96 grand am 2.4L rough idle, poor response, and strong gas smell

Hey this is my first time posting anything so here go's. I have a 96 Grand Am 2.4L automatic and its running horrible. It has a rough idle most of the time, poor throttle response on take off, and strong smell of gas. Also the check engine light is on: P0172 - Fuel Trim System Rich Bank 1 is on. When i was taking off the air filter housing, the smell of fuel was very strong so i look down the throttle body to find standing fuel at the bottom. Can anybody help, PLEASE

Thanks, Justin

Do you have any Diagnostic Trouble codes (DTC) yet?

Do you have any Diagnostic Trouble codes (DTC) yet?

You need to reread the op it has a P0172 DTC. Since I do not have a GA with a 2.4L, I can't give a good answer or even an educated guess.

The upstream H02 sensor gives the feed back signal for ECU to formulate the air/fuel mix on bank 1.

How old is the Heated oxygen sensor on bank 1?

if it's flooded with gas up in throttle body then i would check see if butter fly is opening and shutting?

The fuel regulator controls the fuel pressure, and the ECU controls the fuel pulse.

The upstream H02 sensor gives the feed back signal for ECU to formulate the air/fuel mix on bank 1.

How old is the Heated oxygen sensor on bank 1?

I just replaced that O2 sensor

k ill do that tomorrow and see let you know, thanks

if it's flooded with gas up in throttle body then i would check see if butter fly is opening and shutting?

Yes it opening properly, i just went out and checked

I also had someone tell me to get a compression test done to see his a cylinder head valve was leaking, would that make any sense??? Sorry i only know some of the basic car stuff

The cracked head make absolutelly no sense. It would cause exaust to go to the coolant, or coolant or oil to get in the cylinder, not fuel problem.

However, a bad pressure regulator could cause some issues...

Locate the fuel regulator, disconnect the vaccum line. If there is gas there then you found the problem. They often fail in such way that the fuel leak in the vaccum...

Thanks, ill let u know what i find

oh yea, there's fuel in the line, good call, ill go pick the part up tomorrow and install it, let you know is that takes care of all the problems

The P0172 means that the oxygen sensor in bank 1 detected a rich condition , too little oxygen in the exhaust.
Which could be a vacuum leak, fuel pressure regulator bad, or an injector bad and stuck open spewing to much fuel into the cylinder(s).

You should have between 41-47 psi on fuel pressure.
I think your injectors resistance should ohm out between 1.96-2.3 ohms.

But your MAP sensor could be the culprit here, either a vacuum leak(cracked hose) or just faulty Map sensor.
Not uncommon for these to crap out and give no DTC. ;)

Here is a link for testing the MAP sensor (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=665979).

Hope that helps !

When i was taking off the FPR i noticed the T25 Torx head bolt was striped, so now i have to try and get it off before i can know for sure if its only the FPR causing my problems. Any one know an easy way to get it off, i tried vise grips but it just slip right off, and i dont have much clearence in there or i would have drilled it out.

Try a dremmel tool to cut a straight cut through the head and be very careful and also have a fire extinguisher very close by. Or try the next size up on the torx bit, or maybe try a hex wrench.