There is something funky about my engine right now. It appears to be on the rich side with inconsistent idling, dark colored spark plugs, and the inside of the exhaust tip is basically a very dark/blackish color. Is there a way I can go about changing the mixture myself or would you recommend to bring it to a professional car shop. The only thing is that I dont intend to spend any money to get this fixed. What do you think I should do?

 

if u really want to do it yourself, get a air/fuel raito guage and sum form of way to adjust your a/f ratio(fuel pressure reglator or sum type of electronic)..thats the only way i kno of, there cud be others...a bad air filter myte be mkaing it run rich also

 

well if its a relativlely stock motor you should not have a problem with rich/lean running. i would double check to make sure all your sensors and emissions devices are functioning correctly...

 

Its not a stock motor since it has quite a few performance upgrades that im starting to believe that there counteracting the air/fuel ratio causing the engine to run quite rich...

 

What mods do you have?

 

retard the timing a degree or two to like 13

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by philadd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What mods do you have?</TD></TR></TABLE>

k+n intake
obx header
magnaflow high flow car
magnaflow cat back exhaust

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by twistedbydezign &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">retard the timing a degree or two to like 13</TD></TR></TABLE>

Is that something that could be done by myself?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondaracin24 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

k+n intake
obx header
magnaflow high flow car
magnaflow cat back exhaust
</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondaracin24 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Its not a stock motor since it has quite a few performance upgrades</TD></TR></TABLE>

well, i wouldn't go that far....but anyways, if you want to adjust the amount of fuel you would need some sort of fuel controller i.e. v-afc, s-afc, or some sort of contollable engine management system-aem,uberdata,etc.. and adjust the fuelmaps..
as far as the timing thing, yes you can do that yourself, just go to the store and buy a timing light that has an advance/retard adjustment and follow the directions from it and the directions in your manual for setting ignition timing...

 

HKS makes a simple air/fuel controller for people just like u, people with minor mods (I+H+E) and wunts a simple way to adjust a/f raito..go check it out http://www.hksusa.com

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondaracin24 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> The only thing is that I dont intend to spend any money to get this fixed. What do you think I should do?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

running out of gas is a sure fire, free way to lean out your air fuel mix.

everything else costs money

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondaracin24 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Is that something that could be done by myself?</TD></TR></TABLE>

yes, go buy a timing light, turn the car on and wait til its at NOT, clip the light onto the spark plug wire for # 1 cylinder, loosen the 3 bolts for the distributor, there will be a 15 with a line above and below it on the flywheel which u can see through that little hole that should have a plug on it below the engine code, to retard the timing rotate the dist clockwise until the line below the 15 lines up with the marker, then tighten everything back up

 

retarding the timing isnt gonna lean anything out

 

it doesnt reduce the amount of fuel going in but it decreases the unburnt fuel, at least it did for me for emissions testing