plug were changed, does that mean the spark plug?

If One converter was much hotter than the other, that could mean the cyls one side were getting more fuel than the other side.

If you remove/ removed the plugs , what did they look like and which cyls if any were possibly full of carbon or very black ?

 

I did not replace them all. I bought 1 new coil and 1 new spark plug then started at cylinder #1 removing the existing assembly, installed the new one in the #1 position and tried to start the engine. I did this throughout all 8. I kinda was thinking that If it was a misfire and no code showing I could eventually run up on the bad one and correct the whole issue but that didn't do it. I'm going to do some more vacuum leak checks this afternoon to see if i have overlooked any.

 

None of the plugs looked very fouled, only #3 & #7 had raw fuel on them. I thought there should have been more fouling of the spark plugs but there wasn't much and I cleaned each one before reinstalling it.

 

I would quickly check for a blown fuel pressure regulator by pulling the vacuum line off the regulator and cycling the key a couple times. If you see gas come out or smells strongly of gas, replace the regulator. It's a quick and easy check and worth a try.Change it only if it leaks.

 

Thanks,
I did look at that too but forgot to mention it in my opening thread. I pulled off the red vacuum line and nothing came out but I didn't cycle the fuel pump with it off. Will try that this afternoon also.

 

You received the clue with #3 & 7 plugs being wet.

NO plugs should be wet. If we are sure they are getting power to ignite the fuel the next thing is to check the injectors for those cyls.

 

There is something unusual going on.
As you know cyls 3 & 7 are directly opposite one another on each side of the engine. #7 fires after #3

The firing order is , 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8
The right side bank is 1-2-3-4
The left side bank is 5-6-7-8
My next question is what were the plugs wet with, fuel or coolant ?
Could the coil plugs be switched or maybe 2 questionable coils ?

You did state they were wet with fuel, which could indicate they were not firing at the right time.

 

Thanks hanky ,
When I swapped out the coils and plugs I did them one at a time. Also I don't think they would be swapped but I'll double check. Both 7&3 were wet with raw fuel. After work today I'll check the coils to make sure I didn't switch them as well as use the spare coil and plug to ensure there is fire to each. I have borrowed a fuel pressure gauge and compression gauge to also determine if fuel pressure is good and if there is a possible burnt valve. I did a pretty though vacuum line check yesterday and found nothing. It's unlikely that two injectors have failed simultaneously I would think to allow fuel to each of those cylinders

 

We would like to think if there were a burned valve you would have a definitely noticeable misfire.

Can you take both coils from cyls 3 & 7 and swap them with 2 other cyls and see what those plugs look like after running a few minutes? If the conditions move that would point to the coils. If not then we would look for something else confined to those two cyls.(3&7)