black spark plugs

[ttocs]

The car started running rough last night and out of curiosity I pulled a plug to find it completely black/dry. I pulled them all out and with a wire brush and carb cleaner got them to shine again and after that it fired right up. Could it just have been from my remote tuning session the other night? It was just in the garage idling most of the time but there were a few times I had it reved up and held at certain spots.

 

[3.14159]

Affirmative action at work.

Remote tuning is usually done towards the rich(safe) side. You really should take this to a dyno, remote tunes really are just supposed to get the car driveable to take it to the dyno in the first place.

 

[96blak54]

Gasoline is dirty!

If you ask me, driving around engine tune should be on the lean side and revealed by the sparkplugs....no black deposits. I remember the cooling system components used and believe without a dought it can handle any lean tune at low rpm....as most cars can.

Looking down the porcelain will reveal the higher rpm tune conditions. It should be white, no dull gray and for street tuning, no blistering.

Dont be afraid to lean the tune out at ideal and low rpm. I promise your engine wont melt out. 16.1 static is plenty safe. Then you can start tweeking in the tune by seat time driving hard.

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[ttocs]

I really want to take it to a dyno but the reputations of the local shops are enough to make you wish there was another better one, and with my stomach crap I have problems even going just making a one hour road trip. After doing some research on it I am just hoping it was due to the tuning session and having it idle for long periods while we were talking and tuning. Hopefully a short drive will fix it

 

[01yellercobra]

All tuning comes down to the person running the keyboard. A remote tune can be just as good as an in person dyno tune. I've done remote tunes personally. And two of the more well know terminator tuners work mostly by remote. The process is the same whether it's through email or in person. Run the car, check the info on the datalog, make changes in the tune, load updated tune, repeat.

Most likely it was from just being idled. The step test is just the first part. Once you get it out on the road they'll clear up. And the tune will be better dialed in once you get a load on the engine.

 

[white95]

Affirmative action at work.

Remote tuning is usually done towards the rich(safe) side. You really should take this to a dyno, remote tunes really are just supposed to get the car driveable to take it to the dyno in the first place.

You hit the nail on the head.

 

[ttocs]

I have no doubt there are some great remote tuners out there. If I had my choice and there was a reliable dyno in the area I could get to I would be there. I don't think that the ability to collect/see real time data on the dyno can ever be replaced by a simple data log even though its basically the same info. Just being able to hear how it reacts and even how it smells is something that a good tuner can rely on that a remote session never can.

 

[evilcw311]

Scott you need me to take it to Blankenship for you??? [emoji6]


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[ttocs]

I have been on a dyno for tuning to know that the owner just needs to be there to answer questions, find crap or figure out what is wrong with what he did to the car. Besides that I know you would take my keys just like that professional dude did on ferris buelers day off....

 

[evilcw311]

I have been on a dyno for tuning to know that the owner just needs to be there to answer questions, find crap or figure out what is wrong with what he did to the car. Besides that I know you would take my keys just like that professional dude did on ferris buelers day off....

I would say I’m insulted but yeah I’d make Smokey burnout vids for you.

I’d hate for the smoke to make you sick!!!!! [emoji23]


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[ttocs]

I just don't get it. As I said it was running rough so I cleaned the plugs and it fired right up last night. Tonight its running like hell again. I can't seem to find a happy place for the throttle stop screw as the IAC is either 50-60% or 0 so I am going to smoke check the intake and see if there is a leak. Tonight it also sounded like there might be an exhaust leak on the drivers side so I will check that as well but this shit is getting really really old.

 

[ttocs]

I didn't want to but I replaced all the plugs. While I was in there I checked on the header bolts and found a couple of those loose enough to be a concern. Would that make sense then that if they were not tight that air was getting in the exhaust messing with the afr and causing it to run rich and foul the plugs? It fired right up and sounded different and the afr was lower then normal in the 11-12 range where normally after starting it was much higher. I hope that is it I have another remote session monday.

 

[95opal]

I didn't want to but I replaced all the plugs. While I was in there I checked on the header bolts and found a couple of those loose enough to be a concern. Would that make sense then that if they were not tight that air was getting in the exhaust messing with the afr and causing it to run rich and foul the plugs? It fired right up and sounded different and the afr was lower then normal in the 11-12 range where normally after starting it was much higher. I hope that is it I have another remote session monday.

No an exhaust leak at the header will have no effect on AFR. If its running that rich its in your tune.

 

[ttocs]

I had another remote session this afternoon. My tuner confirmed my theory that with air getting into the exhaust through the leak that it would mess up the afr and while is already rich is probably adding more gas to try and compensate. When it did finally reach the afr it thought was correct it was just dumping fuel in and fouling the plugs. Right after we started the car now with the exhaust sealed the closed loop compensation was reducing the fuel by 1/3 at some points. After a few quick adjustments it was doing better. But then when the motor got up to temp we noticed that he throttle position sensor(TPS) was drifting and reading 1-3% when I wasn't touching the gas. It only took a couple of technical taps on the sensor with my screw driver handle to confirm that it was bad as each tap would send it from 0% to 3-4%. Off to vatozone to get a damn TPS