the dreaded lambda control 1 code

[Rally Culture]

so i have been having no luck what so ever with this code and i figure i would ask you guys who had this and solved it what your solution was? i have just about replaced everything and im about to just start over and check everything again. some one told me when they had this problem it was 1 of their fuel injectors. mine are looking their age plus when i removed the intake manifold to clean i found a lot of black gunk build up around the injectors but none in the engine ports or valves. i tried to remove the injectors from the intake but could not for fear of breaking them, it seems the o-rings welded them to the intake. what would be the best way to remove them with out damaging them since i want to get them refurbed?

[DesktopDave]

They're the original steel-bodied injectors, right? The injectors have a shoulder that you can get at with a flat-headed screwdriver. That won't help if you have the later shrouded design though. They do tend to get stuck in there, don't they?

You can also do a quick test on injectors while the motor is running with a long flat-bladed screwdriver. Put the tip of the screwdriver on the injector body, then put the pommel of the handle into the hollow of your ear. You can hear healthy injectors clicking happily away. The screwdriver conducts sound to your ear, isolating it from the rest of the engine noise. You can also use a more professional 'mechanic's stethoscope' version.

If you want to avoid all the prying and bending, you can dissolve that oily gunk with MMO, kerosene or a few squirts of acetone mixed 50:50 with ATF. I prefer MMO as it smells a lot better. Just let it sit for a day or so. After a little soak I usually leave the injectors on the rail and pull them as a unit.

[Rally Culture]

yes they are the oem steel bodies ill have to try that trick thanks. ill also have to try the screw driver test too to see if they are ok. the car just has trouble idling om cold starts once its warm its fine even though the check engine light pops up which makes me think it isnt an injector cuz i wud think it wud keep idling like crap weather it was hot or cold.

[Rally Culture]

so i figured out why my car ran like shit on cold starts but good when it was warm kicking on the 1222 code it was my brand new afm. when i first got my 91 318is the fuel pump went out on me and when i replaced it i forgot to put clamps on the hose. thinking i was having other issues i started becoming a part swap mechanic rather than doing the diagnostic checks like i should. lots of $$$ and 6 months later the car was still having the same  idle issue even after i did the fuel test to figure out that i forgot the clamps. searching on forms and talking to several people led me to do the very most basic things you should always do when trying to diagnose a problem is to check that every thing is with in spec. not thinking to check the new stuff but since i was out of ideas i did and found my new cheap ass ebay afm was crap! luckily i kept my old bosch one and put it back on. the very instant i turned the key it started with out hesitation. the idle was silky smooth and it purred like a kitten before it idled like a muscle car. so moral of the story do the basic checks weather the parts are new or not, take your time disassembling and assembling things back together and always spend the extra money for quality parts and save yourself a lot of money and head aches. 

[Rally Culture]

so ever since i swapped back over my old afm the car runs a million times better but every now and again it still stumbles. it will idle a bit low or when i try to accelerate from a dead stop it doesnt want to climb the rpms until i put my foot down then it acts fine but it will only do this every once in a while not all the time and it wont throw a check engine light on the dash but if i do the stomp test it saves it in the system 1222. i wonder if its still the afm or maybe something else?

[Darky]

I hate intermittent faults, but I could only suggest air leak or afm.

[Rally Culture]

ya this has really been a pita for me! so last weekend i pulled the spark plugs and 02 sensor ( which are new) and cleaned them, they did have carbon build up from when i wasnt getting proper fuel pressure due improper installation of the fuel pump. i figure it cant hurt... i also cleared the 1222 code and the car still doesnt want to accelerate in the range of 1-2k every once in a while, it will start to sputter when this happens. i did the stomp test again to see if it wud throw the same code even thought the check engine light never came on and now its storing 1234 code which is speedometer A signal, its the diff speed sensor. from wat i have read this has nothing to do with my intermittent problem. looks like ill source a multi-meter and check all the sensors to see wat i came up with.