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So my car starts right up, idles perfect, no check engine light, runs great has always been reliable but it smells like it runs really rich. Here is whats on it to give you some help
larger plug wires
test pipe/mandrel bent exhaust
intake
just your basic NA mods, I have NGK vpower plugs, I usually cheap out and get 87 gas, what can I do to resolve this?
Is it blowing black smoke out of the exhaust? If not, then it might just smell that way because you aren't running a cat.
I dont think so, if it is its very little, I had a buddy out cruising with me all day the other day and never said anything about smoke.
NA's run right from the factory. Stop being cheap and put in 91/93 if you have a DOHC. You aren't saving any money that way. Your car is pulling timing and not running how it should and you are actually getting less mileage than you would ruinning Premium.
Thank you! I have asked several times on the multiple forums what octane to run in my car and always get mixed answers so just resorted to 87, I will try running 93 and see what happensQuote:
Originally Posted by stealthee
Yeah, they are supposed to be 93 only.
filled up with 93 last night, will see how it goes over the next few weeks, the car isnt daily driven
Your paying $2.00 more (or at least i do) for 93 if you put 10 gallons in your tank. silly thing to get cheap about when your car is involved :P
Quick math exam.
Lets say you get 21 mpg putting 87 octane in your tank at 3.67/gallon. You have a 20 gallon tank. It costs 73.40 to fill from empty. 21 mpg x 20 gallon = 420 miles to a tank 73.40/420 = 0.1747 cent per mile
Now lets say you get 23 mpg by putting 93 octane in your tank at 3.87/gallon. It costs 77.40 to fill from empty. 23 mpg x 20 gallon = 460 miles to a tank.
77.40/460 = 0.1683 cent per mile
So you are paying more for a tank, but that tank is getting you further. And while it might not look like much savings, if you drive 15,000 miles a year it comes out to $96 SAVED by using 93. All this time you thought you were penny pinching using 87 and you were actually costing yourself more money.
I'm too lazy to figure all that stuff out. All I know is people are scared of $.20 per gallon. I get 26 avg. But I A) drive like a prick and B) have no turbos
Ok let me rephrase, it wasnt always because I was cheap it was more because I wasnt sure what grade to buy and could never get a straight answer before. Ive been told if your car isnt supposed to use premium fuel its not good for it and if its not supposed to use 87 its also not good for it.
Now lets get back to the question at hand, whats causing it to burn rich? I cruised around for an hour tonight after putting half a tank of 93, it was on low fuel light. Its burning super rich, like if you have the windows up you will gag, 45 min to an hour of cruising around resulting in a head ache from it.
As said, all NA's run rich from the factory. The fact you have a test pipe will only accentuate that because there is no cat to burn off excess fuel in the exhaust.
Definatley putting a cat back on it then!
Well no you might have a leak somewhere. I have a 2" pipe, no cat with a Magnaflow muffler. The only time I think I might smell something having to do with the exhaust is when I stop, I assume this is from exhaust washing back over the car while stopping.
That said I had to replace my gas tank because the line at the top of the tank had cracked. It smelled of pure gas (unlike my exhaust fumes). After a week or two the line ruptured, it leaked fuel like crazy when the car was running.
[Edit] After reading through the tread again, this sounds exactly like my car when the fuel line cracked. We couldn't replace the pump with the line because the nuts on the top of the gas tank suck. They were all corroded and just broke off the studs. I'm not entire sure how you'd confirm checking the line, it might be really obvious to see a problem. Or just open the panel, turn the car on and stick your face down there for a big sniff.
I think I might have found it! I was under the car today doing something else and saw the line on bottom of the charcoal canister was off! I put it back on, lets see if that makes a difference.
could have a very small leak in your exhaust.. maybe your exhaust manifolds?
my car stinks very bad too, and runs rich. But i also have a headgasket leak. I also know for a fact my car is off ignition time, so that could be the cause. I also run 10mm wires and e3 diamond fire sparkplugs. I'm gonna switch back to NGK wires and see what happens. I know it can't be the sparkplugs because they have a strong spark. I checked it out myself.