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Engine Running Rich..

Discussion in 'Powertrain' started by Vamp, May 17, 2004.

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    Vamp Gunmetal 2001 Corolla S

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    it shouldn't kill your injectors, but it will foul up your cat.
    Vamp, May 17, 2004
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    corolla_racer Guest

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    wat do u mean it will foul up the cat?????......
    corolla_racer, May 17, 2004
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    falnfenix Well-Known Member

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    babe...it killed the injectors on Cal's RX-7...and he's sure it was from running rich...
    falnfenix, May 17, 2004
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    vortex Well-Known Member

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    Running rich will not kill your injectors - unless you're over taxing them by running at higher duty cycles constantly and ya just flat burn them up. Running rich does a few things, here's a few:

    1) creates carbon buildup on your plugs and in your exhaust ports
    2) above carbon buildup can clog up your catalytic converter
    3) you get a nice nasty black buildup on the back of your bumper
    vortex, May 17, 2004
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    blckwidowrolla99 Guest

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    I definately have 1 and 2 going strong with alot of buildup and the exausts' aer spitting out black stuff and black smoke.. what can i do to stop it from running so rich???
    blckwidowrolla99, May 17, 2004
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    blckwidowrolla99 Guest

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    Running Rich..

    Is it bad that my car is running rich.. and if it is bad.. what should i do to not make it run so rich?
    blckwidowrolla99, May 17, 2004
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    falnfenix Well-Known Member

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    yes it is...it'll kill your injectors...as well as waste gas.
    falnfenix, May 17, 2004
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    d_samurai Guest

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    well-i think it only occurs when your o2 sensor is bad? no? b/c it regulates that for you...otherwise-i dont see how you can know or control it.
    d_samurai, May 17, 2004
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    burbod01 New Member

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    what do you guys mean by "running rich"?
    burbod01, May 17, 2004
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    falnfenix Well-Known Member

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    too much gas, not enough oxygen going to the motor.

    running lean is just the opposite...too much oxygen, not enough gas.
    falnfenix, May 17, 2004
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    burbod01 New Member

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    how do you know when this is happening?
    burbod01, May 17, 2004
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    vortex Well-Known Member

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    The question to answer first is "WHY" are you running so rich...

    What modifications have you added? I can kinda help troubleshoot.

    Something on the 98/99 Corollas.

    When you add a CAI and Exhaust you will run richer.

    Also if/when you added a CAI did you put the air temp sensor back into the path? If the airtemp reads very cold it will richen up the mixture, also if your airtemp sensor gets too hot it will richen it up. They're picky. :)
    vortex, May 17, 2004
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    corolla_racer Guest

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    WOW kool...So that mean my car must my running rich to then because there is black buildup on my back bumper then right????...Is that good or bad for my car????....N if so how do i stop it????.....
    corolla_racer, May 18, 2004
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    XS PSI New Member

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    OH. well I guess that is specifically for the zz corolla ecu. This may occur because it doesn't know exactly how to compensate for the extra air coming into the motor so it will run it in limp mode (but this will also set off the CEL......I dunno just wildy putting out some opinions). Other cars that I've worked on will run slightly lean until you reset the ecu which include the older 4a motors from the toyota.
    XS PSI, May 18, 2004
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    corolla_racer Guest

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    Will i have nothing wrong with my motor no oil leak n coolant leak at all......And I'm not burning oil at all to....I think......
    corolla_racer, May 18, 2004
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    vortex Well-Known Member

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    hehe, yeah these 98/99 motors are oddballs.
    Even resetting the ECU doesnt do the trick - it just throws more gas at the situation while you're moving more air along. *shrug* Works out good when you go to boosting on these things. It actually balances itself out quite well.
    vortex, May 18, 2004
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    XS PSI New Member

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    When u add a performance intake and exhaust u run leaner not richer (your getting more air in the motor than stock).

    It may be numerous things that may cause black smoke from comming out of you exhaust. One thing is runninng rich which will mess up your cat like vortex said. burning oil will cause smoke also. and leaking coolant into the motor will also cause smoke. having a bad o2 sensor will cause many motors to run in limp mode which will make u're motor run rich to save the motor from early detonation or pinging.
    XS PSI, May 18, 2004
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    vortex Well-Known Member

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    heh, you seem to have very little experience with how toyota corolla's over compensate when changes occur. When you change the airflow on the 98-99 Corolla's it richens up QUITE a bit. I know, I actually did tests with a wide-band o2 with and without a CAI and exhaust.
    vortex, May 18, 2004
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    dw1986 New Member

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    im running rich as well...i get a good carbon buildup in my exhaust tip and when the car is sitting in park and running you can smell the car really good. not sure what im going to do, but ill look into it sooner or later. also it all city driving im only getting around 21 MPG when i should be getting around 26-28.
    dw1986, May 18, 2004
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    vortex Well-Known Member

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    hehe yeah here's my record:

    28mpg in city 35mpg highway @ stock
    22mpg in city 29mpg highway w/ CAI & Exhaust
    23mpg in city 34mpg highway w/ Turbo

    It's pretty sad that you burn off as much fuel with a CAI and Exhaust as you do with a turbo, however - like I said - the Corolla WAY overcompensates.
    vortex, May 18, 2004
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    blckwidowrolla99 Guest

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    yeah.. i added a CAI.. and dual exaust... but i did put the air sensor back in the path so i dont know whats goin on.. but like u said my car could be jsut touchy..
    blckwidowrolla99, May 18, 2004
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    vortex Well-Known Member

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    My airtemp sensor was back in as well - burned gas like a jet... lol
    vortex, May 18, 2004
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    blckwidowrolla99 Guest

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    well my car doesnt exactly burn gas like crazy though which i dont understand.. lol im getting abotu 27-30 mpg
    blckwidowrolla99, May 18, 2004
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    vortex Well-Known Member

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    *shrug* you hit it hard? bury that pedal into your floorboard a lot?
    vortex, May 18, 2004
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    toyotaspeed90 New Member

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    running rich isn't bad..... oh well, you can blow a motor running lean, but not running rich...... even i'm running rich with i/h/e on a 4a-ge using the stock fuel pressure gauge and a 4a-fe ecu and 4a-fe fuel pump (good 'ol 250cc injectors'll do that to you though)
    toyotaspeed90, May 18, 2004
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    LowRolla Will work for turbo

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    correction - it's not GOOD either, it's just better than running lean. It could be an o2 sensor malfunction - or as others said just a byproduct of a CAI and exhaust - though my old corolla had a CAI and exhaust, it never ran rich. Definitely saw a drop in gas mileage, but no carbon buildup or smell.
    LowRolla, May 19, 2004
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    vortex Well-Known Member

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    hehe yeah running rich isn't a GOOD thing as lowrolla said.

    It all depends to. In my case, running at a 11.5/12:1 ratio (which is slightly rich, lol) (14.5:1 is stoich and what your car should run at) is what is needed since I'm boosting. As we've said before, running rich can clog up your cat pretty bad if you're running too rich. 12:1 is the closest I'll ever come to stoich w/o detonation however so I'm sort of stuck with what I have. I'd suggest however that if you want to lean it out a little and retune for those modifications you get a device that can change your MAP/MAF reading and just do a little reduction. In any case however, I recommend the use of a wide-band O2 when tuning. :)
    vortex, May 19, 2004
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