joelmatt89

The car is a 93 coupe ex with a b16a2 and a p28 ecu that has been chipped by phearable.net to run the engine, i don't have any cels. When idling and especially revving the exhaust pours out black smoke, the spark plugs which are only two weeks old are already black. So my assumption is it is running rich, is there any way to adjust that or are there any sensors or something that could cause this and wouldn't throw a cel.

Also am i just plain dumb or does the search engine on here completely not work since it has been "fixed" when i press search it just refreshes the page... does any body know what i am doing wrong

BTW Please don't tell me i need a p30 i know the engine can run properlly off a correctly chipped p28 and i am not really sure why there is this army of people who are sure it can't.

Former User

I assume the engine now needs to be tuned?

Some other thoughts: Is there possibly an exhaust leak upstream of the O2 sensor or an intake air or vacuum leak? How's the idle speed? Have you measured the fuel pressure? Valve clearance is off?

joelmatt89

I don't see any exhaust leaks but will try to take a good luck in a little bit, i see that the most common way to test for a vacuum leak is by spraying carb cleaner on any spot it could leak from, is that what you would recommend? The idle speed is at about 1k, although i haven't taken a drive yet cause it is raining hard right now. The idle seems like sometimes it kinda fluctuates weird, by weird i mean randomly drops and increase by a few 100. Do you know if autozone has the stuff to test fuel pressure i know some things like that they will loan out. How can i test valve clearance.

Former User

The idle fluctuation may suggest a vacuum or intake air leak. Carefully inspect all vacuum hoses or check that disconnected nozzles for vacuum hoses in the intake manifold are completely blocked off. Sometimes vacuum or intake leaks can be located by spraying carburetor cleaner around gaskets and hose connections. A change in idle speed indicates a leak.

Measuring fuel pressure involves connecting a pressure gauge to the fuel filter. You need to purchase a special adapter to make the connection. Check your local auto parts store.

Checking the valve clearance involves removal of the valve and upper timing belt covers and the use of a feeler gauge to measure gaps for the intake and exhaust valves when the engine is TDC for each piston. See the 96-00 service manual for details.

joelmatt89

Okay thanks, yeah i think i will definitely save the valve clearance for the end since that sounds like most fun!

Blackhalo6

if the exhaust is "pouring" black smoke you may have oil in the combustion chamber. how many miles are on that head, and have you ever had the valve stems replaced. hondas seem to have alot of fun with eating them after about 100 k. a compression test wouldnt hurt. dry and wet.

joelmatt89

the engine only has 43k miles, i looked for exhaust leaks before the oxygen sensor and didn't see any. I am about to get some carb cleaner to test the intake. BTW when i put my hand behind the exhaust and had someone rev it, after a few seconds my hand was dripping wet in wattery black liquid. I will do a compression test as well.

Blackhalo6

was the blackstuff gritty when it started to dry or did you check? Do it again with a rag instead of your hand and see if the wet stuff is flammable. and if not see if it dries to gritty powder. With only that many miles on it you shouldnt have any carbon buildup anywhere to make anything "black" unless its an old exhaust. you may have another problem than fuel. the compression test will help figure some things out but not all. check your oil and make sure theres no water in it.

joelmatt89

it did not seem to be gritty when it dried, i just changed the oil last week so i don't think there is water in it, i tested for any vacuum leaks by spraying carb cleaner etc. and i didn't notice a single one. I am about to do a compression test

Former User

Black = fuel

joelmatt89

i was thinking maybe i should fill up the tank, i don't know how old the gas is in there, i have not put any gas in it, and it is at about an 1/8 of a tank right now is it possible that it is reall bad gas maybe. Yeah It doesn't really seem like its oil because i know the smell of burning oil and this just smell like gas. But know i think i am really screwed i was testing for compression, and there is an adapter on the end of the that didn't come out with the rest of it, the adaptor seems like it is either an 18 or 19mm i am pretty sure it is 19 how the heck do i get that out of there i know a 19 won't fit into the hole and of the 100s of sockets i have i don't have a single 18. Does anyone have any tricks. The only thing i can think of would be to either put thread lock or epoxy on the threads of a plug, which will screw into the adaptor and then let it dry over night but it seems like there may be a better way...PLEASE HELP ME

Former User

I don't see the logic of a cylinder compression test for a fuel problem. Nonetheless, it couldn't hurt.

joelmatt89

yeah thats kinda what i was thinkin but i was like what will it hurt, and maybe ill fond something is wrong, but did you read my previous post cause now i am stuck with that adaptor stuck in there screwed into where the plug should be and i have no clue how to get it out HELP ME i have been messin with it for about an hour and nothing is working

joshkx

get it tune or might be oil leakage.....

Blackhalo6

most adapters on compression testers are the same as a sparkplug socket

joelmatt89

i know but the spark plugs on the civic are smaller in than the normal 13/16 and therefore the normal spark plug socket will not fit in that hole

Blackhalo6

i went and check and both of mine fit in an 11/16 or 3/4 socket

Blackhalo6

crap let me think

nthao89

Go to wal-mart and get a fuel injection cleaning????
I did mines and now I get way better gas mileage and also my car runs alot smoother and quiet.

Blackhalo6

how tight did you get it in there? usually you dont have to get it much tighter than hand tight
ive run into this problem before on my car but i guess your spark plug holes are smaller than mine i didnt realize there was a difference between a b16 and 18

joelmatt89

okay i got it out what i did was bought a cheap 19m then ground it down by spinning it with a drill against the chop saw for 5 minutes and eventually it was able to fit into the hole. But before all this happened i did a compression test on one of the cylinders thats plug was badly fouled, although all of them are badly fouled. It was 190 with a the engine warmed up, which from what i know is pretty good, but now the engine is cooled and i broke one of the spark plugs so i can't warm it up to test the other ones. I really doubt it is an oil problem. I will test the other cylinders tommorow, then try putting fresh gas in. Then according to ron the next thing i should do is check for valve clearance. Actually i think ill try talking to the po who did the swap to see if he has any ideas. If anyone has any ideas what could cause the car to run rich like this, please help me cause i would like to save checking valve clearance for last that seems like it will be kinda hard, will i have to buy new gaskets if i do that.

joelmatt89

See that was the problem a normal spark plug is 13/16 which is why the adapter was too big for the spark plug socket for the b16 plugs... if that makes sense

joelmatt89

Okay tell me if this makes sense here is what i was thinking is it possible that because the iat connector was bad before, that caused my plugs to get bad and know that my plugs are bad it is causing it not to burn all the fuel. I think i will clean the plugs really well, as well as putting new gas in, i just don't want to overlook the obvious and waste my time and money.

Blackhalo6

meant the compression gauge adapter but w/e you got it. what doesnt make sense to me is how can you get so much extra fuel that it comes flying out the tail pipe and still not throw a code

Blackhalo6

you really need to figure out what "watery substance" is coming out of your tail pipe. excess fuel isnt going to make "water" come out of your tailpipe. and water in your cylinders isn't going to cause your plugs to turn black. so it would help to figure out what it is