Chrysler Repair: UPDATE! General Fuel Injection problem, trouble shooting guide, cam shaft

Question
MAJOR DISCOVERY!

Hi Roland thanks for the tips but now Ive found at least one real problem and hopefully this isnt too specific to this car.  

Ive been going down the wrong road, appears to be multiple problems, the leaky throttle body gasket and this latest discovery.  Talking to local friends they also suggested it was a mechanical problem but they thought it was a sticking valve.  So off with the valve cover and I discovered one of the studs that holds the cam shaft?/rocker arms in place was not secure, totally loose.

I attempted to tighten it down and when I then screwed the nut on it popped out.  Checking the threads I found metal strips, IE stripped in the head.  So this appears to be the first major problem, valves must not be opening all the way or not at all in this one cylinder.  

So how do I fix this?  Does the head need to come off?  Ive taken heads off before but fret on doing it, My first thought is to take the head off and bring to a machine shop but if it can be done on the car that would be great.

Thanks

~ Phil

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Followup To
Question -
Hi, the vehicle Im having a problem with isnt a chrysler but there isnt a catagory for it.  THe problem is quite general so Im hoping you can give me some help.

The car is a 83 Alliance with only 22K miles on it but it has a problem.

It has a throttle body fuel injection setup and is running WAY to rich, so much that it wont run other than to idle it. Indications are thick black soot out the exhaust and the air filter gets soaked with fuel. ALso the engine backfires through the throttle body. Ive read the chilton book and performed the basic tests and it has not helped. Basically something is telling the injector to pump in too much fuel.

From the trouble shooting guide it suggested to change the Oxygen sensor on the exhaust which I did and no improvement. Getting the trouble code out of the ECU is a 3 which indicates a bad wide open throttle switch and or closed (idele) throttle switch which of course the book doesnt tell how to test either.

One thing I have observed, while its running for its brief time before stalling from flooding out there appears to be a leak at a gasket between the intake manifold and the throttle body lower base, can this cause this symptom?

So any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Its a car for my son and even though its 22 years old its like new if I could fix this problem.
Answer -
Hi Phil,
I haven't any experience with the Alliance. I recall that it was an import, from France, that AMC started it, and then Chrysler bought AMC. I am glad that you have some manual for it and that you have a code readout. I would suggest taking a close look at the various wires and their associated actuators or switches that are mounted on the throttle body. One or two of those will be related to the position of the throttle butterfly and so I would expect that if they were working the wide open switch would change its configuration at the point of max opening, and like wise the closed switch would change when the butterfly was closed. So I see no reason to not look at all the wire disconnects near the body and try to locate two, with two wires, and which opens and closes at either end of the throttle movement. (Use an ohmmeter across the two wires to test for switch action) They should be found to somwhow be actuated by the throttle shaft. If they are both working, then I would trace the wires by color to the ecu plug and see if the wires are patent from the disconnect to the ecu, and also replug them together and verify that the switching action is also "seen" at the ecu plug-in. If that were the case, then it would seem that those switches were o.k. But if the WOT switch or its wires were bad, then that might well explain the flooding. I suspect that when the throttle is pushed to wide open then the ecu tells the injector to stay on as much as possible and thus you get your flooding even though you don't have the throttle wide open. So a false wide open switch might be the vary reason.
I would try to fix the leak at the base as well. Often the O2 sensor will try to compensate for such a leak which then results in high idle rpm.
Lastly, you might try to get a Chrysler or AMC manual for the car from eBay. Try searching "Alliance Manual" (with either AMC or Chrysler, as the case may be added to that) and keep searching for as long as you can hold out (once a week, use a book mark). I have been pleasantly surprised as to how many obscure auto manuals come up for auction at a low price. Good luck on your efforts to save this vehicle!
Roland

Answer
Hi Phil,
How about a helicoil thread insert? They of course are legion for repairing spark plug sockets, but they also ahve sizes for almost any threaded hole you neen to repair. I would try that first. They sell a kit with a tap and the insert that will probably do the trick. I suspect the torque demand is within the range of the insert but compare the engine spec with the helicoil manual.
Roland