Better tail pipe color
 

Hello:
A few days I posted pics of my new muffler; a few noticed my tail pipe color looked lean.
After a 100 miles it looks better, any comments??
Original pic:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1099806234.jpg
Here's it has @ 100 miles on it:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1099806311.jpg
Regards,
J.P.

I'm told by people who know WAY more about this than I do that these days, assessing engine tune and mixture by tailpipe color is a fool's errand. What you see deposited there has much more to do with where the gas came from, what's in it and a bunch of other factors that have nothing to do with how your engine is running.

Stephan

Have you run any race gas? It'll burn white, like that.

True pearls of wisdom, if I might say so,.....:)

Use an A/F meter with a wide-band sensor or a 4-gas analyzer to see for sure.

I have to disagree w/ some of you guys.I have always been able to tell how rich or lean my mixture was by looking @ how dark the color was on my CIS car.

I have recently suspected that another poster was running lean w/ some typical startup issues. We richened his mix and the symptoms were alleviated. His tailpipe got blacker, and when he bought a Gunson, he confirmed his richer mixture. I doubt that in the couple of weeks that this occurred, his engine condition changed radically.

I have also noticed a change from dark brown to black when I changed my WUR without vacuum to one with, and got the extra enrichment @ WOT.

At the time I asked JP if he had a turbo because I have noticed some turbo cars running w/ lighter pipes. And, as Jack said, I have noticed a lighter pipe on some friends' racecars.

I think the point is that in any particular area (geographically) there would be a trend in tailpipe color for cars that are set up correctly. Likewise, any change you make in setup would be reflected in color changes.

For JP, maybe it would be a good idea to verify your mixture w/ an analyzer to confirm a baseline. I don't know if you have to meet any emission requirements but even if you don't you should be able to compare your starting and running conditions to the pipe color and/or the CO%.

How do your plugs look?

Craig

Paul:
The first tail pipe shot was with @30 miles on it(new mufler), since then it's logged another 100(shown in second pic).
I had some plug shots, but I think they were inadvertantly erased.
J.P.

In a nutshell, that pipe looks quite normal to me.

Where do you live, what engine do you have, and do you have any start or driveability problems? Do you know your CO%?

Paul:
Metro N.Y.
3.2 DME, SSI, E-Hone, SW chip, MB 911 single out muff.
CO% unknown at this time. Idle @ 1.3%
j.p.
Ps. Ethanol additive 10% NYC reg. AKA Crap Gas.

I don't understand: CO unknown but idle @ 1.3%?

I also have a 3.2 but it is an enlarged 3.0 w/o any emission controls. I use Sunoco 94 which can have up tp 10% ethanol. My pipe looks like yours.

Paul:
Last time the tech set the idle, CO it was 1.3%. I need to get an LM 1 AFR tool to know WOT.
j.p.

Gotcha. Anyway FWIW I think it's fine.